Barzani may be summoned by Iraq’s judiciary

Baghdad — Sources at the Iraqi parliament said the judiciary intends to issue a summons against Iraq’s Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani following lawsuits filed against him regarding 55 alleged violations.

The lawsuits cite affairs related to the referendum and to threatening Iraqi security and the illegal smuggling of oil, in addition to other administrative and legal violations.

On Thursday, a Baghdad court issued an arrest warrant for Kosrat Rasul, the vice president of Iraqi Kurdistan, on charges of “provocation” against Iraq’s armed forces.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee recommended the joint operations’ command to suspend arming the Peshmerga forces affiliated with the North Iraqi area after they shelled Iraqi forces in Kirkuk.

Iraq said it hiked southern oil production by 200,000 barrels per day on Saturday to compensate for a halt in pumping in Kirkuk province because of its conflict with the kurds.

"Basra Oil Company (BOC) started to pump an extra 200,000 bpd from the south and centre" in addition to the 2.2 million barrels exported daily, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said in a statement.

He said the move was to compensate for the loss of exports from the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk which Iraqi security forces retook from Kurdish fighters in a military operation this week.

The arrangement would continue "until exports from the north return to normal", Luaibi said, adding it would not violate Iraq's OPEC commitment to stick to a lower output quota.

Before the conflict, the Iraqi Kurds were exporting an average of 550,000 bpd via a pipeline through Turkey, half of which was pumped from the Kirkuk fields where production has halted. — Agencies