Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 01/01/08 - 14/04/08

KRG Signs a Contract with an American Company

KRG announced that it has signed a contract with an American Company to spread for the Investment Law, which has been decided by the Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly in 2006.

KRG Minister of Trade Mohammed Raoof said to DPA news agency that a contract has been signed with Intera Solutions Company to spread for the investment law in Kurdistan Region.

PUKmedia :: English - KRG Signs a Contract with an American Company

White House Missing CIA, Iraq e-mails

Apparent gaps in White House e-mail archives coincide with dates in late 2003 and early 2004 when the administration was struggling to deal with the CIA leak investigation and the possibility of a congressional probe into Iraq intelligence failures.

The gaps — 473 days over a period of 20 months — are cited in a chart prepared by White House computer technicians and shared in September with the House Reform and Government Oversight Committee, which has been looking into reports of missing e-mail.

Among the times for which e-mail may not have been archived from Vice President Dick Cheney's office are four days in early October 2003, just as a federal probe was beginning into the leak of Valerie Plame's CIA identity, an inquiry that eventually ensnared Cheney's chief of staff.

Contents of the chart — which the White House now disputes — was disclosed Thursday by Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who chairs the House committee, as he announced plans for a Feb. 15 hearing.
Waxman said he decided to release details from the White House-prepared chart after presidential spokesman Tony Fratto declared "we have absolutely no reason to believe that any e-mails are missing."

Among the periods of time for which the chart indicates e-mail is missing is a five-day span starting on Jan. 29, 2004, when the White House was dealing with the possibility of an election-year probe by Congress into Iraq intelligence failures.

Not archived by the office of the vice president is e-mail for Jan. 29-31, 2004, according to chart information released by Waxman. In addition, all e-mail from the White House Office in the Executive Office of the President was listed as missing for one of those days.

The chart indicates that e-mail also was not archived by the White House on the following Monday — Feb. 2, 2004 — the day President Bush took a big step in averting what could have been a politically troublesome congressional inquiry. He ordered an independent investigation into intelligence failures in Iraq.

The president conferred that day with former chief weapons inspector David Kay, declaring, "I want to know all the facts."

The commission named by Bush reached a harsh verdict about the U.S. intelligence community's performance, but the panel stopped short of addressing the White House's use of the intelligence data to support the idea of war with Iraq.

The White House says computer back-up tapes should contain substantially all e-mails between 2003 and 2005. However, the White House recycled backup tapes until sometime in October 2003, taping over existing data. That could mean some e-mail is gone forever if it is also missing from archives.

An example might be any missing e-mail from Cheney's office in the early days of the CIA leak probe. The White House has not said when in October 2003 it halted the recycling of backup tapes.

E-mails in early October 2003 could reveal key discussions between White House personnel in the week after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into the leak of Plame's CIA identity. The White House denied that Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby or top presidential adviser Karl Rove was involved in the leak, an assertion that turned out to be false.

"Can it be a mere coincidence that some of the missing e-mail correspond to a key period during the Valerie Plame investigation?" asked Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "Given everything else we know, that is nearly impossible to believe."

Her organization is one of two private advocacy groups suing the White House in the e-mail controversy.

At issue on Oct. 1, 2003, was the push by congressional Democrats for Attorney General John Ashcroft to step aside and appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate the White House.

Ashcroft eventually recused himself, and at the end of 2003 U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed by a Justice Department official to head the probe. Two years later, Libby was indicted, and he was later convicted of obstructing the investigation. His 30-month prison sentence was commuted by Bush. Rove was questioned by a federal grand jury five times but was never charged.

In January 2006, shortly after Libby was indicted, a letter from Fitzgerald to Libby's lawyers was the first public disclosure that the White House was having a problem with its e-mail system.

Fitzgerald wrote: "We have learned that not all e-mail of the Office of Vice President and the Executive Office of the President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system."

The White House says the e-mail matter arose in October 2005 in connection with the Justice Department's CIA leak probe, in which Fitzgerald later that month obtained a grand jury indictment against Libby for perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI.

