Iraqi leaders lobby OPEC's Barkindo for an oil output cut exemption

By Maher Chmaytelli and Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq told a top OPEC official on Tuesday it was ready to cooperate in reaching a deal on supply cuts to support oil prices as long as it kept its output at near current levels. "We are prepared to cooperate on the correct basis," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, commenting on the visit by OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo to Baghdad. "We stress the need to exempt Iraq from any agreement that would lower its production," said a st