Thread: Iraq/Dinar News up until March 28th 8PM CT.

Former assistant to the arrest of Muqtada al-Sadr on charges of kidnapping and murder

(صوت العراق) - 23-03-2007(Voice of Iraq) - 23-03-2007
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اعتقال مساعد سابق لمقتدى الصدر بتهمة خطف وقتل جنود أميركيين في كربلاءFormer assistant to the arrest of Muqtada al-Sadr on charges of kidnapping and killing American soldiers in Karbala

سكان مدينة الصدر يطالبون قائد خطة بغداد بعدم إقامة قواعد أميركية في منطقتهمThe population of Sadr City, Baghdad CALL Commander plan to set up bases in the area

بغداد: «الشرق الأوسط»Baghdad :> Middle East>
أعلن الجيش الاميركي أمس اعتقال عدد من الاشخاص، للاشتباه في تورطهم في قتل وخطف خمسة جنود اميركيين في كربلاء، في يناير (كانون الثاني) الماضي، احدهم كان مقربا من مقتدى الصدر، زعيم «جيش المهدي».The American army announced yesterday the arrest of a number of persons suspected of involvement in the killing and kidnapping of five American soldiers in Karbala, in January (January) last one was close to Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of <Mahdi Army>. واوضح بيان للجيش، ان «قوات التحالف اعتقلت في الايام الاخيرة في البصرة والحلة قيس الخزعلي وشقيقه ليث واخرين من المتورطين مباشرة بعملية قتل وخطف خمسة جنود اميركيين في كربلاء في يناير الماضي».The statement by the army, that <coalition forces have arrested in recent days in Basra, Hilla Qais khaz'ali and his brother Leith and others involved directly in the killing and kidnapping of five American soldiers in Karbala last January>. وحسب وكالة الصحافة الفرنسية فان الشقيقين الخزعلي، خصوصا قيس، من الكوادر السابقة في «جيش المهدي»، وكان احد المتحدثين باسم الصدر، خلال المعارك بين الاميركيين و«جيش المهدي» في اغسطس (اب) 2004.According to the French Press Agency, the brothers khaz'ali, especially Qais, of cadres in the previous <Mahdi Army>, and was one of the speakers on behalf of al-Sadr, during the fighting between the Americans and <Mahdi Army> in August 2004 (August). واكد مقربون من التيار الصدري أمس ان قيس الخزعلي انشق عن «جيش المهدي» وشكل مجموعته الخاصة، مشيرين الى شائعات مفادها بانه «يتلقى الدعم من ايران».The close of the current Sadri yesterday that Qais khaz'ali dissented from <Mahdi Army> and the form of his own, pointing out that the rumor that <receives support from Iran>.
وقتل الجنود الخمسة واصيب ثلاثة اخرون بجروح، خلال هجوم في 20 يناير على مركز التنسيق المشترك في كربلاء، خطف خلاله المهاجمون اربعة عسكريين اميركيين عثر على جثثهم في وقت لاحق قرب الحلة.The killing of five soldiers were killed and three others injured during an attack on January 20 on the joint coordination center in Karbala, which the attackers kidnapped four American military found dead later near Hilla. وكان البنتاغون قد اعلن ان الجيش الاميركي يحقق في احتمال تورط ايرانيين في الهجوم، الذي نفذه رجال يرتدون بزات تشبه البزات العسكرية الاميركية.The Pentagon has announced that the American army investigating the possible involvement of the Iranians in the attack, which was carried out by men wearing uniforms similar to the American military. كما اكد مسؤول عسكري رفيع، امكانية تورط ايراني بسبب الطابع المعقد للعملية.The senior military official said, the possibility of Iranian involvement because of the complex nature of the process. وكانت شبكة سي ان ان التلفزيونية الاميركية، قد ذكرت ان الولايات المتحدة تشتبه بتورط ايران في الهجوم، لمعرفة ما اذا كان منفذو العملية ايرانيين او مقاتلين مدربين على ايدي ايرانيين.The CNN, the American television network, has stated that the United States suspects the involvement of Iran in the attack, to determine whether it carried out the operation Iranian fighters or trainers at the hands of the Iranians.