PUKmedia :: English - White House Missing CIA, Iraq e-mails

Iraqi Foreign Minister Receives British Ambassador in Baghdad

Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, met Sunday morning January 20th Mr. Christopher Prentice British ambassador in Baghdad, during the meeting they discussed a number of local, regional and international issues in addition to several bilateral relations between Baghdad and London.

Minister Zebari spoke about many current situations that the Iraqi government is seeking to elaborate and enhance the relations of trust and interaction between the Iraqi people and its national government in accordance with the significant improvement in the security situation.

Minister Zebari added that the current year will witness a qualitative leap in the path of reconstruction and economic life and providing services to citizens throughout Iraqi governorates, particularly as the overall situation remained calm and stable in many Iraqi governorates.

Minister Hoshiyar Zebari pointed to the importance of moving ahead with the neighboring countries meetings and that there are meetings that will be held on working group levels and expanded meetings, since this mechanism has proven its effectiveness for the general situation in Iraq.

Minister Zebari also spoke on the positive results achieved by his recent visit to Arab countries on the level of Iraq-Arab relations and bilateral relations with Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait the States covered by the visit.

The British ambassador in Baghdad valued the observations and ideas made by the Minister emphasizing his country's readiness for constructive, effective cooperation with Iraq.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraqi Foreign Minister Receives British Ambassador in Baghdad

KRG Delegation Arrives in Baghdad

KRG delegation headed by the minister of Natural Resources Dr. Ashti Hawrami has arrived in Baghdad to discuss the issues of the oil contracts and Oil and Gas Law.

A close source to the delegation said that it is going to meet with the officials in Oil Ministry and the Ministers Council of the Federal Government.

The source also said that the American Department of State Secretary assistant for oil affairs Mr. Robin Jeffery will attend the meetings to solve the problems between the Federal government and Kurdistan Region government.

PUKmedia :: English - KRG Delegation Arrives in Baghdad

Al-Hashimi: Accountability and Justice Law Must be Amended

Dr. Tariq al-Hashimi the Iraqi Vice President asserted that there are good signs in the demands dossier of the Iraqi Accord Front which was presented to the Government concerning the detainees releasing and the draft law of general amnesty presented to the Council of Representatives.

Dr. Tariq al-Hashimi, in a press statement after a meeting of Iraqi Islamic Party Politburo, said Mr. Iyad al-Samarai summarized the dialogues of the Islamic Party with al-Daawa Party and the representatives of the Prime Minister Office. They also discussed in details the Iraqi Accord Front stance and its return to the government.

Concerning Accountability and Justice Law, which was recently approved by the Council of Representatives ,Dr. Tariq al-Hashimi said ”We hoped after the efforts made by all, that the number of beneficiaries of this law be greater than what it is and have a democratic frame work which suites the recent situation. Despite the law has positive sides, it contains weak and negative points which must be amended .We will develop this law in order to be a means to establish the National Reconciliation among Iraqis.”

PUKmedia :: English - Al-Hashimi: Accountability and Justice Law Must be Amended

US-Iranian escalation threatens Iraq economy

Iranian-US military escalation and oil contracts crisis between Kurdistan region and the central government in addition to the three plus one agreement, were the major points evoked by Finances Minister Jaber Al Zubaidi in an interview with Al Hayat Newspaper.

Al Zubiaidi warned against the consequences of US-Iranian military escalation in the Gulf, saying that Iraq will pay the price of such a military crisis. He added that Iraq’s economy cannot bear the crisis consequences given that Iraq exports oil via one port in the Arab Gulf and is unlikely to find another alternative passage to export oil.

As for the ongoing crisis between Kurdistan regional government and the central government over oil contracts, Al Zubiadi noted that the problem persists in the way the crisis is being handled saying that using media for dialogue is not efficient as calm direct negotiations.

Regarding the three plus one agreement concluded by Al Maliki with the presidential committee, Iraqi Finances Minister affirmed that it will be enhanced within few days, confirming that coming elections will not be based on sectarian alliances.

Al Zubaidi added at the end of the interview that reducing salaries of Iraqi officials, ministers and deputies is only aimed to lower the difference of salary between higher-ranking and lower ranking officials.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Iraq News | US-Iranian escalation threatens Iraq economy

Originally Posted by Seaview

KRG Delegation Arrives in Baghdad

KRG delegation headed by the minister of Natural Resources Dr. Ashti Hawrami has arrived in Baghdad to discuss the issues of the oil contracts and Oil and Gas Law.

