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Prime ministers refrain from endorsing oil lawsuit

The top leaders in Baghdad and Erbil declined to sign legal arguments as requested by Iraq's highest court, signaling tepid interest in continuing a landmark court battle.
Iraq's Federal Supreme Court at the Aug. 14, 2018, hearing of a lawsuit by the federal Oil Ministry against Kurdistan's oil sector. (Source: Federal Supreme Court media office)

BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani ignored a request to sign key pleadings in a landmark court case - a sign that neither side is eager to have Iraq's highest court adjudicate their long-standing oil disputes.

"In order to enable the other parties, the federal prime minister and the prime minister of the KRG to sign their pleading - with their actual signatures, as requested by the court - we are deciding to postpone this court session," said Chief Justice Medhat al-Mahmoud in a hearing Wednesday.

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