Lawmaker: Parliament approves 2013 national budget

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A lawmaker says parliament has approved a $118.6 billion national budget after months of wrangling over the share to be allocated for foreign oil companies working in the country's self-ruled northern Kurdish region.

Kurds and the Arab-led government in Baghdad have been at loggerheads for years over rights to develop Iraq's vast oil wealth.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Kurds have unilaterally signed more than 50 agreements with oil companies ? deals that Baghdad considers illegal.

Lawmaker Kamal al-Saiedi said Thursday that the Kurds asked for $3.5 billion, but the parliament agreed to allocate only about $650 million.

Baghdad has accused the Kurds of withholding billions of dollars in oil payments from state coffers and smuggling crude oil and petroleum products out of the country for sale abroad.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-07-Iraq/id-030d66e2bee34029b5f0ffda50cfe123

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