Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 03/11/07 - 31/12/07

President Talabani Received Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi and Deputy U.N Secretary-General

President Jalal Talabani received his deputy Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi and Minister of Water Resources Dr. Latief Rashid, in his resident in Baghdad yesterday. They discussed in the meeting the latest developments and impediments in the political process.

They stressed the necessity of putting the country’s interests above all personal ones, and that everyone should carry his national responsibility to improve the political and government situation.

At the same day, President Jalal Talabani received Deputy U.N. Secretary-General Mr. Michael Schulenburg in the presence of Deputy PM Dr. Barham Salih and the counselor Fakhri Kareem.

They discussed in the meeting the political developments and the U.N. role in helping the Iraqis and supporting the political process.

Also they discussed the issue of Kirkuk and the steps for implementing Article 140 from the Iraqi constitution, which 12 million Iraqis have voted for.

PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani Received Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi and Deputy U.N Secretary-General

Turkey Says to Eliminate PKK, Eyes US Intelligence

Turkey aims to "eliminate" Kurdish rebels operating in northern Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, without revealing "how, when and where" a future operation might take place.

Erdogan, speaking about his Monday meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, said he was pleased that both Ankara and Washington see Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants as a common enemy.

"Now, what is an enemy? An enemy is an element to be eliminated," he said during a press conference in Rome.

Asked about a possible future military operation in Iraq, Erdogan suggested timely intelligence from the United States could be key. Intelligence sharing was one of Bush's commitments to Erdogan in Washington.

"It's important that intelligence sharing happens in a timely manner, and this will certainly lead to all the other eventual counter-measures," Erdogan said at a news conference in Rome after a meeting with Italy's prime minister.

Turkish diplomatic sources say that Washington is expected to provide Turkey with real-time, actionable intelligence that would allow Ankara to carry out military operations against the PKK, which has some 3,000 guerrillas based in northern Iraq.

ANKARA'S IMPATIENCE

Ankara has been impatient in the past at what it considers U.S. and Iraqi foot-dragging over the threat from the PKK militants and has massed 100,000 troops on the Iraqi border.

But expectations in Iraq of a major Turkish offensive have diminished following Monday's meeting between Bush and Erdogan.

Erdogan said he could not give information about any future military action against the PKK, because that would be counter-productive.

"At this moment I certainly can't enter into details because that would only give information to the enemy," he said.

The United States fears a Turkish incursion could destabilize a part of Iraq that has so far escaped much of the violence plaguing other areas of the country.

U.S. officials also worry that Turkish action could lead to a wider regional crisis.

Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict that began in 1984 when PKK guerrillas took up arms to fight for a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey.

PUKmedia :: English - Turkey Says to Eliminate PKK, Eyes US Intelligence

Oil hits $99

Oil prices reached $99 a barrel on Wednesday, closing in on a triple-digit all-time high, reported Reuters. The surge brings oil near the the inflation-adjusted record peak of $101.70 hit in 1980 when war between OPEC producers Iran and Iraq ignited an oil supply crisis.

Oil hits $99 | Iraq Updates

Sorry if already posted

Rehabilitation of sewage system helps Iraqi Economy

To improve essential services and decrease the incidence of disease, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is modernizing 25 pump stations and upgrading 41 submersible sewage pumps in an Iraqi province.
The project seeks to improve the sewage management systems in the Maysan province.

Stephen Herda, Maysan resident engineer, Basrah Area Office, said the rehabilitation project is one of the first Economic Support Fund (ESF) projects awarded in Maysan. These projects are directed toward developing economic benefits in the province and are reviewed and submitted by the Maysan Provincial Council.

The projects were developed by provincial officials who see directly what the people need, Herda said, and the USACE can play a partnership role with the Provincial Council and the U.S. Department of State, which administers the ESF.

Herda said the $629,000 project will replace submersible sewage pumps and the electrical control stations for those pumps.

Herda added that the 41 pumps range in sizes from 300 cubic meters per hour to 1,000 cubic meters per hour.

