PM called on parliament’s chairmanship not to question oil minister – committee

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Head of the oil and gas committee unveiled on Tuesday that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a “secret and personal” letter to the parliament’s chairmanship, in which he asserted that questioning oil minister is against the oil investment plans in Iraq. Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, Hussein Balou said “the oil and gas committee received in an indirect way a personal and secret letter sent by al-Maliki to the parliament’s chairmanship, in which he accuse the oil and gas committee and members who want to question Oil Minister Hussein al-Sharestani of hampering oil investment plans in the country,” noting that the letter aims to prevent questioning the minister. “The premier describes in his letter questioning the minister as an attempt to prevent global oil companies from investing in the Iraqi market,” the lawmaker said. The lawmaker accused the premier of hampering the parliament’s supervising role. SH (P)/SR 1