Thread: Iraq/Dinar News Until 5/31/2007 7:15 PM CST..

Sheikh Khalid al-Attiyah will meet a delegation from the country Eradication

الدستورAl-Attiyah : Elimination country covered by section (140) of the Constitution





Sheikh Khalid al-Attiyah received first deputy chairman of the House of Representatives in the Iraqi library this morning a delegation from the country eliminate annexation by Mr. Malik gesture Head of the Municipal Council in the district of the country and Mr. Mohamed inhabitants member of the Municipal Council, Mr. Mehdi fighters Council member Salah Al Din, Brigadier Nabil Dehosh police chief juvenile country, Mr. President Hamid Bahjat chieftains eliminate the country, and members of the delegation reviewed the most important problems facing the judiciary, which focused on the security side and service the delegation also conveyed the desire of the people of the city of the country in response to terrorism and stand in any sabotage attempts targeting the region and their willingness to participate in any process Ttahirma Iraqi forces, the delegation called for the need to provide arms and ammunition and logistical support for the people of the country and eliminate Al to be able to respond to terrorists attacks. .The delegation called for the need to eliminate coverage of the country article (140) of the Constitution, which stipulate the conditions normalize in the areas have changed demographically and administratively in the era of the former regime. .For his part, Sheikh Khaled al-Attiyah to eliminate the country covered by section (140) of the Constitution is not limited exclusively to the subject of Kirkuk, but that it would reconsider in all the areas concerned in this article, including the elimination country. و .Sovereignty also expressed readiness to provide all the needed support from the House and raise their requests to the concerned authorities and the Prime Minister for consideration and addressed

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl.../nhr0526b.html

Discussions on Iraq unreasonable without Iraq's participation-Iraqi VP Baghdad - Voices of Iraq

Saturday , 26 /05 /2007 Time 4:42:42 </B>

Baghdad, May 26, (VOI) - Effective Iraqi participation in the upcoming U.S.-Iran talks, scheduled to take place on Monday, is necessary to ensure Iraqis' prominent role in determining their own affairs, Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Friday.

"It is illogical and unreasonable that two foreign countries convene discussions on Iraq (without the participation of the Iraqi government)," al-Hashemi said in an interview with the 'From Iraq' program that was broadcasted on Friday evening by al-Arabiya News Channel.

Moreover, in a statement released on Saturday which the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) obtained a copy of, the vice president urged all Iraqi factions to unite, reject violence and work towards achieving the Iraqi national project, noting "The project is the only guarantee to prevent foreign interference in Iraq's internal affairs."
Describing it as a "phenomenon," al-Hashemi attributed administrative corruption in Iraq to the sectarian quota system, explaining that it is important to place the right person in the right position and give Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) the authority to play its role as a neutral body.

During the interview al-Hashemi discussed other issues, including the rebuilding the Iraqi Armed Forces, his stance on militia groups, the draft law on uprooting the former Baath Party, proposed constitutional amendments, the Iraqi government's performance, and the Iraqi Accordance Front’s (IAF) alleged plans to withdraw from the government, the statement added.

SS/TP

DOES ANYONE HAVE A WAY TO GET A TRANSCRIPT OF THIS INTERVIEW?

Aswat Aliraq

Originally Posted by Captain Jack Sparrow

Kurds support new oil law, a key benchmark
Agreement to share oil wealth could open economy to new investments

Updated: 5:36 p.m. AKT Feb 24, 2007
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Kurdish authorities have agreed to back a draft law to manage and share Iraq’s vast oil wealth, removing the last major obstacle to approving the measure and meeting a key U.S. benchmark in Iraq, a top Kurdish official said Saturday.

Approval of a new oil law could help open the way for international oil companies to invest billions to upgrade Iraq’s decrepit wells and pipelines and exploit the country’s reserves, among the world’s largest.

The bill also provides a formula for distributing revenues among all major ethnic and religious groups, easing Sunni fears of being cut out of a future bonanza because their central and western homelands lack extensive reserves.


Aye!!

Captain Jack Sparrow says you need a couple more hits on the bong!! Look at the date on your log!! If you post old information, don't claim it as new or you will end up with Davy Jones. Do you think if you tell a lie long enough people will believe it?

