Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

Then reval!!!!!


Mounting social crisis in Kurdistan Iraq
[15:55 , 16 Oct 2006]
Kurdistan ( World Socialist)
By Joseph Baker

PNA-While the presence of 800 international companies, including Chrysler, Ford and Exxon Mobil, at a recent international trade show in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, reflects growing confidence on the part of the international business community in the Kurdish nationalist regime, increasingly broad sections of the region’s population of 5.5 million are prepared to defy the authority of the government.

Recent media reports from the region indicate a significant increase in anti-government protests. This is the result of many persistent problems such as a lack of basic services, rising inflation, corruption and the violation of democratic rights. Because the two main Kurdish nationalist parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), have failed to deliver on their promise that a major increase in seats in the Iraqi parliament would pave the way for the region’s independence and bring prosperity to all, popular disaffection is growing. In the past several months, at least five strikes, seven demonstrations, and one general strike have been reported.

The popular independent local newspaper Hawlati recently reported a strike by school teachers in the towns of Kalar and Chamchamal as well as staff at the University of Sulaimaniyah. The strikers demanded higher wages and improved working conditions.

In late July, the British Guardian reported that 3 workers were killed and another 13 wounded when guards fired on a strike by workers at the Tasloja cement factory. According to other reports, at least 700 workers at the factory, the biggest in the region, went on strike demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of 300 workers laid off by the new management.

The shooting prompted widespread outrage which led the mayor of Sulaimaniyah to hold a press conference announcing the arrest of 40 guards at the factory. The factory had been sold earlier in the year by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to an Egyptian company.

The biggest challenge to the KRG was when thousands of people participated in week-long demonstrations from the 5th to the 13th of August in most towns and cities across the region’s three provinces. Footage of these demonstrations was shown on local TV stations and satellite channels, and pictures were posted on Kurdish Internet sites. The demonstrations came amid the worst crisis to hit the region and Iraq as a whole, while temperatures soared to 45 degrees Celsius.

Fox News reported in August that the country was facing a fuel shortage and that the price of a gallon of gasoline had reached $4.92, eight times higher than the official price. The demonstrations erupted first in Kalar and Darbandikhan, where people protested the lack of basic services such as electricity and water as well as the soaring price of fuel. Soon residents of other cities joined the protests and demands were extended to include a curb on corruption and an expansion of democratic rights such as free speech and the right to strike.

On August 8, a committee was established to organize these protests at the national level and a general strike was called for the entire region. On August 13th, despite the government’s threat to punish those defying its warning not to strike, hundreds of thousands of people stayed home and shops and offices were closed. Thousands demonstrated in the city center of Sulaimanyia, the second largest city in the region.

Although leaders from both the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), who have in effect been ruling the region since 1992, have conceded the right of the people to demonstrate, the security police (Asayesh), together with a riot police unit established this spring in response to the increase in anti-government protests, have used excessive force to suppress these protests and have even fired upon demonstrators in many towns.

According to a final estimate by Hawlati, in Sulaimaniyah alone one person was killed and more than 280 arrested. Among the detainees were many journalists, such as Doctor Hakim sabir Aziz and Ali Hama-Salih, a correspondent of Hawlati. The London-based Kurdish Media reported on August 15 that security forces were still doing house-to-house searches for the leaders of the demonstrations.

Among those arrested was Baxtyar Hama-Saaed, a lawyer and member of the Sulaimaniyah strike committee. On August 20th, about 110 lawyers went on strike and demanded his immediate release. Hushyar Abdullah, vice-president of the Sulaimaniyah Branch of the lawyer’s Association, told Hawlati “we will continue this strike until our colleague is unconditionally released.”

Fearing that the lawyers’ strike would further ignite the anti-government sentiment already at levels unprecedented for the past 15 years of the Kurdish nationalist regime, the Asayesh released Baxtyar and all other detainees that night. Asayesh later issued a public statement condemning the lawyers’ strike in the Kurdistani Nwe, the PUK’s main newspaper.

