Kurdish premier says budget bill reaches parliament in two weeks

Erbil, Nov. 25 (AKnews)- The Kurdistan Region's Prime Minister Barham Salih said the Region's 2011 budget bill will be sent to parliament in two weeks.

The statement came in the sidelines of a press conference by the premier's at the ceremonial launching of a campaign to confront violence against women, in Erbil Thursday.

"The coming year's budget is more than this year's but the actual amount shall be kept confidential until reaching the parliament in two weeks," the premier told the reporters.

From the total 71,300,000,000,000 Iraqi Dinars- approximately 60.45 bn U.S. Dollars- budget of the country, Kurdistan shared 17%, equal to 11,433,000,000,000 IQD- nearly $9.7 bn.

Salih also expanded on the recent bloody attacks against the Iraqi Christian civilians as well as the general population census due on Dec.5.

The confrontation between the al-Qaeda militants in Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad and the Iraqi security service and the ensuing bombing killed and wounded more than a hundred of worshipers, taken as hostage in the church.

The insurgents seem to have focused on targeting the Christians recently. After the Church attack in Baghdad, Al-Qaeda announced it will target the Christians across the country in retaliation for the Egyptian church's detention of some women converted to Islam.

"It is our, the Iraqis' responsibility to cooperate to protect the Christians," the premier said. He added the Regional Council of Ministers has formed a committee to assist the endangered Christian families from the southern and central Iraq.

Following the attacks the Kurdistan Region president, Massoud Barzani called on the Christians to resort to Kurdistan. Since then some families have entered the Region. The region has been sheltering the country's Christians since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Regarding the population survey process, Salih reiterated the Kurdistan Region urges the census be held on time "without further postponement."

The process intended for 2007 has been postponed three times, allegedly for "security concerns" and "technical issues." The survey is basically significant for settling the disputes between the Kurdish Region and Baghdad over the tenure of some multi-ethnically populated areas, most notably the oil rich province of Kirkuk.

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