Our Blood for This

Iraqi officials have agreed a final draft of a law that sets rules for sharing Iraq's oil wealth and aims to bring in billions of dollars of foreign investment to rebuild the mainstay of the economy.

But crucially, international oil firms waiting for access to the world's third biggest oil reserves will find little detail in the draft about the form future deals will take. They are likely to hold off major commitments until there is clarity.

The draft calls for a federal committee headed by the prime minister to oversee future contracts and review deals signed under Saddam Hussein or by the Kurdish regional government, oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters.

"The committee finalised the draft of the law last night. It was approved unanimously and it will go before the cabinet early next week," Jihad said.

Passing an oil law to help settle potentially explosive disputes among

Iraq's ethnic and sectarian communities over the division of oil

reserves has been a key demand of the United States in providing

further military support to the government.