Speaking to the World Socialist Web Site about the charges laid against him and about the arrests, Baxtyar said he had been arrested in the late afternoon of August 13 by Asayesh on charges of organizing the demonstration. He added that “along with 65 other demonstrators, later reduced to 32, I was put in prison for about 7 days.”

When asked why the masses are opposing the Kurdish government, he replied that “people in Kurdistan have witnessed an incredible rift between poor and rich in the past two years . . . and small numbers of the rich, who are either members or affiliated with the two Kurdish parties—the PUK and the PDK—with support from the US administration in Iraq have gained substantial control over the wealth generated in the region.” He added that “people have no expectation anymore that their living conditions will improve and have no choice but to demonstrate.”

Despite the recent discovery by a Norwegian company of oil in the region and an increase in the regional government’s share from the central government’s annual budget—from $1 billion a year before the invasion to about $5.6 billion in 2006 (according to figures from the Iraqi Central Bank)—along with the imposition of a 15 percent tax on personal and company incomes, the KRG has done nothing to improve basic services or less social inequities.

Spero News reported in mid-July that “drivers have to wait days to get their petrol shares.” As for electricity supply, the newspaper reported that the “local authorities announced that they would cut power from 16 to 9 hours per day.”

Soran Mohammad, a 27-year-old from Chwarqurnna told the newspaper that “in the heat of summer they cut power, but they [officials] have it for 24 hours.” In July, the United Nations news agency reported a lack of power for schools and hospitals in Erbil.

An article published in mid-September in the Peyamner Daily News, a news agency affiliated with the PDK, said of the protests, “[A]lthough the spark may have come from the fuel crisis, in principle frustrations have been brewing slowly in the region. House prices increased significantly without a real increase in wages in key sectors, with many accusing the government of corruption.”

In March, a report from the World Bank estimated that a total of $37.4 million is needed to ease the current power supply deficit in the two main power stations of the region—Dokan and Derbandikhan—which produce a combined total of 649 megawatts. According to KRG officials, 1000 megawatts is needed to meet local demands.

The PUK and PDK have been controlling the region since 1992 when the Iraqi government withdrew its forces so as to avoid confrontation with the US and allied powers, which had declared the region a no-fly zone. Yet the nationalist parties have failed to allocate enough revenue to meet the local demand for electricity.

Both parties were also responsible for the 1991 looting, following the first Gulf War, of the $2 billion Bexma dam project near the town of Rania, close to the Iranian border. UN reports had estimated that the project was in its final stages and would have been capable of producing enough electricity for the entire region.

The frustration of the public with the lack of power is not surprising, especially given the fact that Iraq in the early 1980s had enough electricity for all its regions and was even able to export $20 million of electricity annually to neighbouring Turkey.

During the recent protests, the masses demanded a quick reaction from the government to fight rising inflation and corruption. According to the Iraqi Central Bank, inflation had risen to 70 percent by the end of July, compared to 52.5 percent in June. This increase amounts to almost 125 percent relative to the inflation rate in 2005, according to the estimate of the World Bank. This significant increase prompted the International Monetary Fund to declare, in its latest report about the state of the Iraqi economy, that “the overall economy is sinking in what is called stagflation.”

The unprecedented increase in the cost of living and the level of corruption in the region have even forced TV and radio programs to devote some attention to these issues in the past two months. The popular comedy program “Barnamay Barnama” (the Program) of the KURDSAT, the PUK’s TV satellite channel, ridiculed the KRG’s explanation for soaring inflation and demanded that the government take full responsibility.

Massoud Barzani, the president of the KRG, recently acknowledged the pervasive corruption within his government, but the KRG has refused to take any responsibility for the deterioration of basic services and the growth in social inequality. Barzani told the Kurdish radio of the Voice of America in early August that “if corruption persists, I don’t want to be the president of a corrupt government.”

