Iraq Cabinet passes draft oil legislation

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s Cabinet approved draft legislation Monday that would enable the government to manage the country’s vast oil resources and distribute revenue throughout the country, a step toward meeting a U.S. demand that the country’s parliament pass such a law.

But in a reminder of Iraq’s continuing instability, Adel Abdul Mahdi, one of the country’s two vice presidents, narrowly avoided assassination Monday morning when a bomb exploded inside a crowded third-floor conference room at a government ministry in Baghdad’s Mansour district.

Abdul Mahdi, one of Iraq’s most influential Shiite politicians, was walking toward the podium at an awards ceremony at the Public Works Ministry when explosives detonated beneath the seats, striking him with shrapnel but causing only minor wounds, according to Zuhair Hamadi, an adviser to the vice president.

The harrowing security breach, in which at least five people were killed and more than 15 wounded, police said, illustrated the perils of political life in Iraq even as U.S. and Iraqi forces attempt to pacify the capital.

“I’m sure people knew he was coming to the ceremony maybe three or four days ahead of time, and they planned it,” Hamadi said.

The draft oil law must still be approved by parliament. Ministers agreed to a goal of enacting the legislation by May, a senior Iraqi official said on condition of anonymity.

The draft law calls for oil revenue throughout the country to be deposited in a federal government account and redistributed to Iraq’s 18 provinces, most likely on a per capita basis, said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, the chairman of the negotiating committee working on the legislation.

The law would establish a Federal Council on Oil and Gas to oversee energy policy and set procedures for negotiating contracts with oil companies and managing oil exploration and production.

The negotiators wrangled in part over how much autonomy regional authorities, especially the Kurdish territories of northern Iraq, would have to sign contracts with energy companies and manage oil fields in their areas. While the draft law would consolidate much decision-making authority in Baghdad, regional officials hailed the agreement and said they would still have certain independent powers.

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, issued a statement praising the Cabinet for reaching an agreement. U.S. officials have pressured the Iraqi government to approve the law in the hope that an equitable mechanism for managing oil resources would remove a source of conflict. Most of Iraq’s oil fields are in the predominately Shiite south and the mainly Kurdish north, prompting fears among Sunni Arabs that they will be left out of revenue-sharing arrangements.

Also Monday, the U.S. military said a Marine was killed in Anbar province in western Iraq.