Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. before Febuary 2nd 2006

Originally Posted by snottynose

Iraq invites neighboring countries for a meeting on the country's security
Posted 2/1/2007 6:02 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this



BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq invited officials from Iran, Syria and other neighboring nations to Baghdad next month to discuss the security situation in the country, a government official said Thursday.
The Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information, said the talks will be the first of 10 such meetings to take place in the Iraqi capital. Iran was the venue for the last meeting in July.

Along with Iran and Syria, Iraq has invited Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the discussions. The Arab League, Organization of Islamic Conference and the United Nations also have been asked to attend, the official said.

The United States and the Iraqi government have accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq and fight coalition and Iraqi forces. The U.S. has accused Iran of giving support to Shiite militias.

Both countries deny the charges.

Syrian President Bashar Assad stressed his country's eagerness to promote Iraq's security, stability and territorial unity during a meeting with Sheik Harith al-Dhari, head of the powerful Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, the official Syrian Arab News Agency report Thursday

WHAT!!! HOW RUDE THEY ARE NOT INVITING ISREAL!!!. (Sorry - Couldn't resist)

Originally Posted by Hope Full

Febuary NEXT, does that mean NEXT Febuary or this Febuary being on the 1st????

"At the end of February next"...mabe they left a comma out after February?

Snipit (((((((((( )))))))))))
How does the use of AND change this sentence instead of using OF? I'm seeing 2 "tools" being used here to return the dinar to normal....a fixed rate AND a financial policy. Please re-read this paragraph, several times if need be and see if you see this also. Seems to be that the 1260 rate will be used to reach a fixed rate once they use their financial policy that is written into the budget to return it to "normal". Meaning...$1.26 fixed? I just think there is more than meets the eye in this statement.

You are spot on DD... RV at 1.26.. In the budget !!!

