Iraq's Kurds air fury over PM Sudani's stance after attack on gas field
“We were shocked at Sudani’s audacity. Imagine the state we would have been in had he gotten his way,” a senior Iraqi Kurdish official speaking not for attribution told Al-Monitor.
Tensions between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and the Kurdistan Regional Government have escalated after Baghdad formed a ministerial committee last week to investigate the Nov. 26 rocket attack on the Khor Mor gas field in northern Iraq that caused a power outage across the Kurdish region.
Sudani instructed Dana Gas, the company operating Khor Mor, to keep gas production offline until the committee finishes its work, sources told Al-Monitor. The downtime would leave the Kurdistan Region in darkness, crippling infrastructure and causing hardship for 6 million ordinary citizens, well-placed sources briefing Al-Monitor on background said. Sudani offered no reason, the sources added. Dana Gas denied that such exchange took place with Sudani’s office.
Sudani gave the committee 72 hours to release its findings, but the deadline has passed with no word on the results.
The spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Sabah-Al-Numan, echoed Sudani’s pledge on Nov. 28, saying that the committee was being supported in its investigation by the US-led coalition and that the results would be made public in 72 hours.
