Iraq: Al-Maliki, KRG and the issue of the tribal support councilsnote

The new differences between Iraqi PM Nuri Al-Maliki and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) are likely to affect the oil industry in northern Iraq if the central government in Baghdad insists on its plan that the newly established tribal support councils (or Al-Isnad councils) must take over the control of the oil facilities in Diyala and Arbil provinces from the KRG-controlled Peshmerga forces. The following 326-word article focuses on the issue as well as on Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahrastani’s proposals to protect the oil business environment in Iraq.