Iraq invites neighboring countries to security conference | Jerusalem Post

Iraq has invited neighboring countries, including US rivals Iran and Syria, to a meeting on security next month in Baghdad, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, while bombings and mortar attacks tore through Shi'ite and Sunni neighborhoods in the capital and to the south, killing at least 45 people.
In the deadliest attack, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowded outdoor market in the Shiite city of Hillah, 95 kilometers south of Baghdad, killing 45 people and wounding at least 150, police said.
The Foreign Ministry official did not give a specific date for the meeting but said it was planned for March and would be the 10th held by Iraq's neighbors but the first in the Iraqi capital. The last such meeting was held in July in Iran.
The government, meanwhile, said it would consider any attack against US forces in this country as an assault against Iraq, but also wants good relations with its big eastern neighbor, Iran, underscoring the delicate balance it faces in keeping the rivalry between the two countries from spilling over its borders.
Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh's comments came amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, following the arrest of five Iranians in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil and the January 20 attack to the south in Karbala in which four US soldiers were kidnapped and slain. A fifth was killed in the raid.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said there was a "political and moral difference" between what the United States and the Iranians are doing in Iraq, reiterating allegations that Tehran has been supporting Shi'ite militias that have been blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in Iraq.
"There's been increased evidence over that time that Iran has given this kind of assistance to the Shia insurgency groups in southern Iraq. They've attacked British soldiers near Basra, and they've now begun to mount those operations throughout the country, at least in the Baghdad region as well," he said in an interview with NPR.
Offering the first indication of the war's toll on regular Iraqis this year, a Health Ministry official said 1,990 civilians had been killed in violence in January, a more than threefold increase from the 548 civilians the ministry reported killed in the same month last year. Counts kept by other groups, including the UN, have listed far higher numbers.
The official said 1,936 civilians also had been wounded, according to the figures, which were compiled from daily reports sent by morgues and hospitals nationwide.
Figures provided by the Defense and Interior ministries also showed that 100 Iraqi security forces were killed in January, while 593 insurgents were killed and 1,926 detained.
A Foreign Ministry official, said invitations to a meeting in March have been issued to Jordan, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria, as well as Egypt, Bahrain, the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Conference and the United Nations.
Similar meetings have been held in recent years in Turkey, Iran and Egypt but without any significant results. This would be the first to be held in the violence-ridden Iraqi capital, the official said.
The announcement came a day after officials said Iraq has indefinitely halted all flights to and from Syria and closed a border crossing with Iran as the government prepares for a new US-Iraqi security crackdown aimed at crushing violence in the capital and surrounding regions.
Sectarian violence continued Thursday. Attackers strolled into the Maktabat outdoor market in the center of Hillah about 6 p.m. as shoppers were buying food for their evening meals. Police said they stopped one of the men who appeared suspicious and he detonated his explosives. The second attacker who was walking behind him then set off his own explosives belt, police added.
Hillah was the scene of one of the deadliest attacks in the Iraq war, when a suicide car bomber killed 125 people on February 28, 2005.
Earlier Thursday, a parked car bomb exploding at a bus stop near a busy shopping area around Rusafi Square on Rashid Street in central Baghdad, killed six people and wounded 12, police said.
A bomb also ripped the roof off a minibus in the predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Karradah, another popular capital shopping area, killing six people and wounding eight, police said, adding that the explosive was left in a bag by a passenger who got off the bus just before it detonated.
The blast sent up a plume of black smoke and devastated the blue-and-white bus, leaving charred seats jutting up from the twisted metal frame.
"We heard a big explosion and we rushed to the street to see the bus on fire and some wounded people jumping from the bus and falling on the ground," witness Jamal Ali said. "They were crying for help and some residents took them to the hospital without waiting for the ambulances. Only the driver was unhurt."
The bombings came hours after mortar rounds slammed into the Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah for the third day in a row, killing five people and wounding 12, hospital and police officials said.
The mortars struck about a kilometer from the revered Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque.
"What have we done to be attacked like this almost every day?" asked Saad Abdul-Karim, 50, whose son was wounded when their house was hit.
A US soldier also died Thursday of wounds sustained in fighting two days ago in Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said.
The developments came a day after it was revealed that Iraq has indefinitely halted all flights to and from Syria and closed a border crossing with Iran as the government prepares for the new US-Iraqi security crackdown aimed at crushing violence in the capital and surrounding regions.
An airport official said flights to and from Syria would be canceled for at least two weeks and that service had been interrupted Tuesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal the information.
Lawmaker Hassan al-Sunneid, a member of parliament's Defense and Security Committee, said the move "was in preparation for the security plan. The state will decide when the flights will resume."
The actions were seen as a signal to both countries not to interfere in Iraq's affairs as US and Iraqi forces prepare for the security sweep.

Iraq-Currency :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq

-Currency
A week of high demands for Dollar in Iraqi auction
By Dergham Mohammed Ali
Baghdad, Feb 1, (VOI) – The Iraqi central bank auction on Thursday ended a week of a relatively high demand for dollars with the exchange rate was almost stable in the daily auction that run on Sunday through Thursday.


Iraq-Currency
A week of high demands for Dollar in Iraqi auction
By Dergham Mohammed Ali
Baghdad, Feb 1, (VOI) – The Iraqi central bank auction on Thursday ended a week of a relatively high demand for dollars with the exchange rate was almost stable in the daily auction that run on Sunday through Thursday.
The demand for dollar was slightly lower on Thursday, the last trading session this week, reaching $86.490 million compared to $92.165 million on Wednesday in Iraq’s central bank daily auction.
Sunday's session this week saw the biggest demand rise recorded in the four sessions held this week, for Tuesday was an off-day for the auction because of Aashura holiday in Iraq, as bids jumped $99.235 million.
In its daily statement on Thursday the bank said it covered all bids which were $28.540 million in cash and $57.950 million in foreign transfers at an exchange rate of 1,290 dinars per dollar, two ticks lower than Wednesday’s rate.
Sixteen banks participated in Thursday’s auction but none offered to sell dollars.
Economist Abdul-Razzaq Sadeq al-Abaiji told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) the slight decline in the demand would not passively affect the central bank daily auction as this week's trading sessions witnessed the highest dealings in a week over months.
The economist who branded this week as "a week of high demands for dollar in the daily auction" blamed the decline in Thursday's demand for the unexpected drop in the exchange rate.
The exchange rate was stable at 1292 dinars per dollar from last Thursday but it was lower to 1290 in today's session.

