Man Sues Iraq for His Share of Oil

An Iraqi man is suing the country's leaders to demand his fair share of the Arab nation's oil wealth, a judicial spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Hussein Abdul Kadhim's court case is scheduled for August 29 in the provincial court of Diwaniyah in southern Iraq, according to a report by the AFP. "I filed a case against the three presidencies of Iraq, demanding my rights as a citizen, which are guaranteed by the constitution," Kadhim, a 46-year-old unemployed playwright, told AFP.

Kadhim, a married father of six daughters, was referring to Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, the prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and the parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi. His case isn't without merit: Article 111 of the Iraqi constitution states that oil and gas are owned by all the people of Iraq "in all the regions and governorates."

"I demand my share of oil and gas extracted from Iraq, because I'm an Iraqi citizen and I must have a share of my country's wealth," Kadhim said to the AFP, but did not specify a monetary figure. Iraq produces 2.7 million barrels of oil a day, of which around 2.2 million is exported. Crude sales account for the lion's share of government revenues, much of which is lost due to corruption and incompetence, said the AFP report.

Transparency International has ranked the country as the fourth most corrupt in the world.