17% Budget Share Agreed Upon Political Agreement –
President Barzani
Arbil, Feb 8, (VOI)- Kurdistan region's President Massoud Barzani on Friday said
the region agreed to get the 17% share of the 2008 general budget upon an
earlier political agreement till carrying out a census.
Speaking at a joint press conference with UK State Minister for foreign affairs
in Arbil’s Salah al-Din resort, Barzani said “the share was endorsed by a
political agreement though we consider the share less than its real proportion."
“We accepted the current share till carrying out a population census”, the
Kurdish president maintained.
Calling for sticking to the accord, Barzani referred to the fact “any delay in
approving the budget would block the development in all Iraq and not only
Kurdistan”.
The parliamentary economic committee had proposed a 13% budget share for
Kurdistan, but the regional government insisted a higher share of 17%.
The total amount of Iraq's general budget for 2008 is $47
billion.
Barzani noted a Kurdish delegation would leave for Baghdad to discuss the
pending issues between the Iraqi and regional Kurdish governments.
He added “the new Iraqi flag will be raised in Iraq's Kurdistan region in the
upcoming two days”.
The Iraqi parliament had approved with a majority of votes - 110 out of 165 - in
favor of a draft to modify the national flag by removing the three stars from
the old flag and keeping the words Allahu Akbar (God is Great).
Iraq's flag has three colors - red, white, and black - and in the central white
there were three stars and the words Allahu Akbar, which were added by the
former regime of President Saddam Hussein months before the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani had urged the central
government in Baghdad to speed up changing the Iraqi flag ahead of the Arab
parliamentarians’ conference to be hosted by Arbil in February 2008.
