Kurdistan alliance: Iraqi oil exports is theft because revenues did not reach the people

A statement by Kurdistan Alliance, reported for " Shafaq News " , that this statement comes commenting on the statement made by Prime Minister , Nuri al -Maliki, who said that Kurdistan region’s export of oil without the approval of the federal government is closer to " theft " .

The statement quoted the deputy head of the bloc , Mohsen Saadoun mentioned that “ Kurdistan Region has the right to export oil in accordance with Article 112 of the Constitution and selling it is not a " theft" in any form , indicating that the process is done openly and the Iraqi people benefit from it .

Saadoun said that the Regional government cannot wait for Baghdad that is " temporizing" since in solving the oil problem, indicating that it is ready and wanting to export oil via " SOMO " working since the era of the Baath Party .

He added that " SOMO " has currently 20-30 general managers since then in a central way, pointing out that Kurdistan Regional Government has demanded that this process won’t be done through this company.

He said that Erbil demanded cooperation in supervising the export , but Baghdad refused to do so .

He said that Iraqi oil has been “stolen " since ten years ago , its exporting policy is central and people did not benefit from it, indicating that the poverty rate in some provinces reached 35 % at a time Iraq is considered one of the largest oil producing countries .

Saadoun explained that the oil region is being sold constitutionally, and its revenues include all Iraqi people , pointing out that the opposite is happening in Iraq , where export process take place in a central way without the citizens' access to any benefit from the revenue .

Prime Minister , Nuri al-Maliki said in a meeting on Tuesday , with global diplomatic missions in Baghdad that the oil sale of Kurdistan Region is close to thief than sell.