في تطور آخر ذي صلة، طالب ممثلون عن سكان مدينة الصدر والمجلس البلدي فيها، السلطات الامنية العراقية أمس بعدم اقامة «قواعد» اميركية داخل الضاحية الشيعية.In a related development, representatives called on the population of Sadr City, where the municipal council, the Iraqi security authorities yesterday not to establish <rules> American within the Shiite suburb. وتوجه ممثلو السكان والبلدية الى قائد خطة امن بغداد الفريق عبود قنبر ومسؤول العمليات في شرطة ناحية الرصافة اللواء كريم العزي، خلال اجتماع عقد لهذه الغاية، للمطالبة بـ«عدم انشاء قواعد اميركية داخل مدينة الصدر».Directed and representatives of the municipal population and to the commander of the Baghdad security plan Abboud Qambar and the official police operations in the Rusafa Gen. hand cream Azi, in a meeting held for this purpose, calling for b <failure to establish American bases inside Sadr City>. كما طالبوا بـ«عدم اشراك القوات الاميركية في عمليات الدهم والتفتيش»، مشددين على «ضرورة ان تقتصر على القوات العراقية».They also demanded <not to involve American forces in raids and inspections>, stressing <need to be limited to Iraqi forces>. لكنهم دعوا الى «اشراك الاميركيين في خطة الاعمار فقط».They called for <involvement of the Americans in the reconstruction plan, only>. وقد تظاهر الاف من سكان الضاحية الشيعية، معقل «جيش المهدي» بعد صلاة الجمعة الماضي احتجاجا على انشاء مركز اميركي مشترك مع الشرطة العراقية هناك.The thousands of people demonstrated in the Shiite suburb, a stronghold <Mahdi Army> after prayers last Friday in protest against the establishment of the Center for American joint venture with the Iraqi police there. وكان الصدر قد اعلن دعمه لخطة أمن بغداد، التي انطلقت في الرابع عشر من فبراير (شباط) الماضي، بمشاركة نحو 90 الف جندي عراقي واميركي.The al-Sadr has declared its support for Baghdad security plan, which started in the 14th of February last (February), with the participation of about 90 thousand Iraqi soldier and an American. لكنه دعا الجمعة الماضي الى عدم التعاون مع الاميركيين، مشيرا الى «شائعات كاذبة حول مفاوضات وتعاون بين سكان المدينة والقوات الاميركية».But he called last Friday to the lack of cooperation with the Americans, pointing out <false rumors about the negotiations and cooperation between the city's residents and American forces>. وكان مسؤول عسكري اميركي رفيع المستوى، قد اعلن في الثاني من الشهر الحالي ان القوات الاميركية ستبدأ للمرة الاولى اقامة موطئ قدم لها في مدينة الصدر.The American military official high-level meeting, had announced on the second of this month that American forces will for the first time establish a foothold in Sadr City.

Defense Minister : We are ready to take over security responsibility

(صوت العراق) - 23-03-2007(Voice of Iraq) - 23-03-2007
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مباحثات بين الحكومة وجماعات مسلحةTalks between the government and armed groups
كشف مسؤول عراقي أن مباحثات تجري حاليا بين الحكومة العراقية وبعض الجماعات المسلحة، وإنها قد تكون قريبة من الوصول الى نقطة يمكن ان ينضم عدد منها الى حملة من أجل طرد تنظيم القاعدة من العراق، فيما أكد وزير الدفاع العراقي جاهزية قواته لاستلام المسؤولية الأمنية حتى في حالة انسحاب امريكي مفاجئ.The Iraqi official that talks were underway between the Iraqi government and some armed groups, and that it may be close to reaching a point could be a number of them to join a campaign to expel Al-Qaeda from Iraq, while the Iraqi defense minister his troops ready to take over security responsibility even in the case of the withdrawal of American sudden.

