Kurds' Bid for Stake in Oil Firms Rebuffed
'U.S. authorities rejected a bid by ethnic Kurds for a stake in the state oil giants of northern Iraq -- the dominant force in the local economy -- preferring to retain existing managers and minimize disruption to resume large-volume production as quickly as possible... The American focus on oil production first and new leadership later has upset Kurdish leaders, who had hoped the end of Hussein's regime and the arrival of their long-time allies would gain them entree into the political system and the oil industry.'

Kurds' Bid for Stake in Oil Firms Rebuffed
'U.S. authorities rejected a bid by ethnic Kurds for a stake in the state oil giants of northern Iraq -- the dominant force in the local economy -- preferring to retain existing managers and minimize disruption to resume large-volume production as quickly as possible... The American focus on oil production first and new leadership later has upset Kurdish leaders, who had hoped the end of Hussein's regime and the arrival of their long-time allies would gain them entree into the political system and the oil industry.'