Thread: Iraq/Dinar News up until March 18th Midnight ctz

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Retired parliamentarians discussed in a private meeting
The news has been added on 3-18-2007, 18:8

عمان - واع -Amman-conscious -

وكالاتAgencies

Before the House to discuss the retirement law, and passage to help millions of citizens resorted to discuss the pension rights of its members in a private meeting yesterday. And there is nothing wrong for the Council to consider the rights of deputies, but there is a worry people, or at least hundreds of thousands of retirees to turn the priorities of the parliament in this form.

There is reason for concern, as to why the discussion of these (rights) in a private meeting, Alice clear that the Parliament (has) feared the anger of pensioners who have lived a long time, hoping his name (Eightieth%) .. And who remained harvesting Almanshitat statements and the overly long and hopes grassroots.

In fact, no one doubts the sincerity of the people's representatives, but how could people interpret that these representatives of their interests to their roots? While the raging crisis, and exacerbated, nothing whatever Board could not achieve, but managed to achieve the same thing a lot.

There is no objection that it takes deputies in retirement benefits, salaries and official passports to travel convenient, as they are the leaders and it is alright to look to the interests of the people, which is first and foremost in custody pending their necks.

Iraq experts say draft oil industry law fraught with problems
03-18-2007, 03h46
AMMAN (AFP)

Some Iraqi oil experts and politicians are aghast over their government's approval of a bill that many fear will deliver the country's oil wealth to international firms on a platter.

In February, capping months of bitter wrangling, the Baghdad government approved a draft law that aims to distribute revenue from crude oil exports equitably across Iraq's 18 provinces and open the sector to foreign investors.

The multi-party government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sees the legislation as a key plank in moves to reunite a country torn apart by sectarian violence, and hopes that parliament will ratify the bill in May.

But former Iraqi oil industry officials, experts and lawmakers gathered in Jordan to debate the bill have warned that the timing is wrong, and expressed strong concerns that Iraq would lose control of its own "black gold."

"There are many question marks hanging over this draft law," said Dhia al-Bakaa, former president of the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO).

"Why the timing? Why the hurry when we still lack political, economic and security stability," Bakaa asked a recent conference organised by the non-governmental Iraqi Centre for Strategic Studies.

"The Iraqi National Oil Company should have been restructured before the government endorsed the draft law, to allow INOC to develop the giant oil fields so that they would not face pressure and extortion in the future."

Issam Chalabi, an oil minister under executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, said the bill did not take "into account our greater national interests."

It was adopted "to satisfy US President George W. Bush," who called on the newly installed Maliki government last June to restore electricity in Iraq, adopt a new investment law and restructure the oil industry, he said.

Chalabi also charged that Iraqi oil exports over the past four years have gone "unchecked and unaccounted for."

Iraq's proven oil reserves, estimated at 115 billion barrels, are thought to be the third largest in the world, behind Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Since the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi production has tumbled from 3.5 million barrels per day to around two million. Chalabi said Iraq has been exporting around 1.5 million bpd.

Faleh al-Khayat, a former head of planning at the oil ministry, warned that "major foreign oil firms are greedy and will covet Iraq's oil wealth" if the bill is adopted.

"If Iraq's giant oilfields are developed they would yield 80 percent of Iraq's proven reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels," he said.

MP Saleh Mutlak of Iraq's National Dialogue Front echoed him: "We have no need for foreign companies. We are experienced enough to reap the fruit of our wealth."

Mutlak also said he feared the bill may not live up to government hopes that it will unify Iraq.

"We don't want a new law that will further divide us. We need a law that will unite the Iraqi people," he said.

Most oil production is in the Shiite south, with the best prospects for new finds centred on the Kurdish north. The northern oil hub of Kirkuk is disputed between Kurdish and Arab leaders.

Motlak said parliament in Baghdad should not ratify the bill "until we reach the appropriate climate for investments in Iraq."

MP Ali Mashhadani agreed.

"Our oil wealth is black gold that must be kept underground until security conditions are appropriate to take advantage of it. It has been entrusted to our safekeeping by the people we represent," he said.

According to Mashhadani "Iraq has sold 125 billion dollars worth of oil since the start of the US-led occupation."

The Iraqi people have not benefited from this revenue and "are eating garbage," Mashhadani said, suggesting that income from oil sales be given to the people in the form of state-subsidised "monthly rations cards."

