Iraq leaders still wrangling over oil law -Dep PM

BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (Reuters) Senior Iraqi officials will resume negotiations on Thursday to try to resolve a dispute over a bill intended to encourage foreign investment in the oil and gas industry, the government economy chief said today.

''The Oil Committee is going to resume its meetings on Thursday to discuss the Oil Law,'' Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters by telephone.

''Signing contracts remains a matter of dispute,'' he added, saying there was still debate about whether regional governments should be able to sign contracts with foreign oil firms without the approval of the central government in Baghdad.

Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has said his office must have ultimate control over Iraq's vast oil reserves and has criticised deals already signed with Norwegian and Turkish firms by the autonomous Kurdish regional government in Arbil.

Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has hit back in turn, defending his constitutional rights in the sector.

Control of the world's third largest oil reserves is a key political issue dividing Iraq's three main communities, the Arab Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims and ethnic Kurds. Most of the oil lies in the mainly Shi'ite south and close to Kurdistan in the north.

REUTERS PDM BS1936