A close source to the delegation said that it is going to meet with the officials in Oil Ministry and the Ministers Council of the Federal Government.

The source also said that the American Department of State Secretary assistant for oil affairs Mr. Robin Jeffery will attend the meetings to solve the problems between the Federal government and Kurdistan Region government.

PUKmedia :: English - KRG Delegation Arrives in Baghdad

Kurdistan government: Oil contracts are legal

Kurdistan Government affirmed that oil contracts signed with foreign investment companies are legal. Kurdistan Government spokesman Khaled Saleh added that these contracts are legal and considered that talks, Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani intends to hold with Kurdistani officials are nothing but void conversations that would not bring any new to disputes with central government concerning oil contracts. Shahristani had earlier warned foreign companies from carrying on investing oil and gas fields in north Iraq without taking the permission of Baghdad government.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Economics News | Kurdistan government: Oil contracts are legal

Iraq didn’t resume pumping kirkuk crude oil towards Jihan Turkish port

A naval cargo source said that Iraq didn’t resume yet pumping crude oil from Kirkuk northern fields towards Jihan Turkish port situated on the Mediterranean Sea. The source stated that Kirkuk oil reserves in the Turkish port vary between 400 thousand and 500 thousand barrels.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Economics News | Iraq didn’t resume pumping kirkuk crude oil towards Jihan Turkish port

Finance minister wants anti-corruption board abolished

Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr called for abolishing the anti-corruption board, which, he said, turned into "an institution that encumbers the course of reconstruction," demanding lower payments for Iraqi ministers and officials.

"The anti-corruption board should be canceled and in the same time the financial control office, an organization set up since the early establishment of an administrative system in Iraq and actively helped fine-tuning public funds, should be consolidated," Jabr said in an interview published by the Saudi edition of the London-based newspaper al-Hayat, published on Monday.

"The board has intimidated the ministers who are now opting for avoiding involvement in large-scale projects so that they might not end up with corruption charges," said Jabr.

The finance minister also called for lowering the salaries of Iraqi officials, ministers and undersecretaries to lessen a yawning gap between the payment of a higher executive and that of a lower executive.

"Some difference in salaries could reach 4 million Iraqi dinars (USD 3,297)," he added.

Jabr also criticized the Iraqi oil ministry for not delivering on its promises to up production, holding it responsible for failure to find alternative export outlets.

"The Iraqi oil ministry has failed to honor its pledges to increase exports to 3 million barrels per day (bpd) and settled for the 1.7 million bpd rate that is in place for two years," he noted.

The finance minister called for accelerating the revival of projects to export oil via pipelines to Syria with a capacity of 1 million bpd and Jordan with the same capacity as well as activating exports via the Turkish pipeline.

On the political situation in Iraq, Jabr, a leading member of Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), said the political process is witnessing great activity these days despite obstacles resulting in general from differences in views among players in the process.

"The upcoming elections would not see sectarian alliances," he said, noting "the new alliances among the political blocs provide an approach for this objective."

During December 2006 a tripartite alliance agreement was signed between the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, led by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, and the two main Kurdish parties.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=5388

Update.....

Iraq Suspends North Oil Exports On Pipeline Repair - Official

Iraq has suspended crude oil exports from its northern oil fields due to a fault on the pipeline that carries crude from the Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey's Ceyhan port, an Iraqi oil official said Monday.

"The pipeline is shut down because there is a fault at one point of the line," the official told Dow Jones Newswires. He gave no details of the causes of the fault.

He said North Oil Co. technicians are repairing the fault but didn't know how long it would take.

Kirkuk crude oil stores at Ceyhan are very low, the official said.
Acts of sabotage against the northern export pipeline has rendered it idle for most of the time barring the last four months since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization has started selling Kirkuk crude oil to European and U.S. customers through term contracts from the beginning of 2008. Before that, the marketing company used to sell Kirkuk crude through competitive auctions whenever there is enough crude in Ceyhan for sales.

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