Iraq experts say draft oil industry law fraught with problems

Shahrastani : Iraq possesses huge oil wealth

The oil minister Hussein Shahrastani believed that Iraq possesses huge oil wealth is much greater than some imagine.

He said in a statement to journalists committee of senior jurists and experts and advisers in the ministries of oil and justice is putting the final touches on a comprehensive bill to regulate and ambitious oil and gas sector in the coming stage.

He added that the law is based on the development of a comprehensive national strategy for the development of the existing oil fields and intensify prospecting and encourage foreign companies to invest in the giant energy sector.

Cross-Shahrastani and expressed hope that Iraq will regain its prominent role in international forums as one of the biggest oil-exporting countries in the world, and reach annual production capacity to about five million barrels per day over the next few years, specifically in the beginning of the year 2010.

وکالة ال�رات العراقية للانباء

Cheers!
DayDream

Originally Posted by DayDream

Shahrastani : Iraq possesses huge oil wealth

The oil minister Hussein Shahrastani believed that Iraq possesses huge oil wealth is much greater than some imagine.

He said in a statement to journalists committee of senior jurists and experts and advisers in the ministries of oil and justice is putting the final touches on a comprehensive bill to regulate and ambitious oil and gas sector in the coming stage.

He added that the law is based on the development of a comprehensive national strategy for the development of the existing oil fields and intensify prospecting and encourage foreign companies to invest in the giant energy sector.

Cross-Shahrastani and expressed hope that Iraq will regain its prominent role in international forums as one of the biggest oil-exporting countries in the world, and reach annual production capacity to about five million barrels per day over the next few years, specifically in the beginning of the year 2010.

وکالة ال�رات العراقية للانباء

Cheers!
DayDream

Already been reports that if certain Oil Companies could just get started that they could produce twice the amont of Oil now being pumped to 6 million Barrels aday in a short time. What Country wants their Oil pumped that fast. So the regualtions have to be put in Place. Just get it done.

probably already posted:

16 March 2007

U.S. Envoy to United Nations Reports Progress in Iraq
Wolff cites security operations, laws, economic plans as promising signs

By David Shelby
USINFO Staff Writer




Acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff (© AP Images)Washington – Acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff highlighted numerous areas of progress in Iraq over the past three months as he presented the Multinational Force-Iraq’s (MNF-I) quarterly report to the U.N. Security Council March 15.

“Despite the sobering scale of violent attacks, the Iraqi government and people continue to pursue their political and economic development and security goals,” Wolff told council members.

Wolff said Iraqi security forces are taking the lead in a greater number of security operations, and he said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Baghdad Security Plan is showing encouraging preliminary signs.

“Although it is too early to point to a firm trend, the initial security effort under the new plan has recently reduced violence in Baghdad,” he said.

On the political side, Wolff pointed to the creation of the Independent Higher Election Commission as a positive step toward holding provincial elections. He also hailed the proposed hydrocarbons law, which he said would ensure “national control and equitable distribution of Iraq's oil wealth.”

The ambassador noted that Iraqi Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi was scheduled to present details of the International Compact for Iraq to the United Nations March 16. This compact lays out a series of economic reforms the Iraqi government pledges to undertake in exchange for financial support from the international community. Wolff called it “a key component in Iraq's efforts to complete its transition to financial self-sufficiency and integration into the regional and global economy.”

In opening remarks to the U.N. meeting on the compact March 16, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the compact "should be seen as a tool for unlocking Iraq’s own potential," adding that it "seeks to achieve concrete results in the areas of public sector resource management, institution-building and human development, in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals."

Wolff said attacks on infrastructure have decreased, but he said administrative weaknesses have prevented the government from significantly improving the delivery of services to its citizens.

He also raised the issue of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons, who now number an estimated 3.7 million. He said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is seeking $60 million over the next two years to help these populations.

Wolff underscored the importance of U.N. operations in helping Iraq make progress. “U.N. leadership and expertise will continue to be needed as Iraq moves forward to prepare for provincial elections, conduct possible referenda, continue work on national reconciliation and the constitutional review, as well as implement the International Compact,” he said.

According to Security Council resolutions, the MNF-I is required to provide the council with quarterly reports on its progress toward fulfilling its mandate.

The full text of Wolff's statement is available on the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Web site. The full text of Ban's statement is available on the United Nations Web site.

For more information on U.S. policies, see Iraq Update.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: USINFO - The United States Department of State)



This page printed from: U.S. Envoy to United Nations Reports Progress in Iraq

this one too on the already...