Rehabilitation of sewage system helps Iraqi economy | Iraq Updates

Iraq rejects Iran’s new plan on Iraq

Kurdistan Coalition MP Mahmoud Othman described the statements of Iranian Foreign Minister Manushaher Mottaki about adjourning Kirkuk’s referendum as a violation of Iraq’s internal affairs. Othman explained that neighboring countries and other states willing to help Iraq should not interfere in this matter as it is an internal issue. Othman’s declarations came in response to Mottaki’s statements in Istanbul Conference which were rejected by Iraq’s neighbors and widely denounced inside Iraq as he called to set a timetable for foreign troops’ withdrawal from Iraq to be replaced by Syrian, Saudi and Iranian troops. Mottaki’s proposal gives a two-year deadline to handle pending issues such as oil resources sharing, provinces status and oil-rich Kirkuk’s referendum.

In response, Cabinet spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh confirmed in a news conference that Iraqi government does not accept that Iraq’s internal affairs be subject to interference by regional countries. Al Dabbagh noted that Iraq aims to build up national forces to replace multinational troops to defend Iraq refusing any other military force. He stressed that while the Iraqi government is working to maintain good and special relations with Iran, it reminds all neighboring and brother countries of supporting Iraq’s political process.

In turn, Muslims Scholars Association condemned Mottaki’s plan and rejected in a statement a new Syrian-Iranian alliance to replace US Forces in the country. The statement added that the Iraqi people are still paying the price of lack of security for many reasons among which Iran’s interference.

Raged reactions over Mottaki’s statements had Tehran to deny any plan on Iraq.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Iraq News | Iraq rejects Iran’s new plan on Iraq

Iraq to strengthen central-regional relation

Speaker Mahmoud Al Mashhadani held talks with Kurdistan speaker Adnan Al Mufti to prepare for the Arab Parliaments’ conference due in Kurdistan in March. Both officials discussed political and security developments in the country. It is to be noted that Al Mashhadani is expected to address a speech on Thursday in Kurdistan’s Parliament to discuss means to enhance relations between regional and central parliaments as well as governments.

While diplomacy is still heading its way towards Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki received accredited ambassadors of European Parliament to Iraq with whom he displayed political, security and bilateral relations. For their part, ambassadors renewed their countries’ governments support to the Iraqi government for efforts deployed to ascertain security and restore stability.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Iraq News | Iraq to strengthen central-regional relation

"Economic" reasons to bring up the subject of Mosul Dam

Governor of Nineveh, Dureid Kashmula, said that the new Council of Experts established by the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, recommended the development of concrete or metal walls to protect lands adjacent to Mosul Dam which is located 50 kilometers north of the center of the province. He announced that the plan "will be applied, and the ministry has secured 28 injection device to it last months after being 4 devices only."

He explained in a press interview that the reasons for bringing up the issue of the Mosul Dam are "economic", and thought what was published in the "Washington Post" newspaper about the Dam was "very exaggerated", and the possibility of its collapsing does "not exist now", as "maintenance and injection continues."

He tackled the actions taken by the province in case the Dam collapsed and revealed a "contingency plan based on army, police, civil defense and health to deal with the repercussions that might occur, as well as monitoring the dam carefully by the competent authorities."

Manager of the Dam project, Abdul Khaliq Thanoun, regarded the collapse of the Mosul Dam unlikely because, "there are no physical evidences to indicate that." He noted that a committee of American experts submitted "a study a year ago, that did not convince the ministry;" the same study was adopted by the "Washington Post" to raise the issue. He announced that the injection continues and water levels are being reduced; the ministry is also consulting with the best international companies to secure new protection.

