Thread: Iraqi/Dinar news until March 1st, 2007

Preparations for the opening of two branches of the economy, Iraq j Bank in Kuwait and Finland

Morning fly to Finland today, Monday, the head of the Center the Iraqi economy for the blessing of the international Alafi at the top and accidental part of the preparations for the opening of the branch of the center, said there is a to Halve in a telephone conversation with the (morning)




من ان From Syria, which is currently visiting in the framework of consultations heart he urged cooperation with the business community to participate in the re - e ages : The delegation will discuss the possibility of opening a branch Finland t Center there be a center for businessmen and owners of the trap AT and Iraqi Finnish to discuss and conclude deals. meters a delegation will hold talks on ways to share experiences and Els Jarat between businessmen in the two countries and create opportunities Ltad certainly members of the Center of businessmen there. Alafi checkmate P also expressed the intention of opening a branch in the State of Kuwait the brother was the nomination of Mr. Hussein Abdullah Dashti, a man the Kuwaiti head of the branch is part of a group that fled Kuwait hand Side. He pointed out that the Iraqi delegation had conducted investigations AT depth with complex business in Kuwait on partnerships Kuwaiti companies in the reconstruction of Iraq, especially in the southern region, which enjoys a safe investment environment It is hoped to open branches in Kuwait and in Finland within the next two months to raise the number of branches Center in the world according saying Alafi
Translated version of http://www.alsabaah.com/

الجديدBarzani announced a <final agreement> on servant e new oil law لللي
ةAl-Dulaimi : the discovery of oil and gas in the Sunni areas will not change a shelf Dena federalism

لندن: فيما.London : While the President Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan on the reach <final agreement> on the draft law of oil again, Adnan Al-Dulaimi said. President of the Iraqi Accord Front (the largest bloc of Sunni P j parliament) said that the discovery of significant reserves of oil Wa gas in Sunni areas, it will not change their stance refusing federalism.
إعلان ي خليلزاد.Declaration Barzani to reach agreement on the draft S44 n oil, came during a joint press conference he held in Sulaymaniyah in the late yesterday with the first Iraqi President Jalal students Nee and American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. و الى اتفاق نهائي..News agency <Associated Press> to Barzani, saying <us to a final agreement. ».Draft will accept>. ية.This law regulates the process of foreign investments and Non-resource management, It also provides for the distribution of the proceeds of natural resources in Bel Ed between regions and provinces in accordance with population density Yeh. إ ةفي بغداد.There were differences between the Kurds and Baghdad, especially on a Khadda prospecting operations for the control of the central government in Baghdad. لكن توصل اليه.But Barzani did not reveal the details of its findings to the Aljanba n on this controversial point.

الى الأخيرة».So, Adnan Al-Dulaimi said. The discovery of oil and gas reserves in areas Els faith <will not change the position of the year at the principle of division of Iraq , and is not linked to natural resources that have been announcement of the discovery in recent>. ».He added in a telephone conversation with <Middle East> that <rejection based on skepticism that the federal division of Iraq>. وقال ».Al-Dulaimi said that in the case of application of the principle of federalism <we will work with all our revenues to be distributed useless i parts of Iraq just away from any sectarian grounds e or ethnic>. وأ ة».He added <we are partners in this government and we have Ministers I must learn all the financial resources of the States e>.

وكان.The announcement of the discovery of vast reservoirs of oil and natural gas recently in the areas of western Iraq, which Manna areas, with a Sunni majority, have raised questions about the possibility that the parties age Yeh reconsider its position of rejecting federalism. وحبالبلاد.According to reports, the tens of millions of dollars were paid to a company sidearms in the past two years to review the AEON T. geological across Iraq and retraining Eng Iraqis yen for investment in natural resources country. ( غرب).Rose and new studies of the quantity of oil in Almstod ferocious in the Ninawa (north), Anbar ( west). عقد م مكعب.The sources estimated that the amount of natural gas located in stores in western Iraq not less than 1000 billion had m cubic.

