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Southern oil provinces vie for autonomy

Citing impatience with the central government, leaders in Iraq’s richest oil provinces have taken early steps towards combining into a semi-autonomous southern region.
Then-Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani (R) speaks with China's energy giant CNOOC director Yang Hua as Turkey's TPAO director Mehmet Uysal listens on following the signing of an oil deal in Baghdad on May 17, 2010, while other members of the delegation look on. Buoyed by projected oil revenues and discontent with Baghdad, the provinces of Missan, Basra and Dhi Qar are seriously contemplating forming a semi-autonomous federal region. (SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)
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