Kurds, Sunnis oppose Iraq oil bill

ERBIL, Iraq, May 3 (UPI) -- Kurdish and Sunni Arab leaders in Iraq say they can not support a proposed national oil law as it stands, it was reported Thursday.

President Bush has touted the proposed law as a benchmark of progress in Iraq. Bush has said the plan, which provides for the distribution of oil revenues, would pave the way for a political settlement among Iraq's ethnic and sectarian factions, The New York Times reported.

But the new Kurdish and Sunni concerns have created doubts about the plan even before it is debated in parliament, the Times reported.

The Kurds oppose a provision to cede control of the management of nearly all known oil fields and related contracts to a state-run oil company, the Times said. Sunni Arabs say the plan gives foreign companies too big a role in the country's oil industry, the Times said.