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

Baghdad / Justice : The Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Sheikh Khaled al-Attiyah that the Council will hold a meeting today, Sunday, contrary to the news which reported that Sunday will be an official holiday.

.He said al-Attiyah told reporters yesterday : that the meeting will be held on the scheduled date for continuing research on the agenda of the Council "and the Speaker of the House Mahmoud Almshahadani a number of deputies have complained of the absence of many of their colleagues, thus affecting the quorum and prevented the vote on many decisions.

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The bloc chest return today, Sunday, to the government, parliament and end its boycott, which lasted two months, the political process in Iraq.
جاء ".This came during a joint press conference Untied number of members of parliament bloc with President Mahmoud Almshahadani who said that "the bloc chest decided to return to parliament and the government and engage in business in all, visited the State in addition to the attendance of the meeting of the House of Representatives today."
وعبر".And across the chest bloc members "expressed their thanks and gratitude to Mshahadani pursuit of the bloc in return to the government and Parliament."

وإتهم ار .He accused the Sadri movement, which is led by Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr and Washington yesterday, Saturday, attempting to provoke a confrontation, the impact of detaining one of the most prominent leaders of trend.
وقال ".He said Abdel Mahdi al-Mutairi, a member of the Political Committee of al-Sadr's movement "that the truth behind the arrest Darraji is that the Americans want to target Sadrein and uncover a confrontation with the American forces."
بغداد".The American and Iraqi forces "had been detained Abdel Hadi al-Daraji, spokesman for al-Sadr trend among at least three people in a raid last Friday in northeastern Baghdad."

من.On the other hand, arrived in Baghdad by the Second Brigade of the American band the 82nd Airborne Division, which is part of the forces that President George W. Bush was published in Baghdad, strength and Twenty-one thousand and five hundred soldiers.
ومن .It is planned "to join those forces to the new security campaign aimed at controlling the growing violence in Baghdad," while awaiting the arrival of four other brigades beginning of the current period to the next May.
وكان he Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki "has pledged to publish comparable numbers of Iraqi troops on the streets to maintain security and stability in Baghdad."

على .On the security front Interior Ministry announced that Iraqi special forces managed yesterday, Saturday, killing of 15 suspects of armed groups in the raid and search operations south of Baghdad.
بغداد ".He said ministry spokesman Abdel-Karim Khalaf, "The approximately 100 men of special forces backed by six Iraqi helicopters killed 15 American suspects gunmen in a raid south of Baghdad."
اق ".His successor, "that the force also arrested five people he described as prominent members of an armed organization in Iraq."

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American companies opportunities of industrial investment Research and Minister of Industry and Metals Mr. Fawzi Franzo Hareeri with the major American companies opportunities of industrial investment and in the framework of his tour of the United States of America and called and Minister of Industry and Metals American companies to the Zaroura doing the initiative, and the conduct of surveys and evaluations economic and technical resources for industrial projects during the first half of this year after to be agreed upon and direct the operational work during the second half of the same year and was Minister of Industry and Metals had been submitted a detailed explanation the inclinations of the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Industry and Minerals in the area of encourage investment and build factories the new production and the reconstruction of the companies affiliated with the Ministry, rehabilitation of production lines to take advantage of raw materials available scientific expertise and existing skills in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals where between the Minister that there important regions ready for investment in the throughout Iraq the different Mukda that the initiative to American companies will have a special assessment by the Ministry of of Industry and Minerals so that it reflects the seriousness and commitment of these companies to invest in these vital projects and the task for the economy of Iraq

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl...x%3Fid%3D11563

spokesman for the Ministry of Oil Assem Jihad that 'there are no reservations on the part of any party to a draft bill of oil must pass through the House of Representatives'.

أن ' .The Jihad in a press statement that the 'draft law is not the final figure and the government which will be launched on all representatives of the people'.

.He added that the 'draft of the new law stipulates that goes resources from oil sales to a central fund and distributed to all Iraqis in the provinces, prefectures and by the proportion of the population'.

.He also pointed out that the Jihad 'law allowed Iraqi oil contracts put on the major global oil companies in order to achieve the greatest benefit of Iraq and the competition is open for all'
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl...x%3Fid%3D11560

Originally Posted by neno

SPEAKING OUT AGAINST WAR IN IRAQ IS TOO LITTLE, TOO LATES
at Jan 20, 8:04 PM ET


President Bush's decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, it becomes clear that Gen. Eric Shinseki was right all along. In February 2003, weeks before the invasion began, Shinseki, then the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, testified at a Senate hearing that "several hundred thousand soldiers" would be needed to pacify Iraq after the early rounds of combat.