وحول حتى الآن.And on these discoveries, A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil Assem Jihad The discovery of natural gas in the western regions of the Iraq is not new, However, it has not been exploited so far. ا المسلحة عليها.He ruled in a telephone conversation with <Middle East> able e implementation of any projects for the time being to extract such a the resources in the western regions, He attributed this to the deteriorating security situation and control of a the armed groups it. وقحوي على .He said that the Western Sahara contains huge quantities of a the gas did not specify.

وألقى .And blaming what he termed b <policies of the Alice Keep Your> dissipate the wealth of Iraq and not to be used as a for optimal. .He added that if the exploitation of these resources fully, Iraq will shift to the ranks of gas-exporting countries.



KRG, Kurdistan Regional Government

The Secretary will meet with Baghdad police chief of Baghdad and discussed with him coordination
(Voice of Iraq) - 26-02-2007 shall Sotaliraq.com - ÕæÊ ÇáÚÑÇÞ

The Republic of Iraq
Council of Ministers-the National Center for Media
Media Relations
A press statement / Press Release
Monday 2-26-2007

The Secretary will meet with Baghdad police chief of Baghdad and discussed with him coordination efforts to eliminate abuses in the city of Baghdad

The Secretary of Baghdad, Dr. Sabir Eissawi the need for m Sahmah everyone in the removal of abuses occurring in the city e Baghdad, which is distorted by cultural and aesthetic.
This came during a meeting today with Major General Kazim Almhamdao j Baghdad police chief to discuss and coordinate efforts between the owners AT Baghdad and the Baghdad police to remove excesses insisted origin of the streets and sidewalks and yards.
A media source in the secretariat of Baghdad that the meeting moved to disassociate AIPAC also coordinate on providing support and protection to cadres Baghdad Secretariat of the implementation of the service ALMAO Ikpe of the security plan, especially in the hot spots and provide a security cover the prerequisite for entering such areas for garbage collection and cleaning full and provide all forms of municipal services brother Ri them.
Agreement was also reached on a number of issues that would facilitate the work fled s eliminate abuses that marred most of the streets and areas Begg Dad and need everyone's cooperation to eliminate such abuses

Tentative agreement on the draft law of the distribution of oil resources Yeh
(Voice of Iraq) - 26-02-2007 shall www.sotaliraq.com

Sulaymaniyah - August : Iraqi officials confirmed yesterday that the draft law on the distribution of pain Ward oil which is seen widely as usage Mel crucial to overcome political differences, witnessed a very positive statement in the light of the leaders of the Kurds b The number of the main issues had been resolved, which opens Alba b for presentation to the Iraqi parliament • The ratification of the this law is an important factor in defusing a bomb timely " e "threatening to reignite the sectarian and ethnic divides P j time Washington has placed a prerequisite to pump aid a the military and technical assistance to the Iraqi government and the government • Nuri al-Maliki has committed to putting the law into effect late in 6002, however, it has exceeded the ceiling by the time MI Tradhat Kurds • law officials stated above shares that the talks on the law amounted stages Alenha Teh and the remaining non-finalized • The Head Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan region in a joint press conference with President Jalal Talabani in Sulaymaniyah yesterday. they discussed the final version of the draft law Bal tel al-Maliki and with the result of talks were good and • A joint press conference between the two allies following the Ka automatic pledged with the American Ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad noting that he left the meeting without make Btasseriha • T. Barzani said "we have to a final agreement on the draft • Law • accepted the draft law, "without making any details • However, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Oil warned against excessive optimism, saying "negotiations Mas Walt ongoing and that the bill should be introduced and Menakecht e at the ministerial level before the presentation of research and validation p me Federal Parliament •
The Emirates

Originally Posted by rvalreadydang

Preparations for the opening of two branches of the economy, Iraq j Bank in Kuwait and Finland

Morning fly to Finland today, Monday, the head of the Center the Iraqi economy for the blessing of the international Alafi at the top and accidental part of the preparations for the opening of the branch of the center, said there is a to Halve in a telephone conversation with the (morning)