16 March 2007

U.N. Compact Could Help Transform Iraq Economy
New benchmarks will encourage economic reform, Treasury official says

The following op-ed article by Deputy Secretary of Treasury Robert Kimmitt was published in the March 16 edition of The Washington Post. There are no republication restrictions.

(begin byliner)


A Strong Fiscal Framework for Iraq
By Robert M. Kimmitt

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi will host a major international conference at the United Nations today to discuss "The International Compact With Iraq," an ambitious framework for transforming the Iraqi economy. This initiative is designed to help achieve within five years Iraq's vision of a stable and prosperous nation underpinned by a self-sustaining economy.

As President Bush's envoy to the international compact, I traveled to Baghdad last July for the launch of the initiative and later attended preparatory meetings in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The compact to be presented today calls for Iraq to commit to specific economic benchmarks, including a series of reform efforts such as transparency in the hydrocarbon sector, private-sector development, investment promotion and a restructuring of the banking sector. In turn, donors will provide technical assistance, debt forgiveness and other financial support to help reintegrate Iraq into the international community and complete its reconstruction.

Iraq is committed to economic reform and has met the guidelines set out by the International Monetary Fund [IMF] since 2004 to encourage growth. The government has implemented tighter monetary policies to control inflation, liberalized official fuel prices and imports, limited government spending on employee wages, improved a fiscally unsustainable pension law and made important strides in developing an electronic payments system to reduce dependence on cash transactions. These changes have been possible because Iraqi leaders have worked diligently to put their country's financial house in order. They also demonstrate that Iraq will work to implement the agreements in the compact.

It is promising that the reforms enacted thus far have been successful. The IMF estimates the growth of Iraq's economy at 3 percent over the past year, with oil revenue totaling $29.5 billion. The Iraqi cabinet's recent approval of a new hydrocarbons framework law is an important development in strengthening the economy. This legislation is critical because it shares oil revenue proportionally among all Iraqi citizens. It also sets the ground rules for managing oil production and sends a strong signal of economic liberalization to the world. When it is passed by the Iraqi legislature, this law will enable government leaders to negotiate with foreign companies to open up investment in the country's oil sector.

Another critical component to rebuilding Iraq's economy is ensuring that this revenue gets to the people. Now that Iraq's parliament has passed the budget for 2007, Iraqi officials have emphasized the importance of using the $10 billion set aside for capital investment and reconstruction to bring tangible benefits to citizens. To encourage budget accountability, they have stipulated that ministries and provinces that fail to perform by midyear may have a portion of their funding transferred. Iraq held a conference earlier this month to outline these new budget procedures for approximately 200 officials from both the central government and the provinces, including cabinet ministers, ministerial officials, heads of anti-corruption bodies, provincial governors and council chairmen.

The United States is working to support these efforts through initiatives such as the recent appointment of Ambassador Tim Carney as coordinator for economic transition in Iraq. The U.S. government hosted a budget execution conference last week for coalition provincial reconstruction team members to familiarize coalition advisers with Iraq's new budget process. President Bush has already announced an expansion of these teams, which work in the provinces to help Iraqis build their government. Bringing these efforts together will harmonize U.S. and coalition technical assistance with Iraq's budget objectives.

The challenges ahead are great, but today at the United Nations the government of Iraq will take an important step forward in cooperation with the international community. Iraqi officials have demonstrated their dedication to undertaking the hard work necessary to successfully carry out this initiative. This framework will enable Iraq to establish an economic foundation built upon good governance, the rule of law, a solid budgetary structure and strong, credible institutions.

The writer is deputy secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

(end byliner)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: USINFO - The United States Department of State)



This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/di...52saikceinawz0

Too soon to weigh impact of troop ‘surge’ in Iraq: Gates
(AFP)

18 March 2007



WASHINGTON - US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said on Sunday it was too soon to know whether the US troop ‘surge’ in Iraq is making progress, as the White House fended off heavy pressure to wind up the war four years after it began.


Eight weeks into President George W. Bush’s last-ditch plan to send 21,500 more combat troops to Iraq to quell out-of-control violence in Baghdad and Al Anbar provinces, Gates said operations needed a few more months before a real estimate of progress can be made.

‘I think that the way I would characterize it is, so far so good,’ said Gates, adding however that ‘it’s very early’ to make a more definitive assessment.

‘General (David) Petraeus, the commander out there, has said that it will probably be summer before we know whether we’re being successful or not,’ he told CBS television’s ‘Face the Nation.’