Al-Hayat had pointed out earlier to the subject of Mosul Dam, in an interview conducted with the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, last September, in which he referred to a meeting held in Istanbul with representatives of two companies specialized in making special equipments: the German "Power" and the Italian "Trevi", to build a concrete wall to prevent erosion under Mosul Dam. He also discussed with them fundamental solutions to deal with the deterioration in the foundations of the dam. He explained that "the ministry has taken swift action to contract on Overstuffing requirements, using the American grant and the one given by the International Food Organization to finance it," to ensure the stability of the dam and provide the requirements to treat the geological phenomena.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4908

A Contract with a Malaysian Company to supply new cars

Ministry of trade contracted with a Malaysian company for the supply of modern cars for sale to citizens through the direct sales centers in Baghdad and other governorates. A source in the General Company for Car Trade and Machinery affiliated to the Ministry said that one of the Malaysian companies ********* known in car industry will supply Iraq in the coming days with its modern production which is scheduled to be displayed the company's centers in Baghdad and other governorates. He added that the company completed the registration phase after that all those who previously registered got the cars allocated to them, pointing out that the Company had begun adopting the method of dealing and contracting with foreign companies that manufacture cars to import better types of cars.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4909

Iraq, Iran Sign Deal To Set Up Two Oil Pipes - Oil Ministry

Iraq and Iran signed an agreement Wednesday to build two pipelines, one to export Iraq's crude oil to Iran and the other to pump oil products from Iran to Iraq, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

It said the Iraqi State Company for Oil Projects signed the agreement with Iran's National Company for Construction and Development.

"The agreement calls for constructing an export system (pipeline) that extends from Basra oil fields in southern Iraq to Iran's Abadan (refinery)," the statement said. "It also calls for setting up another system (pipeline) to transfer oil products from Iran to Basra."

It didn't say, however, how much crude and oil products would be carried out by the planned pipelines, or how long construction would take.
Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani had earlier said the crude pipeline would pump some 100,000 barrels a day of Basra Light to Iran. Basra crude oil would be sold to Iran in accordance with international oil prices, he said.

The statement didn't spell out costs of the two planned pipelines which would be between 50 kilometers to 75 kilometers length each. However, the two would be financed by a $1 billion loan granted by Tehran to Baghdad earlier this year, it said.

The agreement came at a time when the U.S. and other world countries are imposing strict economic sanctions against Tehran because of its nuclear reactor.

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Iraqis prepare for fuel shortages ahead of a cold season - Feature

Aside from bombings, Iraqis have an extra concern every winter; stocking enough amounts of home heating oil in preparation for the four-month-long cold season, which usually ranges from chilly to frosty across Iraq's cities. Even in the country with the third largest oil reserves in the world, poorer people have trouble finding sufficient energy resources to keep going especially as December approaches.

"In the past years we have lived through incidents and events that could not cross people's mind in a country that floats over crude oil," said 51-year-old Hassan Hady of the troubles Iraqis face during fuel shortages.

"But at least this year there is more oil available in the stations, unlike previous years," added Hady, holding his ration card's "white oil" vouchers as he queued up among hundreds of Baghdadis at a fuel station on Palestine Street to get his winter's quota of heating oil.

People in Baghdad, however, might be among the luckiest this year.
The petroleum product used by people to heat their homes, usually by fuelling building furnaces, is not available across other areas in Iraq where according to Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani,"the quotas of white oil were distributed in most cities but delayed in Ramadi and Baquba where the security status is volatile."

In Iraq's winter, continuous rainfall is not uncommon especially in the south while snow often falls on the northern edges of Baquba and Kirkuk in addition to the mountainous areas in the north.

In central Iraq, 10 degrees celsius is the average temperature but on higher ground it's usually colder.

With constant power cuts, the winter is ever gloomy and Iraqi families use their 200 litres of fuel to get on with their lives until the stock is consumed. Then black markets - where the "white oil" price reaches its all-year high - provide the alternative.

Even with a surge in oil production, reported by the government to have reached 2.3 million barrels per day, an abundance of oil for the benefit of the Iraqi people is still a remote possibility.

Many of the existing oil fields have not been utilized since the 1970s. But the biggest problems remain to be terrorist attacks targeting the oil business, in addition to corruption and oil smuggling from across Iraq, over the borders and into neighboring countries.

Only recently, the oil ministry had to dismiss tens of employees from oil distribution venues across Iraq for "administrative corruption," a source from inside the ministry told Deutsche Presse- Agentur

Iraqis prepare for fuel shortages ahead of a cold season - Feature : Middle East World