More Info Here: SPEAKING OUT AGAINST WAR IN IRAQ IS TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE - Yahoo! News

I'm paraphrasing, because I don't recall the exact numbers, but Gen. Shinseki also said "Beware fighting a 12-division war with a 7-division Army."

Negotiating with Baghdad

Soma - by Dr Denise Natali


Recent discussions between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad are part of a larger process of negotiating and non-negotiating Kurdish autonomy in Iraq. They reflect the erratic trajectory of Kurdish-state relations that has fluctuated between compromise and hostility, and the gap between political promises and reality.

That is, during regime-threatening periods successive Iraqi leaders made special efforts to co-opt and control Kurdish communities. They promised Kurdish autonomy, offered privileges to Kurdish tribes, and created dependency through generous state handouts and social welfare programs. However, negotiating Kurdish autonomy was nothing more than a time-gaining tactic used by weak central governments to consolidate power. Even when Iraqi officials signed the so-called 1970 Autonomy Agreement they continued to militarily repress and discriminate against the Kurds. Compromise turned to conflict, terminating any possibility of negotiating with Baghdad.

This pattern of center-periphery behavior has been reinvigorated in post-Saddam Iraq. Like its predecessors, the state elite is unable or disinterested in institutionalizing real Kurdish autonomy, or more specifically, crossing the threshold of Kirkuk. To be sure, the recent rounds of negotiations between the KRG delegation, led by prime minister Nechirvan Barzani, and Iraqi elite in Baghdad have focused on four unresolved and sensitive issues; 1) finances, 2) peshmerga affairs, 3) the petroleum law, and 4) article 140 of the Iraqi constitution. Although initial discussions largely failed the last round that ended in mid December 2006 brought some concessions between the two parties.

Specifically, of the 486 million US dollars demanded by the KRG as part of their unpaid seventeen percent budget allocation, Baghdad has agreed to pay 364 million US dollars in three installments (the remaining amount has been spent by the central government on programs in the north). The Kurdish delegation and Iraqi elite also agreed on the role and mission of the peshmerga forces and joint-sharing of oil revenues in the disputed territories until 2007.

Iraqi premier Nuri Al Maliki even agreed to move forward on implementing article 140, leaving the Kurdish delegation optimistic about the prospects of real Kurdish autonomy in a federal Iraq. Still, important disagreements remain. Even though Baghdad wants Kurdish peshmerga forces incorporated into the Iraqi army and deployed to southern and central Iraq, it has not consented to Kurdish demands that the peshmerga be equipped and trained at the same level as Iraqi troops and paid for as part of the eight billion dollar central government defense budget.

The petroleum law may permit revenue-sharing in the disputed territories until 2007; however, it does not recognize the right of the KRG to independently negotiate its own petroleum contracts after a future referendum, particularly in Kirkuk. Further, even though Maliki has promised to implement article 140 of the constitution there is no guarantee that the Iraqi central government will actually pursue the normalization of Kirkuk, or that the outcome of a referendum will be respected by the majority of non-Kurdish Iraqi populations.

Indeed, current negotiations between the Kurds and central government differ from previous periods, and there is good reason to remain positive about political compromise. Since 2003 Kurdish autonomy has been legitimized in the Constitution, which established the legal framework in which the territorial boundaries of the Kurdistan region will be defined or redefined. The more expansive political space created in the federal Iraqi state has opened the negotiation processes to include a diverse network of legal organizations, including the Committee for Implementing Article 140, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Extra Regional Affairs, the Kirkuk Council, and the Iraqi Property Claims Commission (IPCC), to name a few.

The KRG has also gained greater leverage in making its nationalist claims; particularly as south and central Iraq remain mired in political instability and economic deterioration. Even then, most non-Kurdish populations have no commitment to article 140. Sunni Arabs regard Kirkuk and its oil revenues as part of Arab Iraq and not Kurdistan. The Turcoman Front, backed by Turkey, has threatened to boycott the future referendum on Kirkuk. Radical Shi'a communities supported by Moqtada Al Sadr groups are being encouraged to stay in Kirkuk and destabilize the region.