من ان From Syria, which is currently visiting in the framework of consultations heart he urged cooperation with the business community to participate in the re - e ages : The delegation will discuss the possibility of opening a branch Finland t Center there be a center for businessmen and owners of the trap AT and Iraqi Finnish to discuss and conclude deals. meters a delegation will hold talks on ways to share experiences and Els Jarat between businessmen in the two countries and create opportunities Ltad certainly members of the Center of businessmen there. Alafi checkmate P also expressed the intention of opening a branch in the State of Kuwait the brother was the nomination of Mr. Hussein Abdullah Dashti, a man the Kuwaiti head of the branch is part of a group that fled Kuwait hand Side. He pointed out that the Iraqi delegation had conducted investigations AT depth with complex business in Kuwait on partnerships Kuwaiti companies in the reconstruction of Iraq, especially in the southern region, which enjoys a safe investment environment It is hoped to open branches in Kuwait and in Finland within the next two months to raise the number of branches Center in the world according saying Alafi
Translated version of ÌÑíÏÉ ÇáÕÈÇÍ

I could try to find something about this in the Finnish media if somebody could tell me what this means. Unfortunately I don't understand a single sentence of this gibberish.

‘Peace package likely in a few months’
Web posted at: 2/26/2007 3:50:19
Source ::: The Peninsula
Dr Hussain Shaban

DOHA • A peace package involving the US, the UN, Iran and a few Islamic states is likely to emerge in the coming months as a solution to the crisis in Iraq, according to Dr Hussain Shaban, a prominent Iraqi thinker and human rights activist.

Shaban, who has been associated with the Iraqi Network for Human Rights, Culture and Development, is in Doha attending the forum on Iraq being organised by the Al Jazeera Center for Studies.

Talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the meeting yesterday, Shaban said the internal situation in the US coupled with the ongoing fighting in Iraq will eventually force the Bush administration to withdraw American forces from Iraq.

"The only possible solution to the crisis is a peace package, whereby Iran would agree to stop intervention in Iraq, while the US would agree to withdraw its forces. The formula must also involve the UN and other countries in the region," said Shaban.

He felt that the Bush administration would not be able to resist for long the mounting pressure from the American public as well as the Democrats to pull out from Iraq. No solution will be possible for the crisis if the US does not set a timetable for troop withdrawal, he added.

Shaban said his organisation had been functioning from outside Iraq during the Saddam regime. Though based outside the country, he has been visiting Iraq almost every year, since the occupation.

"I could not visit last year because many people advised me not to go because of the deteriorating law and order situation," Shaban said.

He identified the major challenges facing Iraq as occupation, sectarian clashes, terror attacks, violence caused by the militias, lack of services and infrastructure, weakening of citizenship and corruption.

According to an official report released by the Iraqi oil ministry recently, the country lost $24bn of oil revenue during the period from 2003 to 2006.

"Currently there are no accounts being kept for oil-related transactions," he said, indicating that a major part of the revenue goes to the occupying powers and some groups inside Iraq.

He said more than 55 articles of the Iraqi constitution, framed under occupation, need to be amended since they challenge the Iraqi identity and its national interests. Domination of the sectarian authority over the state authority is one of the major challenges facing the country, he noted.

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.

Massoud Barzani, president of the self-governing Kurdish administration in the north, announced the agreement at a joint press conference with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and President Jalal Talabani. Barzani said he and Talabani had discussed the latest draft law by telephone with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“We reached a final agreement,” Barzani said. “We accept the draft.”

Delay in adopting deal
There was no comment on the announcement from Khalilzad or Talabani, and Barzani did not elaborate. It was unclear whether new concessions had to be made to win his approval.

Al-Maliki’s government had promised to enact a new oil law by the end of 2006 but missed the deadline due to objections from the Kurds, who wanted a greater role in awarding contracts and administering the revenues.

The Cabinet discussed the draft Thursday but failed to agree. Once the Cabinet signs off, the measure goes to parliament for final approval once the legislators return from a recess early next month.

Opening doors to investment
The Bush administration, facing growing pressure to end the Iraq conflict, has been urging the Iraqis to finish the new oil law.

A new law is needed, most outside experts believe, to encourage international companies to pour billions into Iraq to repair pipelines, upgrade wells, develop new fields and begin to exploit the country’s vast petroleum reserves, estimated at about 115 billion barrels.

According to Iraqis familiar with the deliberations, the draft law would offer international oil companies several methods to invest, including production-sharing agreements. Those would give U.S. and other international companies a substantial share of the oil revenues to recover their initial investments and then allow them big tax breaks.

That angers some Iraqis, who believe foreigners will get too much control of the nation’s wealth.

Power struggle
But the biggest battle is over who gets the most say in awarding contracts and managing the revenues. The Kurds, who have run their own mini-state in the north since 1991, want regional administrations to have a bigger role.

Most of the country’s proven oil reserves lie in the Kurdish north or the Shiite south, which also wants to establish a self-ruled region. That has led the Sunnis to demand more power for the central government, to assure them a share of the wealth.

To win Kurdish approval, the current draft gives a major role to the regional administrations in awarding contracts but allows a committee under the prime minister to review them.

To satisfy the Sunnis, oil revenues would be distributed to the 18 provinces based on their populations — not on whether they have oil. It’s unclear whether Sunni Arabs would accept a population-based formula since they have consistently challenged figures showing them as a minority.

While the Kurds want more control of revenue generated from their fields, others think the new proposals give the regions too much control.

If implemented, “The balance of power in the management of Iraq’s oil and gas resources would have shifted alarmingly from the center to the regions,” Tariq Shafiq, a former oil official who helped draft the first version, said in Amman, Jordan, this month.

Agreement to share oil wealth could open economy to new investments | Iraq Updates

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may appoint a new resident director for Iraq soon, a move that sources inside the Bank say could contradict the institution's policies on engagement in conflict-stricken areas and put his role in the 2003 U.S. invasion back into the limelight.
The move by Wolfowitz, the former number two official at the Pentagon and a main architect of the U.S.-led war, likely means the Bank would release new loans to the occupied Arab nation, despite the deteriorating security situation and recent disclosures of massive corruption in reconstruction efforts.

"This is exactly what he shouldn't be doing and what the [World Bank] board was initially afraid that he would do, which is to use the financial resources of the World Bank to take some of the heat off the U.S. Treasury and U.S. policy," Bea Edwards of the Washington-based watchdog group Government Accountability Project told IPS.

In a previous statement, Edwards argued that "Wolfowitz's apparent determination to use the World Bank to further questionable American military goals in the Middle East is a fundamental distortion of the Bank's mission, a violation of its founding Articles of Agreement, and a reckless waste of donor resources."

The Bank has a policy called Procedure 2.30 ("Development Cooperation and Conflict"), which states that to operate in a country emerging from a conflict, the Bank must first prepare a "watching brief," develop a transitional support strategy, begin transitional reconstruction, then begin post-conflict reconstruction, and finally return to normal lending.

Unlike the Bank's Interim Office for Iraq, which is based in Amman, Jordan, the soon-to-be-named country director would exclusively manage Iraq for the Bank from Baghdad, according to GAP, which first leaked the information, citing inside sources.

Other sources inside the Bank said talks with the new country director had taken place in January and continued until earlier this month. They say that a draft contract was being negotiated with the candidate who has some experience in post-conflict regions and speaks some Arabic.

This development has reportedly upset some Bank board members and senior staff who are concerned about staff safety and possible corruption given the numerous reports of shoddy work, mismanagement and labour abuses by private contractors hired to carry out major reconstruction projects in the country.

When Wolfowitz was first appointed in June 2005, there was an outcry at the board because of his close association with planning the Iraq war. For the past year and a half, Wolfowitz has kept a relatively low profile on the issue and tried to publicly tone down his ideological leanings.

Anticipating that Iraq could eventually take a more prominent role at the Bank, the board has periodically issued official statements -- a highly unusual measure -- telling Wolfowitz that they want to be updated on any plans for Iraq.

The news that he is discussing a contract with a new country director has caused those concerns to resurface.

Several board members declined on the record interviews for this article. For the past three days, Dina el-Naggar, a World Bank media officer, said she has not been able to arrange for World Bank officials working on Iraq to respond to written questions submitted by IPS.