No RV this Sunday, you and Rolls Royce are all wet from walking the plank.

Captain Jack Sparrow

until the weekend is over i suggest you hold ya tongue.

Originally Posted by neno

Oil Law sent to Parliment Today for Approval

Law does not grant oil concessions Americans .. ولا خلافات مع الكوردNo differences with Alcord


25/05/2007م - 6:11 م | عدد القراء: 605/25/2007 - 18:11 | number of readers : 6

الى.Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani, Friday, said that the oil and gas set by the Iraqi government and forwarded to the House for approval is not granted to the United States of any privileges or benefits, and it is the law promotes national unity in the country is the gateway for the zoning and therefore there are no differences with the government of Kurdistan on the proceeds.

".Shahrastani denied in an interview with Al Hayat newspaper in London published Friday, the exercise of American pressure on the Iraqi government to establish law and said, "if the matter was also referred to the law to give preference to American companies in investment, the law of the most stringent laws including oil Libyan law and the laws of other Arab."
".He added : "Iraq does not negotiate under this law with any company for the same so as to give preference to the company without the other, but working through open competition, and any company granted Iraq is the highest payoff will gain and those requested by the national interest, If the American companies willing to give Iraq a higher yield and accept lower proportion of the profits that let them. "

.He pointed out that there was no mention of partnership contracts in production, and this is left to the Federal oil and gas, which is the highest authority in the country headed by the Prime Minister and members of the ministries of oil, finance and planning, the Central Bank Governor, representatives from each province producer of more than 100 thousand barrels per day, These are the ones who decide the supreme interest of the country.
ة ..He explained that the law classified Iraqi fields discovered to three .. ".The first covers all fields of giant is the Iraqi National Oil Company, The second includes the discovered fields and non-productive at the present time but also can be developed and dedicated to the Iraqi oil company, while the third suspending discovered oilfields and away from the stage of production and non-productive now be subject to competing "This means that 80% of the reserves discovered Iraqi dedicated to the Iraqi national company, This nullifies the allegation that the law will pave the foreign companies monopolizing the oil of Iraq. "
".He noted that the content of the law depends distribution of oil resources on all the components of the Iraqi people, without exception, "There is no disagreement with the government of the Kurdistan region, but there are laws with this law from the National Oil Company Act, which replaced the senior officials of the ministry before I Picture, It requires the rebirth of the National Oil Company and activated, and enable them to manage all the major Iraqi fields. "

."Regarding the tasks National Oil Company, which was established recently, and opposed by the Kurdish side, Shahrastani said that "the Kurds did not object to the restructuring of the National Oil Company, but they were not reported by the Energy Commission in the form of a formal They believe that the proportion allocated to the company of large oilfields." He explained that "the oil sector must be run professionally and patriotism have nothing to do with political representation and components social for the Iraqi people and any Iraqi from any sectarian or religious background or nationality, a person of competence, experience and integrity to be assigned this task. "

د".Asked about the nature of current oil output in Iraq and the reasons for the decline of production, he said, "Iraq's potential to the current range between 2.8 and 2.9 million barrels per day, can be lifted as planned and to three million barrels per day, but our refining now covers about half a million barrels. Efforts are being made to add additional modules to improve the performance of the Iraqi refineries and capacity to make 700 to 750 thousand barrels per day to meet increasing demand on oil derivatives in the country. "

وعن".And on the American reports about the loss of billions of dollars through the stages of the production and export of oil during the past four years, he said that the article published in the "New York Times" America spoke of the existence of a difference between 100 and 300 thousand barrels a day between what is and what is the source of a product during the last period, "but the position of the observers assert that this gap in the form of diminished considerably after the assumption of responsibility for the ministry, The figure talking about is the bad readings, and I think that charge from those who preceded me worthy missions ministry. " He continued, "but those accusations are correct and the smuggling 100 thousand barrels needed to port for export is not subject to the control of the Iraqi government, and if there is not subject to a port state control Where is?" .