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?rid...1d0aaa23b24a75

Iraq oil negotiations begin again
Posted on : 2007-02-01 | Author : Energy News Editor
News Category : Energy


BAGHDAD, Feb. 1 (UPI) Iraqi oil law negotiations have begun again as a Kurdistan delegation arrived in Baghdad amid speculation over the law's status.

The Voices of Iraq news agency reports the team representing the Kurdistan Regional Government is in Baghdad this week to make progress on the few remaining sticking points on a national hydrocarbon law governing oil and natural-gas development in the country.

A Kurdish delegation led by Kurdistan Natural Resources Minister Ashti Haurami is currently on a visit to Baghdad to resume negotiations with the federal government on working out a final draft for the oil draft law, KRG spokesman Khaled Saleh said. Iraq has some of the largest oil reserves in the world, but development has been slowed by facilities in disrepair and enduring war and attacks.

The law has been touted as a way to increase investment in the country and setting the ground rules for signing contracts, though the increased security situation would prevent any real boots or dollars on the ground.

But the central government and the Kurds in the semiautonomous north have yet to agree on who would have final say over contracts and the exact percentage of and mechanism for oil revenue disbursement.

Officials of the Iraq Oil Ministry had said the deal had been reached, a claim KRG Prime Minister Nigervan Barazani immediately denied.

Iraq produces about 2 million barrels a day currently, down from the nearly 2.6 million barrels daily before the war.


Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Originally Posted by MC Dig

I am all for $1.29 and see no obstacles to an r/v at that rate. However, if you won't get there by scooting the decimal. It works like this:

Right now
1 USD = 1290 IQD or 1 IQD = .0007751 USD
move the decimal over 3 spots gets you
1 USD = 1.290 IQD or 1 IQD = .7751 USD

So as you can see a decimal move or three spaces, at the current rate makes each Dinar worth about 77 cents.

Perhaps we should make this sticky, about every couple of weeks this math thing keeps popping up and people keep saying a decimal move is going to make the dinar worth $1.29. This is not the case.

I would not be at all surprised at an r/v of $1.29 I am not saying that this is not likely or that they can't do it. They can do whatever they want and I believe that $1.29 is a possibility and a good thing. However they will not get there by shifting the decimal over three spaces.

Peace
Michael
aspiotisdesign.com

Based on this then, the dinar would really be revalued to the Euro, which is now 1 Euro = .7679 USD

Same article but includes a summary:


Good News
Iraq May Enter the World Trade Organization
Conference To Discuss Iraq Joining
Posted 1 hr. 19 min. ago
Voices of Iraq reports today on a conference to discuss Iraq and its possible joining of the World Trade Organization.

A summary:

USAID, in cooperation with the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and under the auspices of Microsoft Corporation, held a conference Thursday in Amman Jordan to discuss the conditions of Iraq's accession to the World Trade Organization.

George Howell, a USAID official who specializes in Iraqi economic affairs said that the conference focused on investment in Iraq. He said that at the end of the coming February Iraq would have its first meeting with WTO officials, and that WTO accession for Iraq was part of USAID's projects for the country.

Howell said: "We are working now with Iraqi banks to spread new styles of accounting in addition to the work we are doing in order to achieve Iraqi accession to the WTO." He said the goals of the USAID and the Iraqi government were to to increase the opportunities for Iraq's unemployed by increasing the number of investment companies in Iraq, and drawing more foriegn investment to the country, by defining the opportunities for investment in Iraqi companies and by easing entry of foreign investors into Iraqi firms.

IraqSlogger: Iraq May Enter the World Trade Organization

I know some folks are really getting wrapped around the axle over this decimal thing. But all they are saying is that the dinar will be pegged to the dollar at the dollar to euro rate. The dinar currently valued to the dollar at a rate the is close to dollar euro rate if you move the decimal to the left. ie. 1290 would be 1.290. Thats all. And it just a rumor anyway. I like it a lot, but still a rumor. And I thank Mrs. CK for putting it out there.

Regarding the "February next" statement...I am to understand and believe that it is meaning THIS February. It's their next February.

We have to remember that they phrase things differently in the ME...like when they say "Saturday next" or "next Saturday", it means two days from now...the next Saturday, when most of us think next Saturday would mean a week from this Saturday.