Iraq Sadrists say “great mistakes” in new oil deals
By Reuters
February 24, 20106:44 AM MSTUpdated
- Senior Sadrist casts doubt on Iraq oil deal validity
- Sadrists likely to be influential in next Iraq parliament
By Suadad al-Salhy and Rania El Gamal
BAGHDAD, Feb 24 (Reuters) – A powerful political group contesting Iraq’s parliamentary vote next month says it may challenge the validity of multi-billion-dollar oil deals the country has signed with foreign firms.
Hazim al-Araji, a senior member of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s political movement, also intends to oppose the return in the next government of incumbent prime minister and poll candidate Nuri al-Maliki, under whom the deals were signed.
“There were great mistakes. The people in Maliki’s government are politicians and not technocrats, and are working in the interest of their party… The contracts were between companies and a party, and not between companies and a state,” Araji told Reuters in an interview.
He gave no details of what measures his faction may take to alter the deals, signed with firms such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell in two auctions for bids to develop lucrative Iraqi oilfields last year. Ten contracts were awarded.
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The Sadrists are a key player in a Shi’ite-led coalition taking part in the March 7 national vote, and are likely to be influential in Iraq’s next parliament, if not in government.
Analysts have said Iraq’s next leaders are unlikely to challenge the oil deals, given that they were signed with an unusually high level of transparency for the Middle East, and because the terms are weighted in Baghdad’s favour.
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Iraq, which has the world’s third-largest oil reserves, is keen to boost output to fund reconstruction after years of war.
The Sadrist movement has wide support, mostly among the Shi’ite poor in the oil-producing south and deprived urban areas such as Baghdad’s Sadr City slum.
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As a result of party negotiations, the movement will occupy at least a quarter of any seats won by the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), an election coalition led by the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), a powerful Shi’ite party.
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The two groups have sparred in the past, but now appear united in their desire to diminish Maliki’s power. Maliki, the Sadrists and ISCI were once allies in parliament’s largest bloc.
Maliki is contesting the March election as head of the State of Law coalition, and is not expected to do well enough to cling to power without building alliances with other groups, a process that could take months and leave a power vacuum in Iraq.
A Sadrist wish to see Maliki removed from office could complicate and draw out negotiations.
“We are advancing towards change, and that means a change of government and prime minister. We have no problem with Nuri al-Maliki as a person, but we have a problem with his programme and his actions,” Araji said.
In 2008, Maliki launched crackdowns on Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia, which once controlled parts of southern Iraq and Baghdad. For the most part, militiamen have been ordered to lay down their arms, but Araji said the militia was not disbanded.
Statements from Sadr in the last two years had indicated his desire to shift his followers’ efforts from armed struggle to cultural and religious activities.
Even though the Sadrists object to Iraq’s new oil deals, the Mehdi Army will not target foreign contractors who have started to arrive in the southern oil hub city, Basra, Araji said.
“The Mehdi Army is there, but only to fight the occupiers. There will be no activities against anyone but the occupiers, who are the U.S. forces, not civilians or foreign companies.”
Contrary to persistent rumours that Moqtada al-Sadr has been in Iran for years pursuing his clerical studies, Araji said the Shi’ite leader was in Iraq. He declined to comment on whether Sadr would make an appearance during the election campaign.
“We never said that Sadr was abroad. He is in Iraq, but the security situation means we cannot say where. Sure we need his presence, but our interest is to protect him,” Araji said.
Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Paul Taylor
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