WORLD BRIEFING / IRAQ
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Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region officially started pumping crude oil to the international market.
The move could bolster the Kurds’ political clout and ease tension with the central government that has threatened to erupt into new violence.
Kurdish leaders hailed the exports as a chance to make up for lost time in Iraq’s oil industry. The country sits on one of the world’s largest known oil reserves, but the industry has been devastated by sanctions, war, sabotage and insurgent attacks as well as the inability of Iraqi politicians to agree on an oil and revenue-sharing law.
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