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

Saturday 30th December, 2006

China hopes for stability in Iraq
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IANS Saturday 30th December, 2006

Beijing, Dec 30 (Xinhua) China said Saturday that it hoped for stability in Iraq, in its first reaction to the hanging of Saddam Hussein.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said that the Iraqi people should themselves decide the affairs of Iraq.

China hopes Iraq can establish stability at an early date, he said.

Kuwait-Iraq relations "distinctive" -- minister

POL-IRAN-IRAQ-JABR
Kuwait-Iraq relations "distinctive" -- minister

By Muntathar Feeli TEHRAN, Dec 29 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti-Iraqi relations are "distinctive" at present and Kuwait has long stood by the Iraqi people in times of plight and hardship, said Iraqi Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr on Friday.

The Iraqi minister, currently on a visit to Tehran to hold talks with Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davud Danesh-Jafari, told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that "Kuwait's humanitarian and political support will never be forgotten by the Iraqi people." He noted his successful visit to Kuwait in his capacity as interior minister.

On his visit to Iran, Jabr said the Iranian government presented to his country a one-billion-dollar loan to be paid back over a 40-year term including 10-year grace period.

This loan, he said, would be used to construct schools, hospitals, roads, railroads, lay oil pipes, and transfer electrical power to different parts of the country.

The Iranian side stands ready to commence execution of these projects within the coming months, he added.

Moreover, he said his visit to Iran aimed at developing economic and financial relations between the two sides.

Asked about the fate of Iranian diplomats held by US forces in Iraq, the Iraqi minister said he was not well-informed on the issue but hoped they would be released soon as it is confirmed that they were in Iraq by invitation from President Jalal Talabani.

He said he personally took note of some letters from Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zaibari to the Multi-National Force in Iraq confirming this invitation.

Two Iranian diplomats had been arrested by US forces earlier this week in raids against Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Iraqi security forces. Talabani was reported to have been "unhappy" and Iran warned this move could "provoke unpleasant repercussions".(end) mw.

ema

Saturday, December 30, 2006. 7:38pm (AEDT)

Al Iraqiya TV has shown images of Saddam Hussein before his execution in Baghdad. (Reuters)

Iraq must now rebuild: Maliki

Iraq's Prime Minister has called on Saddam Hussein's followers to change their tactics and be part of the political process, now the former president has been executed.

Nouri Al-Maliki said in a statement just hours after Saddam was hanged for crimes against humanity that the door is still open to anyone who has no innocent blood on their hands to help in rebuilding an Iraq for all Iraqis.

Haitam Al-Husseini, a spokesman for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - a dominant party in the governing coalition - says this could be a new beginning for country.

"We hope that this day will start a new page in the history of modern Iraq, where all of the Iraqi people, all of the components will work, unified, towards building the new values of peace and forgiveness between each other," he said.

Iraq's National Security Adviser, Mowaffaq Al-Rubaie, says the former dictator was executed as dawn was breaking over Baghdad (2pm AEDT) today.

He says the chief judge, a doctor and other officials inspected all of the papers before the execution.

After the final verdict was read out, Saddam was taken to the execution chamber to face the gallows. He refused to be hanged with a blindfold.

The executioner read from the holy Koran. Saddam repeated the words as they were read out.

He died praising the insurgents and foreign jihadis, and cursing Iran and the West.

Mr Rubaie says the former president was in no way humiliated and was shown respect. The whole execution was video taped.

Iraq 'heroic'

Australian Prime Minister John Howard says the death of Saddam shows Iraq is doing its best to embrace democracy.

Mr Howard says all the processes of Iraqi law were followed.

"The real significance is that this man has been given a proper trial, due process was followed," he said.

"There was an appeal that was dismissed and he has been dealt with in accordance with the law of Iraq.

"I believe there is something quite heroic about a country that is going through the pain and the suffering that Iraq is going through, yet still extends due process to somebody who was a tyrant and brutal suppressor and murderer of his people.

"That is the mark of a country that is trying against fearful odds to embrace democracy and it is a country that deserves sympathy and support and not to be abandoned."

Saddam hanged: Reaction in quotes

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging in Baghdad.

He and two co-defendants were sentenced to death by an Iraqi court in November after a trial over the 1982 killings of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail.

