Al-Ghad

UPI reports:

A top member of the Iraqi prime minister’s party says a law governing oil reserves should be delayed until occupation forces leave the country.

Ali al-Adeeb, a senior member of the Dawa Party and a member of Iraq’s Parliament, also said the Iraq National Oil Co. should take the lead in developing and managing Iraq’s discovered but undeveloped oil, the Al Sabah newspaper reports.

This is a very important declaration by, Ali Al-Adeeb. Somehow it has escaped public attention, whether by chance or design. Al-Adeeb is a prominent leader of the Dawa Party, to which the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, belongs. Al-Adeeb’s stand and opinion carry a great weight in the Dawa party, some observers consider him as the most important force in that current, which is much wider and more powerful than the official organisation. In the present precarious political situation in Iraq, it could be no exaggeration to say, his declaration would fatally affect the destiny of the Oil Law and with it the fate of Maliki’s Prime Ministry.

UPI report also said:

Ali al-Adeeb, a senior member of the Dawa Party and a member of Iraq’s Parliament, (said) also said the Iraq National Oil Co. should take the lead in developing and managing Iraq’s discovered but undeveloped oil, the Al Sabah newspaper reports.

This could cause a serious and vital rift between Dawa’s coalition partner, the Kurdish Alliance.

One is tempted to see in this episode a possible connection with the sudden bitter attacks by prominent US officials on Maliki’s Government.