Kurds, Baghdad reach budget agreement

ERBIL, Iraq, July 10 (UPI) -- The Iraqi central government signed an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to set aside a percentage of the federal budget for Kurdistan.

Baghdad will set aside 17 percent of the 2008 federal budget, or roughly $2 billion, to Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdish news agency PUKMedia reported Thursday.

Kurdish finance ministers said the issue had been delayed because there was no official government census conducted in the Kurdish territories.

Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution calls for, in part, an official census to determine the demographic of Kurdish regions and subsequent jurisdiction, be it Baghdad or Kurdish.

Kurdish officials who wished to remain anonymous, however, said the issue was resolved.

"The Kurdistan region delegation, as in previous years, faced disagreements with the Iraqi government, but due to the efforts of the Iraqi deputy prime minister and head of Iraq's financial committee, Barham Saleh, the problems have been resolved," the official said.