Leaders in Iraq and beyond, as well as representatives of non-governmental organisations, have been giving their reactions.



IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NOURI MALIKI
"O dear Iraqi people, you who have put up with the hardship for years and suffered from the injustice of tyrants and dictators throughout the era of the hateful dictatorship.

"Your generous and pure land has got rid - and for ever - of the filth of the dictator and a black page of Iraq's history has been turned and the tyrant has died."




IRAQI OIL MINISTER HUSSEIN SHAHRISTANI
"This is the day that the Iraqis have been waiting for. There are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of families who have lost their dear ones.

"They have been waiting for justice to be executed, and I think that Iraqis have received the news that they've been waiting for too many years."



IRAQI SUNNI POLITICIAN, KHALAF AL-ULAYYAN
"The execution of Saddam Hussein is a big crime. Saddam Hussain was a prisoner of war and was arrested by the US forces, and not by the Iraqi government. It is a crime with which they wanted to cover up many things."



ABU MOHAMMAD, SPOKESMAN FOR SADDAM'S HUSSEIN'S OUTLAWED BAATH PARTY
"The Baath Party and the resistance, who are the comrades of Abu Uday [Saddam Hussein] declare before the whole world that this ugly crime against the Iraqi leader and people will not go unpunished.

"The price of this will be very costly for the criminal occupier, its aides, and lowly spies."





EX-MEMBER OF IRAQI INTERIM GOVERNMENT, ADNAN PACHACHI
"I don't think it will make much difference because the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that very drastic measures have to be taken to confront the militias and restore law and order.

"Of course, he has some supporters in Iraq - some of them are armed and they may commit acts of violence and so on - but I don't think it will make much difference, frankly."



IRAQI KURDISH POLITICIAN MAHMOUD OSMAN
"Of course, Saddam has committed too many crimes. He deserves for those crimes capital punishment. But so quickly done, so quickly executed... and only in one case - it would leave the other cases and leave a lot of secrets without being known."




SYRIAN CABINET MINISTER BOUTHAINA SHABAN

"I think there is a large moral responsibility in doing it on such a holy holiday [Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha] whether Christian or Muslim, there are moral things that one should do, and nobody is convinced that this is an implementation of justice...

"I think it's going to inflame the conflict between Sunnis and Shias and I think there are also thousands of crimes that were committed in Iraq against the Iraqi people. I hope that other people who are responsible for these crimes can be brought to justice as well."



ISMAIL RADWAN, SPOKESMAN FOR PALESTINIAN MILITANT GROUP HAMAS
"We consider the execution of President Saddam Hussein on this day by the American administration as a representation of the killing of the Arab regime which does not say 'No' to the American administration. And from this perspective we are surprised by the Arab silence, especially that of the formal regimes, about this act of the United States against the sons of the Iraqi people.



HAMID REZA ASEFI, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER
"I believe that in the long run, after the Baathist minority accept that Saddam no longer exists and that they cannot count on him anymore, the situation will improve.

"However, the Americans should also wish to change the situation, and should not try to take advantage of the insecurity in Iraq to further their own interests."



US PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
"Today Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial - the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.

"Saddam Hussein's execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing [him] to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the war on terror.

"Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead. Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress."


UK FOREIGN SECRETARY MARGARET BECKETT
In a statement on behalf of the UK government:

"I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people. He has now been held to account.

"The British government does not support the use of the death penalty, in Iraq or anywhere else. We advocate an end to the death penalty worldwide, regardless of the individual or the crime.

"We have made our position very clear to the Iraqi authorities, but we respect their decision as that of a sovereign nation."



MIKHAIL KAMYNINRUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN
"Regrettably, the numerous appeals to the Iraqi authorities by representatives of various states and international organisations to refrain from capital punishment have been left unheeded.

"We are convinced that in this situation, the political consequences of this step also have to be taken into account, all the more so because the issue of the former president's fate is a very sensitive one for Iraqi society."





LIAQUAT BALUCH, MMA RELIGIOUS ALLIANCE, PAKISTAN

"We have no sympathy with Saddam Hussein, but we will also say that he did not get justice.

"The execution of Saddam Hussein will further destabilize Iraq. There will be more sectarian violence in Iraq, and we believe that the execution of Saddam Hussein is part of the American plan to disintegrate Iraq."




JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER
"The real significance is that this man has been given a proper trial, due process was followed. It was an appeal that's been dismissed and he has been dealt with in accordance with the law of Iraq.

"And I believe that there is something quite heroic about a country that is going through the pain and the suffering that Iraq is going through, it still extends due process to somebody who was a tyrant and brutal suppressor and murderer of his people.

"That's the mark of a country that's trying against fearful odds to embrace democracy and it's a country that deserves sympathy and support - not to be abandoned."



FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY
"France calls upon all Iraqis to look towards the future and work towards reconciliation and national unity. Now more than ever, the objective should be a return to full sovereignty and stability in Iraq."

"France, which like the rest of its European partners advocates the universal abolition of capital punishment, notes the execution of Saddam Hussein on Saturday."

"That decision was made by the people and the sovereign authorities of Iraq."


MALAYSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SYED HAMID ALBAR

"The international community is not in favour of the hanging and questions the due process that took place."

"We are surprised that they went ahead notwithstanding. I think there will be repercussions.

"The only thing is we hope they will be able to contain this. Because the conflict is not going to end. This is not the answer."



ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER ROMANO PRODI
"Italy is against the death penalty and so even in such a dramatic case as Saddam Hussein, we still think that the death penalty must not be put into action."



FATHER FEDERICO LOMBARDI, VATICAN SPOKESMAN
"A capital punishment is always tragic news, a reason for sadness, even if it deals with a person who was guilty of grave crimes...

"The killing of the guilty party is not the way to reconstruct justice and reconcile society. On the contrary, there is a risk that it will feed a spirit of vendetta and sow new violence.

"In these dark times for the Iraqi people, one can only hope that all responsible parties truly make every effort so that glimmers of reconciliation and peace can be found in such a dramatic situation."



GEORGE GALLOWAY, ANTI-WAR BRITISH MP
"He has been killed, but I believe he will be more dangerous to the forces of the occupiers and their allies after his death than when he was alive.

"I believe a wave of attacks will be carried out against those allied with the occupation."



LIBYA
Libyan state media describes Saddam Hussein as a "prisoner of war" and declares three days of national mourning over his execution.



RICHARD DICKER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
"Saddam Hussein was responsible for massive human rights violations, but that can't justify giving him the death penalty, which is a cruel and inhuman punishment...

"The test of a government's commitment to human rights is measured by the way it treats its worst offenders...

"It defies imagination that the Appeals Chamber could have thoroughly reviewed the 300-page judgment and the defence's written arguments in less than three weeks' time... The appeals process appears even more flawed than the trial...


"History will judge the deeply flawed Dujail trial and this execution harshly."



LOUISE ARBOUR, UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
"All sections of Iraqi society, as well as the wider international community, have an interest in ensuring that a death sentence provided for in Iraqi law is only imposed following a trial and appeal process that is, and is legitimately seen as, fair, credible and impartial.

"That is especially so in a case as exceptional as this one

It's a long one,just wanted to see the difference in opinions!
thanks!
sarah

{{{{{{{{{{ So Far Im Safe }}}}}}}}}}}}, ending on that note, I can now confirm that yes, gold reserves amount to 27.2 tons confirmed and known.

Switzerland, Balize, Jamacia, Brazil, Ivory Coast, are currently beginnining proceedings to return deposits to Iraq. I expect a PDF file showing this in the next few days. Once I figure out how to take and transfer, I will post.

Gloribee

Originally Posted by Gloribee

{{{{{{{{{{ So Far Im Safe }}}}}}}}}}}}, ending on that note, I can now confirm that yes, gold reserves amount to 27.2 tons confirmed and known.

Switzerland, Balize, Jamacia, Brazil, Ivory Coast, are currently beginnining proceedings to return deposits to Iraq. I expect a PDF file showing this in the next few days. Once I figure out how to take and transfer, I will post.

Gloribee

I told you that their were Major Gold Reserves in other Country's that was just waiting on the Iraqi Stamp that it belongs to them. Before it is all over, there will a whole lot more discovered and made media available.