وأوضح مسؤول العلاقات الدولية في وزارة الدولة العراقية لشؤون الحوار الوطني سعد المطلبي في تصريح لهيئة الاذاعة البريطانية بثته امس أن الجماعات المسلحة التي يجرى الحوار معها لا ترتبط بتنظيم القاعدة.An official of international relations in the Ministry of State for the Iraqi National Dialogue, logistical Saad said in a statement to the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast yesterday that the armed groups that are not linked to dialogue with Al-Qaida. وأشار الى إن المحادثات ترمي إلى إقناع الجماعات بوقف القتال ضد الحكومة والمساعدة على دحر القاعدة.He pointed out that the talks aimed to convince the groups to stop fighting against the government and helping to defeat Al Qaeda.

وجاء تصريح المطلبي غداة مطالبة نائب الرئيس العراقي طارق الهاشمي بإجراء حوار مع الجماعات المسلحة سعيا لإحلال السلام في العراق.The statement came the day after logistical Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashmi a dialogue with armed groups in order to restore peace in Iraq.

وكان وزير الدفاع العراقي عبدالقادر محمد جاسم قد أكد امكانية فتح حوار مع بعض الجماعات المسلحة التي تؤمن بالديمقراطية، وقال ان على الجميع في العراق أن يأخذ حقه الطبيعي، وأن يكون هناك قرار لجهة واحدة هي الشعب.The Iraqi Defense Minister Abdelkader Jassem Mohammad confirmed the possibility of opening a dialogue with some of the armed groups that believe in democracy, and said that everyone in Iraq take their natural right, and that there should be a decision of the hand and one people.

الى جانب ذلك قال جاسم إن تعزيز الوجود العسكري الأمريكي في العراق قد يستمر أشهرا لكن من غير المرجح أن يمتد لعام 2008.Besides, Jassim said that the strengthening of the American military presence in Iraq may continue for months but it is likely to be extended to 2008.

وقال للصحفيين خلال زيارة للندن إن لواءين عراقيين يضم كل منهما ما بين 4000 و5000 جندي وصلا إلى بغداد ومحافظة ديالى المجاورة في إطار الخطة، وإن لواءين آخرين سيصلان خلال الأسبوع أو الأسبوعين المقبلين.He said to reporters during a visit to London that two brigades of Iraqi each consisting of between 4000 and 5000 soldiers arrived in Baghdad and the neighboring province of Diyala, in the framework of the plan, and the other two brigades al during the week or the next two weeks.

وذكر أن الخطة الأمنية نجحت حتى الآن في تقليل أعمال القتل التي تقوم بها فرق إعدام طائفية وعصابات إجرامية.The security plan has so far succeeded in reducing the killings carried out by firing squad sectarian and criminal gangs.

واكد الوزير جاهزية القوات العراقية لاستلام زمام الامور الامنية في البلاد حتى في ظل انسحاب مفاجئ للقوات الامريكية.The minister emphasized the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over the reins of security matters in the country, even in light of the sudden withdrawal of the American forces.

وقال في مؤتمر صحافي عقده في لندن “ان عام 2007 سيكون حاسما بالنسبة لتدريب الجيش العراقي ليصبح جاهزا للعمل بشكل مستقل دون أي دعم خارجي من القوات الاجنبية”، بيد انه اشار الى أن القوات العراقية تعاني من نقص في معدات النقل والاتصالات، وحث القوات البريطانية المنسحبة على ترك قواعدها وأجهزتها للجيش العراقي.He said in a press conference held in London that "2007 will be crucial for the training of the Iraqi army to be ready to operate independently, without any external support from foreign forces", but he pointed out that Iraqi forces suffer from a shortage of transport and communications equipment, and urged the British troops retreating to leave their bases and of the Iraqi army. (ا.ف.ب، ق.ن.ا)(A. P. B, s. N.. A)

