Iraqi Oil Law “Passed by End of the Year”

Iraq’s parliament will re-start negotiations next month on the country’s controversial oil law, according to Khaled al-Attiya, the deputy speaker.
Attiya said the parliament would take its time to discuss the draft oil law, but he expected it to pass before the end of the year. Attiya, a senior member in the ruling Shi’ite Alliance, has now told the Reuters news agency there has been an agreement between the powerful Shi’ite Alliance and the Kurdish coalition to go with the draft approved by the cabinet in February.
“That helped in putting the law on schedule (for debate). Possibly in early October,” he said. He said the law should be debated fully, not decided by some back-room deal. “This law is not like any other law. This is a strategic law,” he said.
“So it is only right that we give this law all the time it deserves in discussions in the parliament and not to have a political deal about it among the political blocs behind closed doors.”