Iraq Kurd PM slams government attempts to 'sabotage' oil deals

Iraq Kurd PM slams government attempts to 'sabotage' oil deals
by Shwan Mohammed

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi Kurdish leaders have condemned what they branded national government moves to "sabotage" Kurdish attempts to develop their region's promising oil resources.

The Kurdish autonomous region's prime minister fired his broadside as his government announced that an international consortium had drilled a test well in a field capable of producing 5,000 barrels of crude per day.

Kurds hope an independent energy sector will provide them with an economic independence to match their political autonomy, amid fears among Iraq's Arab majority of burgeoning separatism in the northern region.

The Kurdish premier, Nechirvan Barzani, said Kurds would fiercely oppose any attempt to deprive them of the right to develop their oil industry, and warned that interference could revive their calls for independence.

"The people of Kurdistan chose to be in a voluntary union with Iraq on the basis of the constitution," Barzani said in a statement. "If Baghdad ministers refuse to abide by that constitution, the people of Kurdistan reserve the right to reconsider our choice."

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