Lawmakers' debate on oil measure is blocked - Clerics issue edict forbidding a vote

Lawmakers' debate on oil measure is blocked - Clerics issue edict forbidding a vote
By Tina Susman
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times
Published July 5, 2007

BAGHDAD -- Political infighting blocked lawmakers from opening debate Wednesday on legislation to oversee the oil industry as Iraqi and U.S. leaders called for reconciliation among Iraq's feuding factions.

An influential group of Sunni Muslim clerics, the Association of Muslim Scholars, joined the fray surrounding the oil bill Wednesday by issuing a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding legislators from voting for it.

"Whoever does so will be exposed to God's wrath and will have committed the crime of collaboration with the enemy," said a statement from the group, a fierce opponent of the U.S. occupation.

The developments were an ominous sign for U.S. and Iraqi leaders, who have counted on passage of the legislation to show evidence of political progress before parliament starts a monthlong break July 31.

At a gathering Wednesday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged lawmakers to trade the "language of confrontation" for the "language of cooperation," a message to legislators whose boycotts of parliament and squabbling have hobbled the government. Vowing that Iraqis will not "slack off," al-Maliki said they were "ready to take the steps that will take us to a brighter future."

Al-Maliki joined Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus in addressing hundreds of guests who crowded into a former palace of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone for a U.S. Independence Day celebration.

Petraeus and Crocker harked back to the early days of America after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and said that time showed that there was nothing quick and simple about establishing a democracy in any country.

"It's not easy to stand united. We learned that lesson during our own nation's history and we are seeing that in Iraq today," Petraeus said.

Crocker echoed the sentiment but hinted at the disappointing pace of progress so far in Iraq. He recalled his last 4th of July in Iraq -- three months after the fall of Hussein in 2003 -- and described the days leading up to it as "those exuberant months after liberation, when all things seemed possible."

President Bush has sent an additional 28,500 U.S. troops to Iraq as part of his plan to stabilize the capital and give al-Maliki a better environment in which to bring about reform. So far, though, the parliament has proved incapable of overcoming its sectarian rivalries, and none of the legislation considered essential to national reconciliation has been passed into law.

The oil legislation is considered the most important, because of the potential wealth to be derived from the oil industry. The legislation comprises two bills, one of which is a framework to oversee management of the industry. The other covering revenue-sharing would lay out the mechanisms for distributing oil revenues.

The framework was passed by the Cabinet on Tuesday, but various political blocs immediately began objecting to it.

Kurdish lawmakers, who just days ago had expressed support for the measure, said they had not seen the draft that was passed Tuesday and could not guarantee their support for it. Sunni legislators have said the bill would open the industry to foreign investors, mainly U.S. oil companies, and deprive Iraqis of their due wealth.

The 44-member main Sunni bloc is boycotting parliament over an unrelated issue. That would make it difficult to give legitimacy to the oil legislation even if it passed.

Without their presence, Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said it was not possible to debate the measure.