".He said : "The indictment generally lacks many precisely because of such quantities of smuggled and cited in the report need to be collusion and international port, and forget that the Oil Ministry newly installed meters to measure quantities exported and the supervision of an international company known not happen that differed between meter readings Iraqi and other meters to those companies."
".Ministry experience and provide fuel in the market amid crisis unresolved despite repeated promises, he said, "Yes, there is a severe shortage of oil derivatives in the country, and several reasons, including increased entry of cars that have reached more than a million cars, in addition to the use of generators as well as domestic large generators deployed in the alleys and neighborhoods, in addition to aging refineries oil production is reflected negatively on the production, which does not meet the growing demand, and it must cover the shortfall in imports

Translated version of http://www.burathanews.com/index.php?show=news&action=article&id=13578

FOR ALL YOU THAT WANT TO SHOVE THE OLD ARTICLE DOWN MY THROAT IS THIS ONE BETTER FOR YA?????

Iraq leaders hope for reconciliation boost from Sadr


White House hopes Sadr will play ‘useful’, ‘positive’ role in development of Iraq.


By Mathieu Gorse - BAGHDAD

Iraqi politicians expressed cautious optimism Saturday that Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr's emergence from a four-month absence with a conciliatory message would boost efforts to stem sectarian violence.


Leaders from both sides of Iraq's communal divide said they hoped the firebrand cleric's return to the political scene would give a fillip to national reconciliation efforts and rein in his loosely controlled militia.


"The return of Moqtada al-Sadr is necessary at this juncture... because his ability to give orders to his followers in person will calm the political and security situation," said Shiite member of parliament Abbas al-Bayati.


Sunni politician Ayad al-Sammaraie echoed that view. "His existence inside Iraq will help keep his supporters following this policy," he said.


"We welcome his call for national reconciliation. This is what we have been calling for from the beginning."


Sadr resurfaced at his mosque in Kufa on Friday after several months in hiding and delivered a sermon condemning the occupation of Iraq while at the same time insisting that the nation's fractured population had to get along.


Sadr created and leads the Mahdi Army, a loosely organised militia of tens of thousands of fighters across central and southern Iraq that has fought US forces twice and constantly spars with rival Shiite militias in the south.


It has also been widely implicated in the wave of sectarian killing that has swept the country since the destruction of a revered Shiite shrine in February 2006, but Sadr has blamed the killings on armed groups outside of his control.


In his comeback address on Friday, the cleric appealed to Sunnis and Shiites to unite in the face of the US-led military presence which has become widely unpopolar in both communities.


"I say to our Sunni brothers in Iraq that we are brothers and the occupier shall not divide us. They are welcome and we are ready to cooperate with them in all fields. This is my hand I stretch towards them," he said.


His comments drew praise from Miriam al-Rayyis, an advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who said MPs should follow his example.


"He supported unity in his speech on Friday and he didn't defend a certain side. We wish all our political leaders would talk like this," she said.


Sadr once supported the prime minister, but has since pulled out of the government as its reputation has suffered from continual infighting and its inability to address the violence plaguing the country.


In December, a US military report identified the Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias it accused of sectarian cleansing as the biggest threat to Iraq's stability.


With the launch of a joint US-Iraqi security crackdown in the capital four months ago, the Mahdi Army decided to lie low. Washington says Sadr went to Iran, although his supporters insist he never left Iraq.


As a result, the US military has now returned to describing Al-Qaeda in Iraq as the number one threat and has been cautiously optimistic about Sadr's own role.


"Now that he's back from four months in Iran, we hope he'll play a useful and positive role in the development of Iraq," said White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Iraq oil law to shut out foreign firms
by David Westley and Reuters on Friday, 25 May 2007 Iraq’s new oil law is to guarantee that 80% of its oil reserves are managed by the state owned Iraqi national oil company, ending speculation that foreign firms would be given widespread access to the country’s oil fields.

Speaking to pan-Arabic daily newspaper al-Hayat, the country’s oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani said that the firm would control all fields other than those that are not now in production and which are a long way from production.

"This means that 80 percent of discovered Iraqi reserves will be set aside for the Iraqi National (Oil) Company, and this invalidates the claim that the law will pave the way for foreign companies to control Iraqi oil," he said. Arrangements for developing the other oilfields will depend on a Federal Oil and Gas Council, he added.

Story continues below ↓
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Iraq needs billions of dollars in foreign investment to boost oil output and rebuild its economy, which had given rise to speculation that international companies would be given access to largely underdeveloped oilfields.