Gates added that he is also generally happy with how Iraqi forces are performing since the United States began deploying its reinforcements, which, with support troops will number more than 25,000.

‘I would say that the Iraqis are meeting the commitments that they have made to us, that they have made the appointments, the troops that they have promised are showing up,’ Gates said.

‘We’re basically buying them time,’ Gates said.

‘That’s the whole purpose of this strategy. They are going to have to step up to the plate, and we can help them by giving them the time to do that, and to make their military forces able to carry the burden by themselves.’

Gates was speaking ahead of the fourth anniversary of the March 20, 2003 US invasion to depose Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, as hundreds of thousands of people attended protests worldwide against the war.

In the United States, tens of thousands joined weekend demonstrations in Washington and across the country, demanding an immediate pullout from Iraq, where more than 3,200 US soldiers have died, including eight more this weekend.

But on Saturday, Bush defended the war effort and warned that an early withdrawal would be ‘disastrous.’

In his weekly radio address he reiterated his determination to veto any measure from the opposition Democrat-controlled Congress to mandate a pullout from Iraq.

On Thursday the Senate rejected a Democrat bill to set a timetable to remove combat troops by March 2008.

But next week the House of Representatives is expected to consider crucial budget legislation for the war that carries a clause requiring a US withdrawal by September 2008.

‘Congress needs to approve emergency funding for our troops, without strings and without delay. If they send me a bill that does otherwise, I will veto it,’ Bush said Saturday.

Separately Sunday, White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said setting a troop deadline would leave Iraq as a safe haven for terrorists.

‘We need to get into a position where the Iraqis can take responsibility for

Khaleej Times Online - Too soon to weigh impact of troop ‘surge’ in Iraq: Gates

Iraq navy to acquire 21 new vessels
(AFP)

18 March 2007



BAGHDAD - The Iraqi navy plans to acquire 21 new vessels, including four new patrol ships from Italy costing 100 million dollars, US and British naval officers said Sunday.


Its manpower will also swell from a current 1,200 personnel to between 2,000 and 2,500 by 2010, US navy Captain Michael Zamesnik told reporters.

The modernisation programme will also see the Iraqi navy buying three Malaysian-manufactured patrol boats, he added.

‘The Iraqi navy has taken great strides in rebuilding itself from the ravaged effects of war,’ said Zamesnik, who is part of the transition team working with the fledgling force.

He said the navy was being developed with the aim of ensuring ‘the security and protection of Iraqi territorial waters, key infrastructure and to counter terrorism, smuggling and illegal activity at sea.’

Captain T. Radakin of Britain’s Royal Navy said the Iraqi navy had already made significant progress in the past three years.

‘There has been significant reduction in piracy activities, smuggling oil oil,’ he said.

Roughly half of the navy’s current personnel are former members of Saddam Hussein’s armed forces, the two officers said.

‘In the officers cadre, about 75 to 80 percent are from the previous regime,’ Zamesnik added.

Khaleej Times Online - Iraq navy to acquire 21 new vessels

The Secretary-General of the United Nations calls to support the "normalization" of Iraq
17 / 03 / 2007

.Reuters) - The Secretary General of the United Nations that the international community Ji Moon on Friday to support a five-year plan for the reconstruction of Iraq and described as a tool to release the energies of Iraq.

He disclosed that Adel Abdel Mahdi Iraqi Vice President unveiled an international agreement with Iraq, which calls for international support for Iraq at the financial, political and technical support for Iraq to apply political and security reforms and economic.

The agreement, which was discussed more than 80 state objectives to be obtained by Iraq in the next five years include the annual economic targets. It also includes a list of laws the government hopes to approval by the end of 2007.

He said that during a meeting to discuss the agreement "must be seen as an instrument of the agreement to release the energies of Iraq .. The challenges ahead are enormous. I am sure that all of you will agree that we can not leave Iraq alone to deal with. "

He added : "It is breakfast hearts to see almost daily attacks on innocent civilians have great suffering and pain ... Away from the political violence and sectarian conflicts are exhausted the patience of a humanitarian crisis and the ability of ordinary citizens to take their daily lives. "

He said that this is the reason that the agreement, which he described as "a framework for the normalization of" badly needs of Iraq are suffering from communal violence that rich nations except the United States were reluctant to help.

He said Robert Kimmitt, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury said to journalists after the meeting : "Success in Iraq will be achieved through a political, security and economic."