Facing enormous pressure from the public, and having failed to improve basic services even after two weeks of protests, the KRG has tried to deflect public attention by launching a political war with the federal government in Baghdad. On September 1, a decree issued by the president of the KRG ordered that all Iraqi flags be removed from government offices in the region, stating that the flag represents the era of the Saddam Hussein regime, under which the Kurds suffered much.

This “flag war” prompted a strong reaction from both Shiite and Sunni politicians, who accused the KRG of seeking independence. The federal prime minister’s office issued a statement rejecting the Kurd’s proposal and demanding that “Iraqi flags should be the only flags raised over any square inch of Iraq.”

In another development, the Associated Press reported that Saleh Mutlaq, a leading Sunni lawmaker, responded harshly to the KRG position and warned the Kurds that “what is taken by force today will be returned by force another day.” Media reports also indicate increasing calls from clerics in Baghdad and other cities to oppose harshly to any move by the Kurds to separate. Hawlati also reported in a recent edition that thousands of Kurds who study in universities outside the region have been seeking alternative universities after receiving death threats.

The KRG does not intend to separate. In a political campaign to salvage the image of the KRG among Arab politicians, the leaders of the PDK and PUK, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, have repeatedly expressed their surprise at the campaign against them and offered their reassurances that they are strong defenders of federalism. The main aim of the KRG was to use an emotional topic such as an independent Kurdistan (supported by 95 percent of Kurds according to a 2004 poll) in order to deflect public attention away from the current social and economic crisis.

The KRG has repeatedly blamed the central government for the shortage of fuel and electricity supplies. Local media reported Kurdish officials complaining that the current crisis was due to Baghdad’s decision on June 25 to cut supplies to the region by half.

Jamal Abdullah, the deputy prime minister of the KRG, recently told the Kurdistan TV, the PDK’s main TV channel, that “95 percent of the problems that led to public frustration are from outside and we have no control over them.”

Abdullah’s solution to the lack of basic services was to press for the full-scale privatization of the region’s economy. He claimed that if privatization is expanded, the 1.1 million employees currently on the government’s payroll will leave government posts and reduce the pressure on the budget. This is in line with the policy of the Bush administration, which has pushed relentlessly to impose its profit-driven policies and destroy the public sector.

In the past three years, the KRG has been actively privatizing much of what remains of public institutions such as water, electricity and fuel distribution agencies. In late July, the Kurdish parliament passed a law that allows foreign investors to own 100 percent of local companies, with a tax break for up to 10 years. It is no small wonder that foreign companies were enthusiastic about participating in this year’s Erbil trade show, especially after the news that 100 million barrels of reserve of oil had been discovered in a town close to Turkish border.

While the Shiite elites are pushing for legislation in the Iraqi parliament to introduce a regional government in the south of the country similar to the one in the north, the experience of the last three years has shown that such a regional government, even if it survived sectarian violence and insurgency, would bring nothing but hardship for the overwhelming majority of the population. But for the rich, such a regional authority would be “an oasis of peace and prosperity”—the words used by US Congressman Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota during his visit to the Kurdish region last July.

Originally Posted by Christmas1971

I just want to ask you a question you if you it's going happen in 6 week, What do you think will happen with the 10k they're suppose to give thier people???????

Absolutely nothing, it'll be given out and that will be that. Have a read of this, I really don't believe the government give a shiite about their people.



Kut - (Voices of Iraq)

When the Iraqi government announced a grant everyone the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, this announcement caused considerable controversy among residents Wasit governorate, their reactions varied around the fact that the grant can be raised prices. As it was not what was hoped for many especially those with limited incomes.

Fhideh Eid al-Fitr holiday, as they called government, mean giving every Iraqi citizen ten thousand dinars, which is considered by some a curse, not a blessing because of the repercussions in the local market. while others called for increased value, and expect a third party to form two plus when they receive it from banks because of the routine procedure, while not wanting the importance of the citizens.

