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

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

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I'm looking for the video I saw on the news. It was so funny, Maliki was just standing there like nothing happen and Moon was ready to crawl under the podium.





Here it is.
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Iraq deputy PM 'unstable', undergoing surgery for injuries in blast UPDATE
Date : 23/03/2007 @ 12:03
Source : AFX
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Iraq deputy PM 'unstable', undergoing surgery for injuries in blast UPDATE


(Updating with news the deputy PM is in unstable condition, undergoing
surgery)
BAGHDAD (AFX) - Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubayi was in an
"unstable" condition and undergoing surgery after being wounded in a double bomb
attack in Baghdad today, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
Zubayi was wounded in a double bomb attack near his home today and rushed to
a US military hospital in Baghdad, US and Iraqi officials told Agence
France-Presse.
"He was admitted in a US combat hospital an hour ago," Lieutenant Colonel
Christopher Garver said.
Zubayi is one of the most prominent Sunni Arabs in the Shiite-led
government.
Earlier, an Iraqi security official said three people were killed and 10
others wounded in a double suicide and car bomb attack near Zubayi's home,
office and mosque close to the highly fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.
Another security official said the wounded included Zubayi's brother, a child
and four of the deputy premier's bodyguards.


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Iraq deputy PM 'unstable', undergoing surgery for injuries in blast UPDATE

Not sure if posted already but just saw this.

A call for a fair distribution of oil revenues and the establishment of < future fund > and accelerate production
The oil and gas law is the center of the Symposium
Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [23/03/2007]

Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad hosted this week a symposium held by the “Iraqi Center for Economic Reform” to discuss the new draft law of oil and gas, which interested experts and all those concerned and which takes into account several aspects relating to encouraging the use of modern technology through attracting international oil companies and the equitable distribution of oil revenues among regions, as well as strengthen the resources of the Iraqi State and provide the necessary finance for the comprehensive development activity in the country. Iraqi Oil Minister, Hussein Shahrastani, said in the symposium that this “law is a breakthrough for all Iraqis, because of its positive, important and decisive impact on the fabric of national unity”, adding that the law was concerned with the interests of Iraq first and all its articles are based on national considerations, and that its most positive aspect is restoring life to “the national Oil Company“ allocating the greatest productive Iraqi fields to it, in addition to the fields near the current production contracts, amounting to nearly 40 gas fields. Shahrastani also pointed out to another article of the law, which states that all oil revenues, regardless of their sources, will come to one federal fund and then distributed to all Iraqis, regardless of the region in which they are located. On his part, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Sheikh Mahmoud Radi, said that the law practically contains several positives; mainly the formation of “the oil revenues fund” which brings in all oil revenues to the one fund supervised by the Ministry of Finance, in addition to setting up the law of the “future fund” which stores funds for future generations and does not allow the use of all funds for the benefit of the present generation. Iraqi Central Bank governor, Sinan Shabibi, said that the new law is important and will accelerate oil production in a way that guarantees the interests of the people and works to strengthen the national economy. He emphasized that the law needs a deeper reading and greater effort, because there are issues that need detailed definition. However, he explained that it was agreed on the general lines of the law and how to contract, and that the law takes into account the interests of the various regions. Kamal Al-Basri, economic advisor of the Iraqi prime minister, said that the Center will hold similar symposia to view the importance of law and the need to learn the views of the largest number of specialists, pointing out that the oil issue concerns all generations and 93% of the State budget depends on oil revenues. He pointed out that the law contains a number of strengths, in particular, it encourages the use of modern technology which will be transferred to Iraq through the work of international companies and encourage the production and expedite the process of reconstruction and paves the way for investment. Loans for 250 thousand unemployed Iraqi Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Sheikh Mahmoud Radi, called upon Industrial Bank to expedite the granting of small loans to 250 thousand unemployed, registered in “the social protection network“, confirming the readiness of his ministry to implement this procedure which allows the establishment of special projects for the unemployed, and turn them from consumers to producers. He explained that the loan value is ten million dinars with low-interests, for a variety of projects in various regions of Iraq to serve the national economy. He expected a huge turnout by the unemployed to participate in this vital project, pointing out that the ministry had previously provided small-scale projects for the disabled as part of special community-based rehabilitation, pointing out that the average lending for a community-based rehabilitation is three million dinars. He expressed his hope that the project would include women, pointing out that women can create a sewing workshop, either in their home or outside, instead of waiting for the salary of the social protection network, which does not fill the needs of her family.

fever higher prices defy rise in the value of the dinar
صادق الازرقي
Sadiq Alazarki

\..
Wegger passengers of the car (Kia) mouths surprised when the driver asked them to pay an amount of one thousand and five hundred dinars taxi connecting door to the great Al Bai'aa was pleased surprise that they have paid two days before thousand dinars on the trip short ..


.
And just as they did in previous occasions rose to the taxis from quarter to half and then to the mill during a short period of time, they refrained at first glance, this time also to pay, but they soon conceded compelled to insistence driver and who made the critical (that is Ajph palaces and what clothes mo problem) Bakhtiyari talk about high fuel prices passenger Gidham therefore caught his breath and turned a blind eye to the predicament particularly as they realize that there is no alternative to cars Inevitably lives mood while some drivers are forced to ride in their cars.

.
Not far from the site of those cars lined vegetable vendors announcing their wares that mediation onions, which began Kalmlk crowning lying in Selth prospective rebounded solved as new to him after which Shamkh Banfh yearn for a piece, which mediates the basket, which suggests that Saarakilogram one is 750 dinars either eggplant has exceeded to reach 1250 dinars, potatoes and beans the price of each kilo 750 dinars not to mention the prices of vegetable and other Kaltamath option and other prices, which doubled during a short period of time, the excuse is always invoked Hadrali high fuel prices and scarce causing higher wages for the transfer of agricultural materials.

..
Thus, the beleaguered Iraqi citizen Balmfajkhat and daily killing in another pothole compounded by the darker life and Ambassador baffled It seeks to measure profiteers dependents ..
.
Strange irony in the matter, but the real problem is that the citizen has heard that the government is about to raise the value of the Iraqi dinar against foreign currencies, especially the American dollar has decreased the value of the dinar against the dollar really where that one dollar is now equivalent to about 1300 dinars after it was equal to 1500 dinars However, citizen disregarded by the San state says; What Santfa of this increase If you month I am going to about 130 thousand dinars a minimum of the equivalent of one hundred dollars paid for transfer to mere access to my place of work. Interesting that the increases in transport fares and prices of fruits and vegetables, meat and other necessities of life always linked to the issue of increasing fuel prices and scarce often has worked the recent increase in fuel prices (400 dinars per liter), which was adopted days before implementation of the instructions of the International Monetary Fund on the acceleration of price fever and access to the range certainly burden the burden with limited income and add new poor to poor category Iraq who identified one of the studies neutral accounted for 33% of the Iraqi people
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl...icle%26sid%3D2 6396&prev=/language_tools

More foreign oil companies please, say Iraqi Kurds
AFP

March 23, 2007


LONDON -- Iraqi Kurdistan wants to drastically increase the presence of foreign oil companies operating in the region by the end of the year, the Kurdish energy minister said in an interview published Friday.

"We are in discussions with a number of other companies," Ashti Hawrami told the Financial Times.

"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."

"It is 15 [contractors] we want to end up with. If we get another 10, I will be very happy with myself. We need to keep the momentum going."

Under the terms of a draft oil law expected to go before the Iraqi parliament in the next two months, Iraq's oil industry will be overseen by a Federal Oil Council and an independent national oil firm.

Revenue will be concentrated in a federal account, and redistributed to provinces on the basis of their populations, which would give the Kurds around 18 to 20 percent of the national cake.

This represents a concession from the Kurdistan Regional Government, which wanted to retain revenues from newly-developed fields on its territory, but in return they have won the right to oversee development.

Kurdistan has had an autonomous status since Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait.

The northern regions of Iraq are peaceful compared to the war-ravaged country's center and west, where bitter sectarian strife and a raging anti-US insurgency have left thousands dead.

Water shortage risks diarrhoea in Iraq: UN

AMMAN (AP)
A chronic shortage of safe drinking water in Iraq caused by inadequate funding is threatening to increase diarrhoea, a leading killer of children in the country, the UN reported in a Press release yesterday.
A lack of funds forced UNICEF this month to halt its water tankering service that had delivered clean water to tens of thousands of people in Baghdad, the Press release said.
The majority of Iraqi families rely on municipal water supplies piped directly into their homes, but many of these pipes are damaged and infested with dangerous waterborne diseases that can cause diarrhea, the second highest cause of child illness and death in Iraq.
Claire Hajaj, a UNICEF official based in Jordan, said UNICEF’s program to assist Iraq with water, sanitation and hygiene is short US$30 million because they had assumed Iraq would no longer need their assistance by now. $2 million of this amount is needed to continue water tankering for the rest of the year. “We are still needed because Iraq has not been able to meet the needs of all its people with respect to water,” she said.
Roger Wright, the UNICEF representative for Iraq, reported in the press release an increase in diarrhea cases in Iraq, a troubling development because the ‘diarrhoea season’ doesn’t usually start until June. Hajaj said she could not provide precise figures because many diarrhea cases in Iraq go unreported.
The Iraqi government has acknowledged that local water infrastructure will not be able to meet the country’s needs for at least another 18 months, the press release said.
Part of the problem according to Hajaj is insufficient Iraqi funding.
“Investment is not yet at the level where it should be,” she said, adding that the Ministry for Municipalities and Public Works needed to spend much more on the provision of clean water than it received annually in the budget.
An Iraqi ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity said he thought the ministry’s budget was actually quite good when compared with others in the country. “The government has promised to give us $650 million for refurbishing the water system,” he added.
The Press release noted that “administrative bottlenecks are apparently preventing Iraq from channeling its own largely unspent resources,” but Hajaj would not provide further details.
The unstable security situation has also made it difficult to protect water officials and repair infrastructure damaged by sabotage.
UNICEF is pre-positioning millions of sachets of oral rehydration salts to prepare for possible diarrhea outbreaks, and WHO is helping the government to step up disease surveillance in the country.
The UN provides a range of support in Iraq related to water treatment, delivery and infrastructure. The UN also helps the Iraqi government improve its capacity to manage its water and sanitation networks

Iraqis ready to replace British troops
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2007-03-23 09:40

Iraq's defense minister said Wednesday his commanders were surprised when Britain recently announced plans to withdraw some of its troops from Iraq, but that his country's forces will be ready to replace them.

Iraq's Defense Minister Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim speaks during his news conference in London Wednesday, March 21, 2007. [AP]

"I am absolutely confident that Iraq's army is quite ready to meet the challenges, even if the withdrawal becomes quite sudden," Defense Minister Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim said at a news conference.

On Tuesday, Iraqi forces in southern Iraq replaced British troops at a frequently targeted base in Basra.

The British commander, Maj. Gen. Jonathan Shaw, said the move was part of the plan to shift most security responsibilities to the Iraqis. He said his soldiers would now enter the streets of the oil port city only in exceptional circumstances.

Last month, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that Britain will reduce its force in Iraq from 7,100 to 5,500 in the coming months.

Some 125 British personnel have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion four years ago.

During his news conference at the Iraqi Embassy in London, Jassim said 2007 will be a crucial year for the ongoing training of Iraq's army so it can operate independently, without the routine support it now requires from coalition soldiers, artillery and air forces.

He said Iraqi commanders in southern Iraq were "surprised by the British announcing they would pull out 1,600 soldiers from Basra," and responded by moving forward by several months a timetable to bring a new brigade of about 5,000 Iraqi soldiers into the southern city.

But Jassim also said Blair's government has made it clear that "the departure of the British is dependent on the readiness of the Iraqis."

The defense minister said Iraq's military is still struggling to replace the logistics, communication and transportation equipment it had before the fall of Saddam Hussein, and he urged withdrawing British forces to leave their bases and equipment behind for Iraq's army.

On another issue, Jassim said Iraq's government is conducting "daily and behind-the-scenes negotiations" with some insurgent groups, except al-Qaida in Iraq or any militants allied with it.

Jassim, a member of Iraq's Sunni-Arab minority, said he hopes such channels of communication will one day lead to agreements with insurgents. But he said such groups must stop killing Iraqi civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks, and support Iraq's democratically-elected government.

Published: 23/03/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)

Indefinite curfew imposed in Iraqi port city after gunmen clash
Reuters



Basra: Gunmen clashed yesterday in the port city of Basra, the hub of Iraq's great southern oil field that is the source of most of the country's wealth.

Police patrols warned residents to stay inside and said an indefinite curfew had been imposed.

Gunmen attacked the headquarters of Fadhila, a small but powerful party that controls the provincial governorate and withdrew from the ruling Shiite alliance earlier this month, witnesses said.

The fighting erupted just two days after British forces pulled out of their base in the centre of Basra, and handed it over to the Iraqi 10th division in what a British general called an important step towards Iraqis taking control.

Hospital sources said seven people had been wounded in the clashes, which residents said lasted nearly an hour. Shortly after midday the intense gunfire dwindled to sporadic shooting. Police Brigadier Ali Al Ebrahim said police and soldiers were being deployed in the area of the clashes.

Iraq wants to open a new entry point with Turkey



By Khayoun Saleh



Azzaman, March 22, 2007



Iraq has asked Turkey to open a new entry point on their international borders to cope with expanding trade exchange.



Most of the exchange is one way with Turkish commodities flowing into Iraq at rates unseen since the 2003 U.S. invasion.



The flow of goods passes through the only border point close to Zakho but the Trade Minister Adbulfalah al-Sudani says the Zakho border crossing cannot handle the increasing trade volume.



Most of Turkish goods go to the provinces in the north as lack of security makes it dangerous for truckers to take highways in the central parts of the country.



Baghdad and the provinces in the south rely mainly on trade with Iran which has emerged as the country’s biggest trade partner.



But Sudani said he was keen to see a further boost in Turkish commodities in Iraq and for this reason his ministry is organizing trade fairs in both countries to promote Turkish goods.




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IRAQI KURDISH LEADER SAYS KURDS' DEMANDS NOT BEING MET
Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government, said on March 22 that Kurdish demands are not being met and the Kurdish people are losing patience , AFP reported the same day. "We demand a fair share of resources of the country, the issue of Kirkuk to be resolved democratically, freedom to share reconstruction funds, and freedom to democracy and political rights," Barzani said. "It is our natural right to share resources and we must have access to the budgetary process," he added. Concerning the contentious issue of oil-rich Kirkuk, Barzani said, "Whatever is taken by force should be returned peacefully and democratically." He was referring to the "Arabization" policies of the former regime, when thousands of Kurds and non-Arabs were driven from Kirkuk or were relocated and replaced with Arabs from the impoverished south. The Iraqi Constitution stipulates that Kirkuk is to conduct a census and referendum sometime in 2007 to determine whether the governorate is to be integrated into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. SS