Shahristani said the new law should be approved in two months. It will regulate how wealth from Iraq's oil reserves will be shared between its sectarian and ethnic groups.

Iraq's current production capacity ranges between 2.8 and 2.9 barrels a day (bpd). "It is possible to boost this capacity as it is planned to 3 barrels each day," Shahristani said.

He also said that Iraq is trying to add more units to Iraqi refineries to raise their capacity from 700,000 to 750,000 bpd to meet the increasing demand for derivatives.

The energy sector is struggling to recover from years of mismanagement, sanctions and attacks against infrastructure by insurgents.

Iraq has eight oil refineries, none of which was damaged during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

FOR ALL YOU THAT WANT TO SHOVE THE OLD ARTICLE DOWN MY THROAT IS THIS ONE BETTER FOR YA?????

Alls well SGS. Let the junior member rant. No-one is listening. YOU'VE got the floor. Keep up the great work -- Keeping us on track. Kudos to your niece you should be very proud of her achievements.

If US Is to Have a Semblance of Success in Its Iraqi Mission
Hassan Tahsin
Guest Contributor


The American administration has been stubbornly refusing to admit its dismal failure to achieve anything in Iraq. President George Bush is desperate to gain some support from US Congress to continue the war in Iraq though the American casualties have been rising steadily, not to say anything of the countless number of Iraqis getting killed. But Bush would never admit that the war is a costly misadventure.

Despite the escalating sectarian strife in Iraq, the US president insists that the violence in Iraq has decreased by half since February after more soldiers were flown into Iraq, though the whole world knows that this is an attempt to conceal the bitter truth that the whole exercise has proved a colossal waste.

If the American and British soldiers have been successful in putting down the violence in that unhappy land, as claimed by President Bush, then why, one wonders, the United States organized a conference of Iraq’s neighbors to find a way out of the tragic state the country has been thrown into. The conference was held early this month following the “International Compact” conference at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh to raise funds for the reconstruction of the war-battered Iraq.

One need not be a shrewd analyst of international politics to figure out the reasons for the conference. The US knows it is facing defeat in Iraq and it will be unable on its own to restore normalcy or stability in that country.

Though the International Compact was hailed as a success as the participating countries agreed to write off about $30 billion out of Iraq’s $140 billion debt, the 19-point final communiqué did not give any hope of peace returning to Iraq. The final communiqué must have disappointed even an optimist because it did not give any indication of a change in Washington’s Iraq strategy.

All that the US wants is to protect its economic and political interests in the region at any cost. The United States also did not propose any practical steps to end the sectarian clashes.

The conference was organized without preparing the ground for a rapport between the warring groups in Iraq.
Iran, Syria and Turkey blamed the dictatorial attitude of the US for the deteriorating law and order situation in Iraq.

The Bush administration has, obviously, never made an attempt to understand the aspirations of the Iraqi people belonging to diverse sects and creeds.

Turkey is worried about the Iraqi Kurds gaining more power, which would encourage the Turkish Kurds to rise up against Ankara.

On the other hand, the countries in the Gulf region are worried about the threat to their security if chaos and instability continued in Iraq or the US conducted military strikes against Iran.

The US wants peace in Iraq but on its own terms. It also wants an honorable pullout so that the critics of war at home are silenced.

It is obvious that Iraq will not have peace until both the US and Iran made sincere efforts toward that end.

Washington totally rejects a give-and-take policy toward Iran: The Iranian cooperation to stabilize the situation in Iraq in exchange for some US concessions over Iran’s nuclear programs.

The consequences of such concessions, the US believes, would be more calamitous than the dangers of prolonged turmoil and bloodshed in Iraq. On the other hand, Iran wants to negotiate directly with Washington on every outstanding issue, not just Iraq.

This is how the conference ended without achieving any concrete results. This was the 18th meeting on Iraq since the war began in 2003.

The failure of the conference does not mean that the impasse can’t be broken.

It can be — provided there is a shift in attitudes and willingness to offer a few concessions.