Originally Posted by Gloribee

{{{{{{{{{{ So Far Im Safe }}}}}}}}}}}}, ending on that note, I can now confirm that yes, gold reserves amount to 27.2 tons confirmed and known.

Switzerland, Balize, Jamacia, Brazil, Ivory Coast, are currently beginnining proceedings to return deposits to Iraq. I expect a PDF file showing this in the next few days. Once I figure out how to take and transfer, I will post.

Gloribee

What is the calculation to Dollar/Dinar/Euro worth? I don't even care which of the three! The 27.2 TONS part took my breath away!!!!

Family clues to Iraq's missing oil billions

The dictator is dead, and now the hunt for his illicit fortune is intensifying. Officials from the FBI and US Treasury are focusing their inquiries on £2.2bn of illegal oil profits
Jason Burke
Sunday December 31, 2006
The Observer
American and Iraqi government investigators tracing hundreds of millions of pounds missing from Saddam Hussein's illicit fortune are hoping to question members of the former dictator's close family.
Officials from the FBI, the American Treasury and the State Department particularly want to find £2.2bn in illegal profits that Saddam's regime is alleged to have earned from 2000-2003 from an oil-for-trade pact signed with Syria that was outside the official United Nations administered oil-for-food programme, according to official documents released to a US congressional sub-committee.
State Department and Treasury officials claim that Syria has failed to account properly for more than $500m in Iraqi oil profits. The cash, deposited in Syria's central bank, was paid to Syrian 'businessmen' after Saddam's fall, sources say. Syrian officials deny the allegations, saying that visits by American officials to Damascus in the autumn of 2003 failed to uncover any evidence of the missing cash apart from $300m that has already been frozen.
In a report submitted to the CIA last year Charles Duelfer, a former UN arms inspectors, estimated that Saddam had amassed $10.9bn 'through illicit means' between 1990, when sanctions were imposed, and 2003. The dictator is also believed to have hidden cash in accounts in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and other countries and to have invested in precious stones, possibly diamonds purchased in the Far East.

Family clues to Iraq's missing oil billions | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited

Originally Posted by cigarman

Family clues to Iraq's missing oil billions

The dictator is dead, and now the hunt for his illicit fortune is intensifying. Officials from the FBI and US Treasury are focusing their inquiries on £2.2bn of illegal oil profits
Jason Burke
Sunday December 31, 2006
The Observer
American and Iraqi government investigators tracing hundreds of millions of pounds missing from Saddam Hussein's illicit fortune are hoping to question members of the former dictator's close family.
Officials from the FBI, the American Treasury and the State Department particularly want to find £2.2bn in illegal profits that Saddam's regime is alleged to have earned from 2000-2003 from an oil-for-trade pact signed with Syria that was outside the official United Nations administered oil-for-food programme, according to official documents released to a US congressional sub-committee.
State Department and Treasury officials claim that Syria has failed to account properly for more than $500m in Iraqi oil profits. The cash, deposited in Syria's central bank, was paid to Syrian 'businessmen' after Saddam's fall, sources say. Syrian officials deny the allegations, saying that visits by American officials to Damascus in the autumn of 2003 failed to uncover any evidence of the missing cash apart from $300m that has already been frozen.
In a report submitted to the CIA last year Charles Duelfer, a former UN arms inspectors, estimated that Saddam had amassed $10.9bn 'through illicit means' between 1990, when sanctions were imposed, and 2003. The dictator is also believed to have hidden cash in accounts in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and other countries and to have invested in precious stones, possibly diamonds purchased in the Far East.

Family clues to Iraq's missing oil billions | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited

All Right!!! Thats what Im talking about!!! follow the yellow brick road !!! Wished i would have confided with you all sooner. Just hated to make any more Boo Boo's. great find. We are now confirming that more than just oil is backing a Reval..... We are all soon to be rich!!!!!

Gloribee

Originally Posted by tiffany

What is the calculation to Dollar/Dinar/Euro worth? I don't even care which of the three! The 27.2 TONS part took my breath away!!!!

we calculated it out and its about 793,333 troy oz., not quite a half a billion dollars worth.

(by the way, i wasnt kicked out of ignorant investors fighting, i hadnt posted for a couple weeks and they sent me the post or you lose thing and i didnt go post so they made my name dead from lack of posts.)