A senior delegation from Iraq's northern Kurdish region is scheduled to travel to Baghdad on Monday to discuss several issues with the federal authorities.
The visit comes amid a legal escalation from Baghdad to invalidate the Kurdistan Regional Government's independent oil sector and take control of it.
A KRG statement, issued late on Sunday, did not give details about the agenda but said the delegation would resume “talks to guarantee the constitutional rights to the residents of Kurdistan”.
Minister of Negotiation Affairs with Baghdad, Khalid Shiwani, will lead the delegation, which will also include the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Omeed Sabah, the Head of the Follow-up and coordination Department, Abdul Hakim Khisro, and the Head of Audit Department, Khalid Hadi Gawishli.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled the Saddam Hussein regime, Iraq's Arab-led governments and the Kurdish region have failed to reach agreement over many issues.
Top among these issues are the rights to develop natural resources, disputed lands that Kurds claim for their three-province region and the KRG's share of the federal budget.
Since 2003, Erbil has shrugged off Baghdad's objections to independent oil exports and signed more than 50 deals with foreign companies and states. These have been to develop oil and gas assets, and market production internationally.
Baghdad considers the deals unconstitutional while the Kurds insist that the country’s 2005 constitution allows them to sign deals without the central government's consent.
In February, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court raised this bitter dispute to a new level when it issued a ruling that said the Kurdish region's law regulating its oil and gas industry was unconstitutional. The court demanded the region hand over all this industry’s activities to Baghdad.
The Kurds refused to abide by the ruling and instead called for political negotiations.
Since last month, Iraq's Ministry of Oil has started legal action to enforce the ruling, including summoning oil companies operating in the region to appear at the Commercial Court in Baghdad on Sunday.
However, no authorised representative has yet shown up, prompting the court to postpone the hearing to Thursday.