He said Mr. Ali Hussein al-Tamimi broadly used (Musharraf educational retired) News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent, "This action is considered as serious as ten thousand dinars are worth nothing in the market which is a very small amount." Tamimi added, "It is not possible that they violated happy this is not worth anything as it would cause much trouble for most families, particularly some of it justified to raise prices."

He explained, "the disparity in the amount of the grant between families seems clear, it is calculated on the basis of per capita as well as elsewhere between rich and poor and this is not reasonable There is no need originally. "

He pointed to "the importance of the establishment of controls and reasonable standards, according to the differences, particularly as the cons will be more of the positives."
He added : "Ftdaayat market and the rise in prices which occurs generally reflected on everyone without exception, as long as the ration card standard adopted with regard to the number of families and individuals, it should be a lump sum calculated according to the family and not the individual."
He said, "what it described as the government grant or grant feast or violated is not a blessing but a curse to be happy, we will have solved many negative returns starting to increase prices if hearing the news of this grant."

In the same context, Abbas asked Qarishi (owner of Electronics) whether the Iraqi citizen equal to the value of ten thousand dinars at the government or that the decision was made in haste.

He told Qarishi (Voices of Iraq) "did not have in mind the amount of the grant to begin that very cheaply, especially that the decision of the government is still in the beginning."

He added : "The Iraqi people deal with the realities existing in the country is under the pressure of severe conditions, known negative effects left by the day."

He said that "the psychological repercussions of the citizen took the negative trend and not positive about this grant," pointing out that "some people considered it a mockery of the Iraqi man."
He said Haji Aziz Faraj, an employee "families consisting of 17 individuals, and this means I Satselme amount of 170 thousand dinars, but my sister, the widow of the deceased and her husband have three children, which means they receive only 40 thousand dinars."

He added, "We can not get rid of the psychological factors due to these differences."
He pointed out that "this grant made way for the employee and retired, who had hoped to receive a lump-sum grant from the elections as was the case in previous times." He said that "ten thousand dinars fill the eighth suit a small child or a model can be purchased for Eid," expressing his hope to increase this amount.

Baghdad, Oct. 16, protected by
The rates of producing the Iraqi crude oil have been increased to two millions and 850, 000 barrels per day (experienced) from the northern and southern oil fields.
The rates of the daily energy exporting month for September reached to two millions and 620,000 (experienced).
Translated version of ÌÑíÏÉ ÇáÕÈÇÍ


Posted elsewhere...

Its interesting to note that 2,8 MBD is about as high as they have ever done. I remember this subject coming up while in Iraq and all we could come up with is 2.6 MBD and that was only for a short time. We also read recently that in 2002 the Kuwait dollar was $3.39 to the KD and they were only pushing out 1.89 MBD. At 14 dinars to the penny, this has got to be the cheapest currency of all time. And from personal experience, markets can and have made drastic moves in both directions. I am an optimist.

(Voice of Iraq) - 10-16-2006 | This issue was sent to a friend

Al-Maliki says that there is a need for several months in order to disarm the militias in Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
16 / 10 / 2006 13:10 (GMT)

He said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in an interview published Monday that he needed several months to start disarming the militias and explained that he had formed a committee to re-examine the political and military issues in order to isolate and confront these militias.
Al-Maliki said in an interview with the newspaper "USA Today" that will take some time. He added that the initial deadline, which was determined to solve the militias was the end of this year or the beginning of next year. But there are obstacles facing this issue are the procedures and steps must be taken.
He said Iraqi Prime Minister said that he told the Americans that there was no objection to its target cells Mahdi Army elements inside of Sadr City. But the manner contemplated by the multinational forces to confront this issue would destroy the entire town, emphasizing that they definitely unacceptable. The plans also criticized the American forces in counter-insurgency operations in Iraq during the past three and a half years, especially with regard to the bad performance of the Iraqi forces. He went on to say that the problem we face is the manner adopted by the Coalition Provisional Authority in the formation of the security forces, the army and police during the American civil administrator Paul Bremer.
The Maliki that Iraqi forces were formed at random which most vulnerable, and make them vulnerable to penetration by the militias. It is noteworthy that Bremer dissolution of the military establishment of the former regime, and started to build new security forces amid the escalation of the insurgency.
Al-Maliki and described the American strategy in the fight against militias and rebel groups such as Al Qaeda wrong way. He said that terrorism, especially not the militias can be dealt with the use of tanks and sophisticated weapons and aircraft only needs security cells collect information and sneak into areas where active.


