WHY WE FIGHT

Iraq oil assets 'up for sale'

Ali Allawi, the trade minister in the US-backed administration in Iraq, has said that foreign ownership of assets in the country's oil industry has not been ruled out.

In an interview with the BBC during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Dubai, Mr Allawi said that he expects some form of foreign involvement in the sector, although there are other possibilities than ownership.

Mr Allawi's remarks follow an announcement on Sunday in Dubai by other members of the administration of sweeping economic reforms.

The announcement included new opportunities for foreign investors, allowing them to own 100% of Iraqi enterprises. But natural resources, including oil - Iraq's most valuable asset - was excluded.

But Mr Allawi has now confirmed that it does not mean that oil is off the menu for foreign investors for good....

He said that foreign ownership of some Iraqi oil assets is a possibility....

--BBC