الخليج الاماراتيةGulf Arab Emirates

3 - The Rafidain Bank to create the necessary requirements opened a branch in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, as well as the follow-up to complete the establishment of the struggle. وتتابع الادارة العامة المشاريع الخاصة بعام 2007، مثل انشاء فرع الحلة وفرع ابي الخصيب، ويعمل المصرف حاليا وضمن خطة التوسع في شبكة فروعه، فضلا عن تدريبه للكادر المصرفي من خلال اقامة الدورات المختصة ومنها دورة المخولين (ب) والتي تختم يوم الخامس من نيسان عام 2007.Following public administration projects for 2007, such as the establishment of a branch and the branch of Hilla, Abu al-Khasib, and the bank is currently working within the framework of the plan and the expansion of its branches network, as well as the training of a cadre of the banking system through the establishment of relevant courses, including the authorized (b), which ends on the fifth day of April 2007.

4- تستمر شركة الخدمات المصرفية لنقل العملة الى فروع المصارف الحكومية (الرافدين والرشيد وفروعها في بغداد والمحافظات) وكذلك المصارف الاهلية.4-banking services company continue to transfer currency to the branches of government banks (Rafidain and Rasheed branches in Baghdad and other governorates), as well as private banks.

There's part of it.

Originally Posted by Inscrutable

3 - The Rafidain Bank to create the necessary requirements opened a branch in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, as well as the follow-up to complete the establishment of the struggle. وتتابع الادارة العامة المشاريع الخاصة بعام 2007، مثل انشاء فرع الحلة وفرع ابي الخصيب، ويعمل المصرف حاليا وضمن خطة التوسع في شبكة فروعه، فضلا عن تدريبه للكادر المصرفي من خلال اقامة الدورات المختصة ومنها دورة المخولين (ب) والتي تختم يوم الخامس من نيسان عام 2007.Following public administration projects for 2007, such as the establishment of a branch and the branch of Hilla, Abu al-Khasib, and the bank is currently working within the framework of the plan and the expansion of its branches network, as well as the training of a cadre of the banking system through the establishment of relevant courses, including the authorized (b), which ends on the fifth day of April 2007.

4- تستمر شركة الخدمات المصرفية لنقل العملة الى فروع المصارف الحكومية (الرافدين والرشيد وفروعها في بغداد والمحافظات) وكذلك المصارف الاهلية.4-banking services company continue to transfer currency to the branches of government banks (Rafidain and Rasheed branches in Baghdad and other governorates), as well as private banks.

There's part of it.

So is this when the ISX electronic version will open and take over?

Originally Posted by neno

So is this when the ISX electronic version will open and take over?

That's kind of what they were talking about last night.

The TimesMarch 23, 2007

Kurdish oil move could signal start of Iraqi energy rush Steve Hawkes and Carl Mortished

A scramble for Kurdish oil licences is expected this summer after Ashti Hawrami, the oil minister for Iraq’s Kurdish region, said yesterday that he wants to achieve a production goal of one million barrels a day by 2012.

The Kurdish move signals that Iraq is poised to open its doors to foreign oil investment.

In London yesterday, Dr Hawrami said that the Kurdish region aimed to be the “hub” for Iraq’s future oil industry and would look to sign up to ten exploration contracts by the end of the year.

“I have six or seven contracts on my desk,” he said. “We will listen to any company as long as they have the technical and financial capabilities to do the job. We are not interested in names simply because they sound good.”

Kurdish oil is a first step to developing Iraq’s vast potential. Foreign investors have so far shied away, fearing that investment in the Kurdish region will threaten their chances of winning bigger contracts in the south. Iraq produces only two million barrels a day from ageing reservoirs but has reserves estimated at 110 billion barrels — about three times the oil and gas extracted from the North Sea to date.

Kurdish oil production is negligible but the approval of a countrywide petroleum law, which gives the region the right to negotiate its own contracts, is expected to set off an oil rush.

Wood Mackenzie, the oil consultancy, estimates that the Kurdish region contains between 12 billion and 45 billion barrels of oil and 100 trillion cubic feet of gas. “If this reluctance [of the oil majors] continues, it is likely to be a handful of independents who become the first international oil producers in the new Iraq,” it said.

BG Group and Statoil are among several Western and Chinese majors in talks with the Kurdish authorities. Others include smaller rivals such as UK-listed Sterling Energy.

Paul Mullarkey, BG’s chief business developer, said: “We are considering our position, as we do with any region around the world. But it’s far too early to say how the situation will progress.”

Five minnows are already operating in the Kurdish region, including Turkey’s Genel Enerji and Norway’s DNO. Shares in DNO raced ahead yesterday on reports that Statoil is eyeing its Tawke field in the region, which is poised for production.

DNO has almost completed a pipeline that will link with the northern Iraqi export route from the Kirkuk field via Turkey. Statoil denied it was poised to bid but admitted it was “evaluating opportunities”.

The Kurdish authorities’ ambition has been frustrated by political infighting with Baghdad, which has until recently resisted the Kurdish region’s wish to run its own oil industry.

Under the petroleum law, a 15-strong federal council would have the ultimate approval of all contracts across the Kurdish north and areas run by the Sunni and Shia Muslims. Dr Hawrami said that he was confident that the law would be passed by parliament by the end of May.

He reiterated that the Kurds fully supported plans to share revenue from all Iraq’s oil and gas fields across the various communities. He said that it was the only way to achieve a stable and peaceful Iraq.

Democrats Vow to Bring the Oil Back Home

Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007. By Ken Silverstein.
SourcesThe war in Iraq was never “all about oil,” but the planners of the war obviously factored that Iraq sits atop huge amounts of petroleum into their equations; after all, one of their deeply held ambitions was to open up Iraq's nationalized energy sector to foreign investment after the fighting stopped. American energy companies held similar ambitions. “Iraq,” said Chevron's then-CEO Kenneth Derr all the way back in 1998, “possesses huge reserves of oil and gas—reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to.” Now the Democrats are about to help the Bush Administration and international oil companies achieve that access.

The House will vote as early as today on the Democratic leadership's $124 billion supplemental appropriations bill. The bill funds the war in Iraq but calls for withdrawal of U.S. troops by September 2008. Democrats are arguing that while they don't have the votes to actually cut off war funding, by passing the bill they will effectively shut it down 18 months from now.

That's a dubious proposition given that President Bush has promised to veto the bill if it passes. Meanwhile, about halfway through the 80-page supplemental bill is a section that demands that the Iraqi government enact “a broadly accepted hydro-carbon law that equitably shares oil revenues among all Iraqis” by this fall. That sounds perfectly fine, but the law in question turns out to be one that the Bush Administration and American energy firms have been pushing for years and that, as Antonia Juhasz of Oil Change International explained last week in a New York Times op-ed, would allow international companies to take control of much of Iraq's oil “for a generation or more,” with no requirements to reinvest earnings in the country. Juhasz noted elsewhere that the Bush Administration dismissed nearly all of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group Report—save for the recommendation that called for the United States to “assist Iraqi leaders to reorganize the national oil industry as a commercial enterprise” and to “encourage investment in Iraq's oil sector by the international community and by international energy companies.”

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter that asks, so far to no avail, that the call for passage of the oil law be stripped from the measure. “We cannot . . . support this law and continue to claim our actions are in the best interest of the Iraqi people,” he wrote.

Members of the Democratic leadership are still chasing the votes they need to try to pass the bill. If they get the votes, says Kucinich, he'll seek to offer an amendment to remove the oil law benchmark. But it looks like the House leadership plans to rule Kucinich out of order and not accept any amendments to the bill. “The Democrats say they're determined to not “let the perfect be the enemy of the good” with this bill,” said Steve Kretzmann, Executive Director of Oil Change International. “But we're unclear as to how giving the Bush Administration and Big Oil exactly what they want most in Iraq, at the expense of Iraq's future, can be seen as good.”

* * *

Iraq’s Kurds to go it alone on oil deals

The Kurdistan regional government plans to triple the number of foreign oil companies operating in its region by the end of the year regardless of whether Iraq’s parliament passes a politically sensitive hydrocarbon law.

In an interview, Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdish energy minister, said Kurdistan would become a hub for energy companies that were not ready to invest in the rest of Iraq because of security concerns.

“We are in discussions with a number of other companies. It is more likely that the contractors will come [to Kurdistan] to start with and set up a base to hopefully then invest in the rest of Iraq,” he said, adding that he saw no reason why the hydrocarbon law should not pass parliament by the end of May, the target date.

Kurdistan will still share any revenue it makes from the oil sales with the rest of the country even if the law is not yet in place, he said. “Even if things don’t go ahead, we will still share it. If things go completely wrong we will rethink it.”

He said the negotiations of the draft hydrocarbon law had accelerated the interest of oil companies, several of which had already completed contracts that were ready to sign. He declined to name the companies, but interested parties are believed to include OMV of Austria, and US companies Marathon and Anadarko.

“It is 15 [contractors] we want to end up with. If we get another 10, I’ll be very happy with myself. We need to keep the momentum going,” he said.

It is unclear how Baghdad will react to Kurdistan’s ambitions. It has in the past objected to Kurdish contracts, but is also likely to be careful not to upset negotiation of the hydrocarbon law.

Kurdistan wants to produce 200,000 barrels a day of oil by the end of next year and ramp up to 1m b/d within five years. The region is thought to hold 25bn barrels of oil reserves, with another 20bn lying in the disputed areas.

But Kurdistan has to find a way to export its oil before it is able to realise its goals. The Kirkuk pipeline, the main northern artery, has been sabotaged so often that it is all but useless.

DNO, the Norwegian oil company that has signed one of the five existing contracts with the Kurdish government, expects to produce the first new oil out of Kurdistan, and for that matter Iraq, in May. It has provisions to truck as much as 10,000 barrels a day, but even 20,000-25,000 b/d would be possible, though logistically difficult and about 10 times more expensive than moving the oil by pipeline.

Iraq’s Kurds to go it alone on oil deals | Iraq Updates

Higher demand for dollar in daily auction

Demand for the dollar increased in the Iraqi Central Bank’s daily auction on Thursday, reaching $72.605 million compared with $56.899 million on Wednesday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, which included $18.255 million in cash and $54.350 million in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,277 dinars per dollar, unchanged since yesterday.

Seventeen banks participated in Thursday's auction and offered to sell 201,000 dollars. The Iraqi Central Bank bought the entire amount at 1,275 per Iraqi dinar.

Ali al-Yasseri, a trader at the auction, told VOI "offers to sell dollars were due to the low exchange rate in the local market."

The Iraqi Central Bank runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.

Higher demand for dollar in daily auction | Iraq Updates

Turkey confirmed its support to the government and the Iraqi economy

(Voice of Iraq) - 23-03-2007 Baghdad-Mahdi Karim Al-Taee

Turkey has shown its willingness and readiness to support the Iraqi government and economic actors across encourage companies to invest in various areas in Iraq. This was emphasized by the Turkish Ambassador in Baghdad adopted during a meeting between the Minister of Trade, Dr. Abdel Sudanese farmer in his office yesterday and discussed ways to improve trade and economic relations between the two countries, according to a ministry spokesman told the media "Sabah".

The spokesman added that the talks focused on the theme of opening the gate for other border transit of goods between the two sides. Noting that the Sudanese Minister affirmed during the meeting the importance of opening more than one gate to allow an increase bilateral trade and exchange between the two countries that rely on the crossing and creates one of the problems hindering the pace of business dealings between the parties, calling Turkish investors to enter the Iraqi market and planned to build a large joint projects supporting the economy of the two countries.