Sotaliraq.com

(Voice of Iraq) - 10-16-2006 | This issue was sent to a friend

News of the meeting between Talabani and the leaders of the Kurdistan Workers



Irbil (October 16) and the agency (Lucky) Italian news-media sources reported that Kurdish Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met yesterday PKK leaders in the city Qlandze border near Mount Qandil taken by the party headquarters of the leadership. The sources said that the "Talabani met with Murad Krahilan Committee official leadership of the Party and discussed with him about the recent truce announced by the party from one side and look for opportunities to find peaceful solutions to the Kurdish problem in Turkey." In a phone call (Lucky) with a member of the leadership of the National Union in Sulaymaniyah noon today denied knowledge of the meeting said the leadership, He said, "I have no knowledge of a visit by Talabani to Qlandze or its workers despite the fact that the leadership of the National Union supports any efforts are in the interest of resolving the Kurdish issue in Turkey constructive political dialogue." In the meantime, issued statements of Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari today, in which it "that the Iraqi forces are unable to extend its military forces from the center and south of Iraq to the Qandil mountains to fight the elements of the Kurdistan Workers at the present time because it is facing major challenges from several quarters, and the Turkish government to understand this fact. " The Zebari, in an interview with the newspaper (Cordstani Noi) issued by the party Talabani in the city of Sulaymaniyah, the "question of the Kurdistan Workers will not be resolved at this stage military ways." He stressed "the necessity of a solution through peaceful means and through negotiations." Zebari and the new emphasis on "The Iraqi government will not allow any party to threaten Turkish interests from Iraqi territory, Therefore, the political leadership in Iraq and the Kurdistan region of pressuring the PKK to stop fighting against Turkey. " Regarding the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Turkey days after Zebari said, "The Iraqi government will focus on discussions with the Turkish side to resolve the issue of the presence of a number of elements of the PKK in Kurdistan, in addition to the security file, which will be on the agenda talks with the Iraqi delegation of the Turkish side. " The head of the Iraqi diplomatic talks also will touch on the economic and commercial relations between the two countries. Apart from the question of division of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates between the two countries, especially that Turkey has built many dams on the Tigris River, which led to reduced Iraq's share of the river water, according to the source.


Sotaliraq.com

My brother in law picked up his dinar from chase today, (100k) and he got 5 10k notes and 50k in the 250 notes Last time ordered from chase I asked for small bills and got 25000 notes. Not really news, just though it was interesting.

Originally Posted by Adster

Absolutely nothing, it'll be given out and that will be that. Have a read of this, I really don't believe the government give a shiite about their people.



Kut - (Voices of Iraq)

When the Iraqi government announced a grant everyone the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, this announcement caused considerable controversy among residents Wasit governorate, their reactions varied around the fact that the grant can be raised prices. As it was not what was hoped for many especially those with limited incomes.

Fhideh Eid al-Fitr holiday, as they called government, mean giving every Iraqi citizen ten thousand dinars, which is considered by some a curse, not a blessing because of the repercussions in the local market. while others called for increased value, and expect a third party to form two plus when they receive it from banks because of the routine procedure, while not wanting the importance of the citizens.

He said Mr. Ali Hussein al-Tamimi broadly used (Musharraf educational retired) News Agency (Voices of Iraq) Independent, "This action is considered as serious as ten thousand dinars are worth nothing in the market which is a very small amount." Tamimi added, "It is not possible that they violated happy this is not worth anything as it would cause much trouble for most families, particularly some of it justified to raise prices."

