Iraqi Kurdistan to reappoint energy minister
* New Kurd govt, Baghdad may have more cordial ties
* Embroiled in DNO controversy
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan's natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami will be reappointed the official responsible for energy when the semi-autonomous enclave announces a new government on Wednesday, officials said.
Hawrami has been embroiled in a controversy over a stock deal that has left some outsiders raising questions about doing business in a relatively stable corner of Iraq.
He has denied any wrongdoing in deals that gave financial assistance to two foreign companies, including Norway's DNO International (DNO.OL: Quote, Profile, Research), working in the region's Tawke oilfield.
"Ashti Hawrami will keep his position as minister for natural resources in the new government in Kurdistan that will be announced (on Wednesday)," said Mohammed Qaradaghi, cabinet secretary of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
A top official in Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani's office, Fouad Hussein, confirmed the information.
After Kurdish parliamentary elections in July that kept the region's two major parties in power, Kurdish lawmakers picked Iraq's former deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, to head the new government. Analysts say the move may bring a more cordial tone to tense ties between Kurds and majority Arabs in Baghdad. Continued...
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