ARBIL: The first meeting to form the Kurdistan supreme council to negotiate with the Federal Government in Baghdad has begun in Kurdistan's Parliament.
"The joint committee of the parliamentary blocs started its meeting with the Kurdistan's parties at the parliament, with the participation of Deputy Prime Minster Rouz Nouri Shawis and Parliament' s Speaker Arsalan Bayz and the region's envoy in Baghdad, Mohammad Ehsan.
The committee was proposed by Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, who suggested in a letter to parliament that the matter was urgent.
Relations between the Iraqi and Kurdistan governments have recently deteriorated, especially with recent attempts to remove Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from office and oil deals.
The Iraqi government considers contracts signed with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) as illegal and has blacklisted companies already active in Kurdistan, including Exxon.
The region is already host to a wide range of small and mid-sized oil and gas companies.
Among them are Norway's DNO, which is merged with RAK Petroleum, and OMV, an Austrian firm part-owned by Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company.
Dana Gas, based in Sharjah, is also heavily invested in the KRG.
© Aswat Aliraq 2012