He explained, "the disparity in the amount of the grant between families seems clear, it is calculated on the basis of per capita as well as elsewhere between rich and poor and this is not reasonable There is no need originally. "

He pointed to "the importance of the establishment of controls and reasonable standards, according to the differences, particularly as the cons will be more of the positives."
He added : "Ftdaayat market and the rise in prices which occurs generally reflected on everyone without exception, as long as the ration card standard adopted with regard to the number of families and individuals, it should be a lump sum calculated according to the family and not the individual."
He said, "what it described as the government grant or grant feast or violated is not a blessing but a curse to be happy, we will have solved many negative returns starting to increase prices if hearing the news of this grant."

In the same context, Abbas asked Qarishi (owner of Electronics) whether the Iraqi citizen equal to the value of ten thousand dinars at the government or that the decision was made in haste.

He told Qarishi (Voices of Iraq) "did not have in mind the amount of the grant to begin that very cheaply, especially that the decision of the government is still in the beginning."


He added : "The Iraqi people deal with the realities existing in the country is under the pressure of severe conditions, known negative effects left by the day."

He said that "the psychological repercussions of the citizen took the negative trend and not positive about this grant," pointing out that "some people considered it a mockery of the Iraqi man."
He said Haji Aziz Faraj, an employee "families consisting of 17 individuals, and this means I Satselme amount of 170 thousand dinars, but my sister, the widow of the deceased and her husband have three children, which means they receive only 40 thousand dinars."

He added, "We can not get rid of the psychological factors due to these differences."
He pointed out that "this grant made way for the employee and retired, who had hoped to receive a lump-sum grant from the elections as was the case in previous times." He said that "ten thousand dinars fill the eighth suit a small child or a model can be purchased for Eid," expressing his hope to increase this amount.

so they ARE disbursing it through the banks. that article stated tuesday was the day they would be 'at the door' of the banks.
(disclaimer: personal opinion, not to be embossed as factual.)

Originally Posted by One Oar

Radio Nawa
Quote:
Al-Maliki will fly to Turkey tomorrow for an official visit to the owners of one-day

Fly to Turkey tomorrow, the Prime Minister (Nouri Al-Maliki) in the official visit will last one day during which he will meet the Turkish Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip Ordogan). The press sources "that al-Maliki to head a delegation including a number of ministers, parliamentarians and politicians to discuss with Turkish officials in the economic, security and regional issues and on the other between the two countries." The sources pointed out that "one of the most important issues to be addressed Maliki energy issues, particularly in the area of oil."
NOAA
10/15/2006






With Maliki in Turkey, looks like it will be later in the week

why does malikis presence alarm everyone all the time?? HE ISNT THE ONE WHO DECIDES, ENACTS, OR ANNOUNCES THE REVALUE!!!

Bush tells Iraq PM: Ignore deadline talk
Bush tells Iraq PM: Ignore deadline talk - Yahoo! News

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 57 minutes ago (Did not include the entire article; sound a tad negative to me! Especially with CNN comments at the end!)

WASHINGTON - President Bush personally assured Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Monday that he has no plans to pull troops out and told him to ignore rumors the United States would enforce a time line against Baghdad.

The president's pledge came in a 15-minute morning phone call with al-Maliki, who told Bush he was concerned because he had been hearing that the United States was giving him a two-month time line to operate on his own.

"He said that rumors sometimes can undercut confidence in the government and also its ability to work effectively in fighting terror," said Bush spokesman Tony Snow. "And the president said, `Don't worry, you still have our full support.' "

Originally Posted by MrsCK

What does that mean: rescheduling????

Not alot of noise here this morning plus not much NEW news out of iraq - did they do everything that they had planned for day 16th?

Still positive here but Adster maybe correct with a RV of november. If not by Noverber elections here, we maybe in for long wait. Plus SGS has changed her sig. hmmmmm

look, i was informed that my gleefulness is hyping people up for this investment and it was brought to my attention that there are some who are offended by this so i will abstain.