He added, "There are places in Iraq are already secure enough to provide the services for the reconstruction and other essential services for the Iraqi people. We must move in this regard and we must be ready when other places were safe. "

He said Ibrahim Gambari, Special Adviser to the United Nations on the plan that will now form a secretariat for the agreement under the joint chairmanship of the United Nations and Iraq.

Kimmitt said that the expected formal announcement of the agreement by the end of April, when added to the agreement, as expected, a number of States and pledging aid.

Under the agreement pledges Iraq strengthen its security and the establishment of the rule of law in all state institutions and the support and protection of human rights and tackling corruption and the reform of the oil and agriculture industries.

وThe agreement that Iraq hoped to achieve an economic growth rate of 15.4% during 2007 compared with three per cent during 2006. The plan anticipates that Iraq achieve a growth rate of 12.9% in 2008 and 2009 and 9.8% in 2010 and 5.3% in 2011.

Under the plan, Iraq will seek to increase its production of crude oil to 3.5 million barrels per day by the year 2011, thus making the proceeds of Iraq almost two examples of the export of crude oil to about $ 50 billion.

The plan also aims to produce 700 thousand barrels per day of refining products by the year 2011.

Since the American invasion in 2003 ranged Iraqi oil production around two million barrels per day and exports 1.5 million barrels daily. .Before the war, production was slightly less than three million barrels per day and exports about two million.

Gambari said, "We can not expect them to do everything at once.He added that as long as Baghdad is committed to the implementation of the terms of the agreement in a timely manner, it is incumbent upon the international community to lend a helping hand.

By Michelle Nichols

marsadiraq.com

A five-year plan for the reconstruction of Iraq
18 / 03 / 2007

Annual growth rates and achieving security and the rule of law and protection of human rights and tackling corruption
A five-year plan for the reconstruction of Iraq
New York agencies : The just Abdalmahdi Iraqi Vice President that he had a sense of satisfaction with the results of the International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq, which is sponsored by the United Nations and attended by some 90 countries including Iran, Syria and a number of international institutions.
Radio and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Saturday quoted Abd al-Mahdi, who heads the Iraqi delegation at the conference saying> The Congress pointed out that the Iraqi government has carried out its commitments, and it is the turn of the international community to come forward and the launch by the end of next April <.
He described the five-year plan for economic reconstruction and political reform as a positive step towards a democratic Iraq, pointing out that Iraq wants to be the legacy of the current crises of the past.
He Abdel Mahdi very pleased with the results of the conference, pointing out that the importance of extracting Iraq from its current assistance of the international community.
A Abdalmahdi during the conference on an ambitious plan for the five-year economic restructuring and political reform in Iraq, and called for international support for the plan, which aims at achieving financial self-sufficiency and the integration of Iraq into the world economy.
The plan includes setting targets annual growth and the reform of the oil industry, agriculture and building security forces and establish the rule of law and deal with corruption, as demanded by the Iraqi reforms, as well as international financial support and organize a conference of donors by the end of next April.
The United Nations intends to hold a meeting at the end of April at the latest to discuss the international donor pledges to support reconstruction plan in Iraq.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, said in an opening speech at the meeting closed on the conference, known as the International Covenant with Iraq, that the organization is committed to supporting the global application of the Covenant .. He voiced hope that this gathering is a message to the Iraqi people to be encouraged to play its role in restoring security and peace, and that sends a strong message that the international community is behind them and supports their efforts.
Mahdi and pledged to adopt legislation for the distribution of dividends oil wealth between the regions of the country, and announced a plan for amnesty for the gunmen who renounce violence.
He said Abdel-Mahdi> look forward to pull Iraq out of its crisis really help of the international community <.
The plan includes economic growth of 15.4% in 2007, compared with only 3% last year.
The plan aims to increase the country's oil exports to 3.5 million barrels a day by 2011, which will double the annual yield of crude oil exports to reach about $ 50 billion.
He said that it should be considered in the five-year plan as> tool to launch a self-potential of Iraq <.
He added that> challenges ahead are enormous, and I am sure all of you will agree with me that we can not leave Iraq alone faced <.
He pointed out that> that behind political violence and sectarian fighting, political crisis beyond the patience and the ability of ordinary people to cope with their daily life <.
The Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt that the American> success in Iraq will be achieved through a political, security and economic coordinated <.
He added> The Iraqis turn. The question is what would the international community? <.
The United Nations intends to hold a meeting at the end of April at the latest to discuss the international donor pledges to support reconstruction plan in Iraq.

marsadiraq.com