Germany's Scholz hosts new Iraqi PM for energy talks

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks with Iraq's new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Berlin on Friday as Baghdad seeks partners to help solve its electricity supply problems.

Energy cooperation at the top of the agenda

Al-Sudani took office in October, a year after elections that led to a political deadlock in parliament between rival factions.

Iraq's government said ahead of the visit to Berlin that the discussion would center on a planned memorandum between the two countries to improve power generation in Iraq, with help from Germany's Siemens group.

The two leaders also discussed potential Iraqi shipments of gas to Germany, after Berlin ended its reliance on Russian energy.   

"Iraq would be a very welcome cooperative partner for us in importing gas and oil to Germany," Scholz said at a joint press conference with al-Sudani.

Al-Sudani invited German companies to invest in its energy sector.

"We have ambitious plans for the use of gas, which is associated with and burned off during the oil production process," al-Sudani said, in reference to the practice known as gas flaring. Natural gas is generated as a by-product of various stages of the oil extraction and refining processes, enough to pose safety risks unless disposed of. Until now, for the most part, burning it off in a controlled manner (but with no practical benefit) tends to be the most common and cost-effective means of disposal.

"We are talking to German businessmen and politicians about this, as an investment opportunity. Our gas reserves allow us to deliver 7,000 megawatts, by flaring this gas, we are burning money," al-Sudani told DW's Arabic service.

Iraq's economic and political crisis

Iraq has been beset by repeated protests in previous years triggered in part by high unemployment, constant power cuts, and deadly political rivalries.

The 2021 elections were called following widespread protests beginning in 2019 that threatened to topple the government.

However, the vote increased the influence of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr which led to the country's longest period without a government as his pro-Iran Shiite rivals refused to accept his reform demands.

The deadlock was only resolved when al-Sadr told his lawmakers to stand down. This decision was followed by his supporters storming several government buildings, including the parliament.

The lack of a functioning government did not help resolve the problems of Iraq's crumbling infrastructure following years of war and sanctions under the regime of Saddam Hussein, the 2003 US-led invasion, and the subsequent militant insurgencies and widespread claims of corruption under post-Saddam elected governments.

Germany's Foreign Ministry has vowed to be a "reliable partner" to Iraq while pushing for urgent reforms. Germany renewed its mandate to station no more than 500 soldiers in Iraq as part of the international mission against the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) in Iraq in October.

wd, ab/rs (dpa, AFP)

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