Maliki mocks Baghdad-Erbil oil and budget agreement

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s vice president and former prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has criticized a recent oil and budget agreement between Baghdad and Erbil, saying the deal “is merely a show of compassion.”

“The Kurdistan Region should hand in all of the oil revenues to Baghdad, and recent agreements between Erbil and the (Iraqi) oil minister is merely a show of compassion,” Maliki said recently on a visit to southern Iraq.

Baghdad and Erbil recently reached a breakthrough agreement over budget payments from Baghdad, much of which goes to pay the salaries of Kurdish civil servants, and Kurdistan’s oil exports.

At press conference in Nasriya, Maliki said: “There is nothing about the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants in the constitution. What is present in the constitution is the allocation of 7 percent of the budget for the Kurdistan Region, and the salaries are part of that.”

“The Kurdistan Region should be committed and all revenues should be returned to Baghdad,” he added.

The agreement between Erbil and Baghdad calls for 150,000 barrels of oil from Kirkuk sold by Baghdad, and Erbil receiving $1 billion from the central government.

“This agreement is just for drawing compassion because the oil of Kurdistan is like the oil of Basra, and it belongs to Iraq,” Maliki said.

Since the announcement of the agreement, it has been frequently criticized by Afaq TV, which belongs to Maliki.