Arab View: If US Is to Have a Semblance of Success in Its Iraqi Mission

NOTE:
Restoring Sunni Civil Rights for the Saudis would greatly change this (above) opinion held by the Saudis and would greatly enhanse debt reduction and future assistance in the rebuilding of Iraq...(Just IMHO) But, the PARLIAMENT still seem deadset against this in any of the near term future...SAD! (IMO)

Kuwait, Iraq meeting next month to discuss borders; Ban urged to inaugurate UN House in Kuwait
UNITED NATIONS (KUNA): Kuwaiti and Iraqi technical experts will hold a meeting at the UN headquarters next month to discuss the question of “maintaining” border posts between the two countries, a senior Kuwaiti official announced. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Mohammad Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, after holding a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon late on Thursday, said delegations of technical experts from Kuwait and Iraq would meet at the UN main offices next month to discuss the “issue of maintaining the border posts in line with the UN resolution 833.” In a statement to KUNA, Sheikh Mohammad said he urged the UN secretary general to “speed up the maintenance of the border posts between Kuwait and Iraq.” The UN re-demarcated the border line in 1993 on the basis of the resolution 833. The demarcation came almost two years after troops of the former regime of the executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein crossed the border in blatant violation of UN resolutions that guarantee the Gulf country’s sovereignty, occupied it for seven months and declared its annexation to Iraq.

Urged
Sheikh Mohammad said that he urged Ban Ki-moon to inaugurate the “UN House” in Kuwait, that had been established by the Gulf state to comprise various UN-affiliated agencies and institutions serving in the Gulf region, adding that the UN chief confirmed that he would visit the country very soon to inaugurate the building. Elaborating, the minister indicated that he was not concerned regarding other issues with Iraq, namely the question of compensations for damages resulting from the 1990 invasion by the ousted regime, “which is a well known and specified issue.” “There are certain obligations that need to be honored by the Iraqi government as international resolutions stipulate, such as the maintenance (final fixation) of the border markers, a topic that is being currently debated with the UN, in addition to other topics,” he said. Iraq, through the UN, had paid some compensations to establishments and individuals in Kuwait who suffered damage and losses as a result of the aggression. The foreign minister said talks also touched on other pending issues, namely repatriation of Kuwaiti properties and settling the issue of the Kuwaiti prisoners. He stressed on role of the Iraqi government in securing return of remains “of the sons and daughters of Kuwait so that they could be buried in a decent manner in their homeland.” He added that a UN high coordinator handling pending issues between Kuwait and Iraq, Yuli Vorontsov, has been submitting reports to the Security Council every six months on his efforts.

Remains
The council also receives briefings from an authority handling the border issue, called the Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Maintenance Project (IKBMP). The remains of scores out of 600 Kuwaiti prisoners snatched during the 1990-1991 occupation had been found randomly buried in mass graves in Iraq after the fall of the Baath regime in 2003. Corpses were re-buried in funerals at home. The Kuwaiti foreign minister had concluded a three-day visit to Washington, DC Wednesday evening, following which he headed to New York. While in the US capital, Sheikh Mohammad handed a letter from His Highness the Amir of Kuwait to US President George W. Bush. He also met there with top US officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Assistant State Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, Assistant Secretary of Treasury Robert Kimmitt, and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Carl Levin

Pipeline to carry Iraqi crude to Iran



By Mohamed Hameed



Azzaman, May 26, 2007



Iraq has accepted an Iranian offer to build a pipeline connecting its terminals and refineries to the prolific Iraqi oil fields in Basra.



Assem Jihad, Oil Ministry’s Information Officer said, the agreement was reached during a meeting between Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani and the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad.



Initially, the pipeline will carry 200,000 barrels of Iraqi crude to Iran.



The countries will soon form a joint committee on how to implement the project, Jihad said.



However, Jihad declined comment on financing and duration of execution.



But said Shahristani has invited Iranian firms to invest in Iraq and present their offers to build new refineries in the country.



The government has said it would extend Iranian firms preferential treatment because many of them are still operating in southern Iraq despite the flight of other foreign companies.



Jihad also said Shahristani has recently met with an EU energy delegation to see whether Iraq can contribute to meet the union’s insatiable demand for gas and oil.



He said the EU delegation expressed a desire to import Iraqi gas and particularly from the Kash field in the northern Province of Nineveh.