Iraq repudiates oil deal with Russia's LUKOIL

BAGHDAD, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil minister has repudiated a Saddam Hussein-era contract with Russia's largest private oil company LUKOIL (LKOH.MM), saying the contract was "totally unfair," an Iraqi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

"Relating to the Russian contract, it was signed with the former regime for political reasons and scrapped by the former regime also for political reasons," Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said in an interview with the an-Noor newspaper.

"It is a totally unfair contract," he said.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed)