Thread: Iraq/Dinar News up until April 10th 11pm ctz

Originally Posted by notazbad2000

There is some hot news going on over here right now.

http://www.rolclub.com/iraqi-dinar-d...cts-no-bs.html

News ...???

News would be if it was listed on the CBI

Iraqi stock market to turn into electronic trading in four months

Amman - Chairman of the Governors Board of the Iraqi stock market, Taleb Tabtabai, revealed Thursday that the Baghdad bourse intended to shift into 'electronic trading' after four months.

'The Iraqi stock exchange will transfer from paper trading to electronic trading after four months,' Tabtabai told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Jordan evaluating the Iraqi banking sector.

'However, we are not going to list all firms at the same time because we have to assume vigilance as we shift into a new experiment in order to avoid committing mistakes,' he added.

The present Iraqi stock exchange, which is run in accordance with the open market economy rules, was established after a US-led world military coalition invaded Iraq and toppled the totalitarian regime of former president Saddam Hussein.

About 100 firms are listed on the Iraqi stock market, which holds two 2-hour trading sessions a week. Last year, turnover at the Iraqi stock exchange reached 146 billion Iraqi dinars (115 million dollars) in 93 trading sessions.

Tabtabai said the board of governors intended to choose the Iraqi Settlements Bank to channel the investments of foreigners who wanted to trade Iraqi stocks, now that the new national investment law had been approved by the president and was published in the official gazette.

'We are receiving an increasing number of applications by foreigners who deem the investment in Iraqi stocks profitable,' he said.

'The Baghdad bourse is one of the rare Iraqi institutions that is currently operating in a transparent and efficient manner,' he added.

Source: M&G

Dinartrade

Meeting on Iraq postponed

BAGHDAD (Reuters)
A ministerial meeting between Iraq, its neighbours and world powers to follow up earlier talks aimed at stabilising the country has been postponed until the first week in May, Iraq’s foreign minister said yesterday.
Hoshiyar Zebari said the meeting would be held outside Iraq, declining to give the location or elaborate on the reason for the delay. The meeting had been expected to take place in Istanbul in early April.
Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki wanted it held in Baghdad, but Iraqi officials had said some countries were worried about security. “All I can say at the moment is that it will be held in the first week of May and outside Iraq,” Zebari said.
Iraq called the meeting of senior officials in March to enlist the support of its neighbours to help end bloodshed. But it also provided a rare opportunity for the United States and its adversaries Iran and Syria to sit at the same table.
Washington accuses Syria and Iran of supporting militants in Iraq, a charge they deny, and has spurned suggestions that it should reach out to them for help in stabilising Iraq.
Maliki had urged the officials in March to do all they could to help end the sectarian violence that threatens to plunge Iraq into all-out civil war and spread across the region.

U.S. plans to send 12,000 additional troops to Iraq
Last Updated(Beijing Time):2007-04-06 14:26

The U.S. Defense Department is planning to dispatch another 12,000 National Guard soldiers to Iraq, NBC Nightly News reported on Thursday.
The NBC quoted Pentagon sources as saying that four states will provide the troops from four brigades to attend the involuntary mobilization.

The report said the new orders awaited the approval of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and the one-year combat deployment would begin in early 2008.

The Pentagon said Monday that it would deploy an additional 9,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, with about half of them returning to combat ahead of schedule.

Under the U.S.'s new Iraq policy announced earlier this year, the Pentagon has increased force levels in that country by about 30,000 troops in an attempt to regain control of security and reduce sectarian violence.

IRAQ INVITES FOREIGN FIRMS TO DRILL FOR OIL IN SOUTH
The Iraqi Oil Ministry announced on April 3 that it has issued an invitation for 15 foreign firms to drill 100 oil wells in southern Iraq, the "Gulf Times" reported on April 4. Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad announced that the state-run South Oil Company issued the invitations and so far has included Syrian, Iranian, and Chinese firms. "We want to drill 50 wells in Maysan [Governorate] and 50 in Al-Basrah. It will take from one year to three years," Jihad said. "These new wells will give us between 50,000 to 60,000 bpd [barrels per day]." On February 26, the Iraqi cabinet endorsed a draft oil and gas law for the management of oil resources and the equitable distribution of oil revenues (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 27, 2007). The draft law, which is awaiting parliamentary ratification, would allow regional oil companies or governments to draw up contracts with foreign companies to develop new oil fields. SS

Iraqi Forces improve security in Baghdad
Friday, 06 April 2007
By Tim Kilbride
Special to American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON — Tangible gains in Baghdad’s security situation have been made possible in part by the cooperation of vastly improved Iraqi security forces, a coalition spokesman said yesterday.

Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell IV, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said that with 50 out of 75 planned U.S.-Iraqi joint security stations and combat outposts already in place throughout the Iraqi capital, the sustained, neighborhood-level presence is leading to an “effect that we can actually see.”

Speaking from Baghdad to a group of online journalists, Caldwell pointed to a decrease in the number of sectarian murders and assassinations, a reduction in the number of car bombs, and a diminished capability for insurgent elements to move within the city.

The effect of Operation “Fardh al-Qanoon” - “Enforcing the Law” in English – on sectarian militia activity has been equally apparent, Caldwell said.

Discussing Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia, Caldwell said, “Its ability to act in a coherent, organized manner has been degraded. We could see some fracturing that’s occurred for various reasons.

“That’s maybe part of the reason why we’re seeing much greater cooperation occurring within Sadr City as we continue operations there now, having actually done clearing of about 40 percent of that city,” he said.

But despite progress on many fronts, terrorist activity remains a significant threat, Caldwell noted.

Al Qaeda in Iraq “is going to continue to attempt high casualty, headline-grabbing attacks both in their target areas” in Baghdad and increasingly in less intensely-manned areas outside of the city, the general said.

He described the terrorists’ goal as “fomenting chaos while trying to discredit, one, the government of Iraq and its ability to provide security for the people, and two, to discredit the Iraqi security forces themselves.”

The Iraqi police and armed forces, however, have benefited from coalition training programs to the point they are making a credible and necessary contribution to the fight in Baghdad, Caldwell said.

They have “become more capable literally almost every week as they continue their operations,” he noted. “We count on them very much.”

Caldwell reflected on failed past attempts to use the Iraqi force, and drew a sharp contrast between their past and current performance.

“As part of this Fardh al-Qanoon, they brought into the city about 4,500 extra troops, nine battalions with some headquarters,” he said. “They’re already starting to work the plans on how they would do the rotation out of those nine and bring nine more in. I mean, that is just an incredible step forward to have developed that capability over the last year.”

Caldwell took a long view toward fully developing the Iraqi military. “From better equipment, more capable leadership, and the quality of their young soldiers, they developed a professionalism inside their force,” he said. “It’s going to still take time, but it’s beginning to take hold.”

Referring to the U.S. political debate over financing the war, Caldwell said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has plans in place to grow his country’s security forces, but execution could be affected a lack of timely funding for the Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq teams charged with training those new police and soldiers.

“At the current moment, because of this lack of funding, MNSTC-I is unable to continue at the pace they were in the developmental process of the Iraqi security forces,” Caldwell said. “It is starting to have some impact today, and will only have more of an impact over time.”

Caldwell clarified that U.S. combat forces on the ground have not been affected by funding issues. For those troops specifically, he said, “We still have what we need to conduct our operations.”

With funding in place, the U.S. surge strategy is continuing on schedule for now, the general stated. “The third of five of our reinforcing brigades has now arrived inside of Iraq,” he said, noting it should be able commence operations within a week.

Signals on the ground suggest the surge is working, Caldwell said, but he emphasized it is premature to draw conclusions until the full force is in place.

“There are a lot of other positive indicators that tell us this could be moving in the right direction, but again, it’s going to take some time before anybody would ever make that type of assertion,” he said.

Responding to reports that Iraqi public opinion has turned against the U.S. presence, Caldwell admitted many Iraqis want foreign troops to leave, but not until the security situation improves. “Atmospherics,” he said, suggest “the number of people that want us to remain right now has continued to rise” over the past eight months.

As an example of Iraqi sentiment, Caldwell quoted the Sunni police chief of Fallujah on his feelings toward the U.S. mission: “General, it is true, we don’t want you here, and I want you to leave, but not right yet, not until we gain greater security here.”

U.S. commanders recognize that sentiment and point to it as justification for a continued presence, Caldwell explained.

“I found that very illuminating,” he said. “They’re recognizing that the teamwork there is actually helping bring down the levels of violence.”

Humanitarian aid met with smiles
Friday, 06 April 2007

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment and local residents unload bundles of blankets and humanitarian aid boxes from the back of a cargo truck at the Al-Salaam Neighborhood Advisory Council building in Baghdad, March 29. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Remington Schilling, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment.BAGHDAD — Humanitarian assistance packages were delivered to displaced families at the Al-Salaam Neighborhood Advisory Council by Multi-National Division—Baghdad Soldiers March 29.
Through coordination with the Neighborhood Advisory Council, U.S. Army Capt. Benjamin Morales, commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, and his paratroopers delivered boxes of food, oils and sanitation supplies.

The NAC senior leadership insisted the exchange be made after the meeting, so residents of Al-Salaam could see the progress made through cooperation with Iraqi and Coalition security forces.

“It will be good for the community to see how much we trust each other,” said Abu Hussein, the Al-Salaam NAC leader. “They will realize that working with Iraqi and American forces can bring peace and happiness.”

At noon, Morales’s company arrived with a cargo truck full of humanitarian aid boxes and backed up to the gates of the council building.

At first, hesitant bystanders looked puzzled as the council members and MND-B Soldiers gathered near the rear of the truck. The more people realized what was happening, the more they gathered and gave a helping hand.

The MND-B troops who were offloading boxes were soon pushed aside by smiling, giddy children. The children ran as fast as they could, with as many boxes as they could hold and carried them into the NAC building.

As Fardh Al-Qanoon gains momentum, Iraqi citizens have begun to step outside of their homes to help Iraqi and Coalition forces complete the objective of security and peace.

(By 1st Lt. Lawrence Rubal, 1st Bn., 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment)

In other developments throughout Iraq:

Iraqi Army forces conducted an early-morning operation on April 4 in Baghdad, capturing 10 suspects believed to be involved in a major terrorist cell.

Iraqi Security forces conducted a raid operation on April 3 in Nineveh Province, detaining two suspects believed to be involved in insurgent activities

06 April 2007
Crescent PetroleumCrescent PetroleumCrescent Petroleum Company
News | Profile | Officers
met with Iraqi officials this week to finalise a joint study on an oil exploration area in southern Iraq.

Iraq's cabinet endorsed a draft oil law in February to lure billions of dollars of foreign investment to boost the country's output.


"Crescent PetroleumCrescent PetroleumCrescent Petroleum Company
News | Profile | Officers
is firmly committed to Iraq and its oil industry for the long term," Executive Director Majid Jafar said.


© Emirates Today 2007

Iraq goes for $500m bank loan


06 April 2007
Iraq is negotiating a $500 million loan from the World Bank to help reconstruct its war-torn economy, the prime minister's office said yesterday. A statement from Nuri al-Maliki's office said the cabinet had authorised Finance Minister Bayan Jabr Solagh to sign the loan agreement.


"The has decided to authorise the finance minister to negotiate and sign a loan agreement with the World Bank worth $500 million," the statement read. The World Bank has remained active in Iraq but closed its permanent office in the country after one of its employees was killed in a truck bombing at the UN complex in Baghdad in August 2003.

The bank has given loans to Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, mainly for improving the country's dilapidated educational institutions.


© 7Days 2007

Article originally published by 7Days 06-Apr-07

Friday, Apr 06, 2007

Gulf News


Dubai: Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum yesterday said it held talks with representatives of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in Amman last week to implement their joint study of an exploration area near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border.

"The meetings follow a technical cooperation agreement that was signed between the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company and Crescent Petroleum in September 2005," an e-mailed statement said.

"Technical experts from Crescent Petroleum, the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company, the Southern Oil Company and the Geophysical Service Centre in Amman held meetings over several days to fin-alise the technical programme and scope of work."

Duration

The initial study will take ten months and will include a re-examination of the methods for seismic measurement presently available in the region and the preparation of geological studies of the current environment and new exploration areas.

"Crescent Petroleum is the only international oil company that has had a continued presence in Iraq over many years and we have had an ongoing relationship of cooperation with the ministry," said Abdullah Al Qadi, director of Upstream Operations for Crescent Petroleum.

He led the company delegation at the meeting in Amman.

"We are proud to work with the Iraqi Oil Ministry in order to enhance the skills being applied to this study to apply new approaches on exploration methods, all of which will ultimately add value to the organisation and hopefully benefit the Iraqi petroleum sector as a whole."

Crescent Petroleum has conducted in-depth studies of other regions in Iraq, including the Rattawi field, for which it has been in discussions with the ministry over several years.

In addition, the company has carried out training programmes for ministry employees and its related companies to foster an environment for the learning and sharing of technical skills while strengthening cooperation between both sides.

© Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.