While the vast majority of Kurds want Kirkuk and other disputed territories to become legally part of Kurdistan, others, including Sunni Arabs, Turcoman, and small group of Kurdish Kirkukis, want to create an independent Kirkuk province with special status from Iraq and Kurdistan. Given the constraints to negotiating Kirkuk the Kurdish elite must prepare for non-negotiation as well as compromise. Should the Iraqi elite fail to cross the threshold of Kirkuk then the relationship between the Kurds and Baghdad is likely to follow the same pattern of violence that it has in the past.

Kurdish officials should re-examine the realities of unilaterally implementing a referendum and assuming control of Kirkuk and other disputed territories. They will have to reconsider the political and economic consequences of a conflict with Baghdad or Turkey over Kirkuk and the impact on local populations, economic development, and the legitimacy of their government. Threats to ‘annexing or occupying’ Kirkuk are meaningless if the Kurds have no real leverage to implement or sustain such measures.

Finally, the Kurdish elite must realize that de-institutionalizing Iraqi borders is not the opposite of institutionalizing Kurdish ones. If a referendum is implemented per article 140 of the constitution and the disputed territories become part of the Kurdistan region, then Kurdish officials will have to engage in their own process of realigning these areas to the rump of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurds will have to make their own concessions among competing local and regional stakeholders, as well as to develop a cohesive plan for decentralized administration, power-sharing, and resource allocation in the region.

Negotiating with Baghdad

Draft Law Keeps Central Control Over Oil in Iraq

The New York Times - by JAMES GLANZ

BAGHDAD — After months of tense bargaining, a cabinet-level committee has produced a draft law governing Iraq’s vast oil fields that would distribute all revenues through the federal government and grant Baghdad wide powers in exploration, development and awarding major international contracts.

The draft, described Friday by several members of the committee, could still change and must be approved by the Iraqi cabinet and Parliament before it becomes law. Negotiations have veered off track in the past, and members of the political and sectarian groups with interest in the law could still object as they read it more closely.

But if approved in anything close to its present form, the law would appear to settle a longstanding debate over whether the oil industry and its revenues should be overseen by the central government or the regions dominated by Kurds in the north and Shiite Arabs in the south, where the richest oil fields are located.

The draft comes down firmly on the side of central oversight, a decision that advocates for Iraq’s unity are likely to trumpet as a triumph. Because control of the oil industry touches so directly on the interests of all Iraq’s warring sectarian groups, and therefore the future of the country, the proposed law has been described as the most critical piece of pending legislation.

“This will give us the basis of the unity of this country,” said Ali Baban, the Iraqi planning minister and a member of the Sunni-dominated Tawafaq party who serves on the negotiating committee. “We pushed for the center in Baghdad, but we didn’t neglect the Kurds and other regions,” Mr. Baban said.

Negotiators said that the final weeks of wrangling on the draft focused on a federal committee that would be set up to review the oil contracts. Kurdish, and to some extent Shiite, parties wanted to maintain regional control over the contracts, while Sunni Arabs, with few oil resources on territories they dominate, insisted that the federal committee have the power to approve contracts, rather than just reviewing them and offering advice.

The negotiators appear to have finessed that issue by allowing the regions to initiate the process of tendering contracts before sending them to Baghdad for approval. To limit the powers of the committee, they also have drawn up an exacting set of criteria to govern the deliberations of the committee rather than simply relying on its independent discretion. And in a bow to the Kurds, who objected to the use of the word “approve” in describing the committee’s duties, the draft law says instead that the committee may review and reject contracts that do not meet the criteria.

The draft law would also radically restructure parts of Iraq’s state-controlled oil industry by giving wide independence — possibly leading to eventual privatization — to the government companies that control oil exports, the maintenance of pipelines and the operation of oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.

The law would also revive the Iraqi National Oil Company, a countrywide umbrella organization that was essentially closed by Saddam Hussein.

At the same time, the law would place substantial administrative authorities outside Baghdad by allowing any region that produces at least 150,000 barrels of oil a day to create its own operating company, according to Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister and member of a powerful coalition of Shiite political parties who also serves on the negotiating committee.

Barham Salih, a deputy prime minister and the chairman of the negotiating committee, said that the precise wording of clauses could still change. He was speaking by telephone from Iraqi Kurdistan, where Mr. Salih, a Kurd, said he was still working to cement support for some provisions in the draft law.

“This is the most important piece of legislation that Iraq will adopt, and it is not a surprise that it is taking long, tedious rounds of negotiations,” Mr. Salih said. “We are close, but we have not yet closed the deal. We are making progress and need to continue.”

Draft Law Keeps Central Control Over Oil in Iraq

Iraqi Central Bank expects more investments in 2007



MENAFN - 21/01/2007




(MENAFN) The Governor of the Iraqi Central Bank said that the 2007 budget will focus on increasing the investments size and volume in Iraq, Iraq Directory reported.

He indicated that the Central Bank's task is to deal with the changes produced by the development process and to moderate inflation rates.

He added that the bank has raised the exchange rate of the Iraqi Dinar in order to increase the confidence in the Iraqi currency and to reduce the prices of imported goods.

http://www.rolclub.com/iraqi-dinar-d...nk-tank-2.html

Wanadoo Jordan (Welcome To JTG)
News & Politics: News & Politics

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Assad pledges to work to wipe out 'terrorism' in Iraq
20-01-2007 / 17:16
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged to work with the Iraqi authorities to wipe out "terrorism," on the final day of a landmark visit by Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani.


The two heads of state, whose countries only restored relations in November after a 26-year rupture, held "frank, sincere and positive" discussions on the situation both in Iraq and the region, the official SANA news agency said Saturday.

In a joint statement issued as Talabani wrapped up the first visit to Syria by an Iraqi head of state in three decades, the two leaders condemned "all forms of terrorism plaguing the Iraqi people and their institutions, infrastructure and security service."

Assad, whose regime US commanders accuse of turning a blind eye to the smuggling of men and weapons to insurgents in Iraq, joined Talabani in expressing "readiness to work together and do everything possible to eradicate terrorism."

He expressed his "support for the political process under way in Iraq... and the efforts being made by the Iraqi government to achieve national reconcilation and stability."

The two leaders described Talabani's visit as "historic" and said it would "usher in a new phase in fraternal relations."

The Iraqi president hailed the "end of the political rupture between the two countries."

Talabani, a former Kurdish rebel leader whose assumption of Iraq's presidency angered many Arabs, recalled that his country had been a founding member of the Arab League and pledged to "reactivate its Arab role."

The Iraqi president acknowledged the need for "concrete steps to rebuild the armed forces and dissolve militias" connected to Shiite Arab parties that lead the Baghdad government.

"Standing up Iraq's own security forces will pave the way to setting a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops in accordance with UN security Council Resolution 1546."

Talabani said a review of the laws banning middle-ranking and senior officals of Iraq's former ruling Baath party from public life was "among the priorities of the Iraqi government and parliament."

The laws, which were adopted under the US-led occupation in June 2003 have been widely blamed for throwing large numbers of qualified government employees on to dole and into the arms of anti-US insurgents.

Washington has repeatedly accused Damascus of turning a blind eye towards foreign fighters using its territory to enter Iraq and take part in a raging anti-US insurgency, but Baghdad has insisted on building ties.

Syria says that while it has prevented thousands of fighters entering Iraq, its attempts to discuss cooperation to resolve the Iraqi security situation have been rebuffed by the White House.



Wanadoo Jordan

Voices of Iraq / Baghdad
Posted by saleem on Jan 21, 2007 - 03:24 PM
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Iraq-Currency
Dollar bids lower, exchange rates stable in Iraqi auction
By Dergham Mohammed Ali
Baghdad, Jan 21, (VOI) – Dollar demand was lower on Sunday, the first trading session this week, reaching $50.755 million compared to $65.770 million on Thursday in Iraq’s central bank daily auction.


Iraq-Currency
Dollar bids lower, exchange rates stable in Iraqi auction
By Dergham Mohammed Ali
Baghdad, Jan 21, (VOI) – Dollar demand was lower on Sunday, the first trading session this week, reaching $50.755 million compared to $65.770 million on Thursday in Iraq’s central bank daily auction.
In its daily statement on Sunday the bank said it covered all bids which were $22.225 million in cash and $28.530 million in foreign transfers at an exchange rate of 1,300 dinars per dollar, unchanged from Thursday.
Fourteen banks participated in Sunday’s auction and offered to sell $500,000 which the central bank bought all at 1,298 dinars per dollar rate.




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This article is from Aswat al Iraq
Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq

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

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