Some critics note that Wolfowitz has been trying to polish his name by launching a widely publicised campaign against corruption in World Bank projects, but now appears to be moving ahead with new projects in Iraq despite ample evidence of wrongdoing there.

The World Bank has been involved through the Iraq Trust Fund, within the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, which has financed 15 projects worth 410 million dollars to improve education, health, household data collection, irrigation and drainage, social protection, telecommunications, urban infrastructure, and water supply and sanitation.

The Washington-based lender says it has also approved 275 million dollars in International Development Association credits for education, electricity and transport.

In May 2006, Joseph Saba, country director of the Middle East Department, said the Bank was ready to strengthen its existing presence in Iraq, timed with the advent of a new Washington-backed government.

The Bank at the time said it was looking into hiring a "volunteer", meaning the job assignment will not be mandatory, to serve as Iraq country director based in Baghdad's Green Zone.

But political chaos and lack of security have so far limited the plans even though the Bank has promised that the new country director would be guarded by a dedicated security team, including for occasional controlled visits outside the Green Zone.

The Bank's operational work in Iraq has relied until now on a growing cadre of professional Iraqi staff based in the country, regular meetings with Iraqis outside of Iraq, use of the Bank's videoconferencing facilities in Baghdad, and close support from the Interim Office for Iraq in Amman.

The Bank has not had a major presence inside Iraq since a bombing on Aug. 19, 2003 claimed the life of a Bank staffer and those of 21 U.N. employees at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

Yet ever since he came to office in June 2005, senior Bank staff and some board members have expressed fears that Wolfowitz's ideological leanings would push the Bank towards more involvement in the controversial conflict in Iraq.

Some inside sources say that the 30-year World Bank veteran Christiaan Poortman, who was vice-president for the Middle East, resigned last year because he objected to Wolfowitz's directives to prepare to increase lending and add staff in Iraq.

Edwards of GAP also points to the lack of a functioning system in Iraq that could guarantee that the Bank loans or projects will be dealt with in a transparent manner.

"In fact, the Bank is prohibited from operating in a conflict like this," said Edwards.

"In the simplest financial terms, there is no functioning banking system, the government does not control its territory and it cannot guarantee loan repayment. Any emergency or social funding in Iraq should come from donors' grants, not loans."

Wolfowitz May Bring Bank Back to Iraq | Iraq Updates

As Iraq's evolving banking system turns more dangerous and more corrupt, people in this cash-driven economy increasingly are stashing piles of money in their homes.
For those who still use the troubled system, a trip to the bank often means extraordinary measures to avoid criminal gangs and crooked clerks fishing for bribes. Lesser inconveniences can include caps on wire transfers, weeklong waits for checks to clear, limited supplies of high-value notes and hours of lines.

In addition to the security concerns, Iraqi financiers and government officials worry about a lack of banks to serve the population and help rebuild the country, where inflation is estimated at 65 percent annually.
Whether it is dinars or dollars, Iraqis are struggling as never before to secure their cash.

"You must keep it somewhere," said Abd Ali Radi, the 56-year-old owner of a modest bus company. "This is a problem for all Iraqis today."

Radi relayed a story about a recent trip to his bank. He said he was nervously edging ahead in line toward the teller windows when he heard the familiar sound of ammunition being inserted into an automatic pistol.

He said he fled.

Ali al-Ajeely, a 48-year-old travel agency owner, said he is so fearful of carrying large amounts of cash that he avoids the city's depositories altogether.

"It's safer to stay away from the banks," al-Ajeely said.

Hamza Own, a 47-year-old waterworks contractor, called the banks insecure and inefficient. "I have better ways of storing my money," he said, adding that he last held a bank account in 1990.

Those dissatisfied with the banks often point to security problems. They are keenly aware that several banks in Baghdad this year have suffered brazen daylight heists involving millions of dollars from their main offices, branches and armored vehicles.

"Most banks handling cash have experienced large robberies -- a million here, another million there," said Fouad Mustafa, the managing director of Credit Bank of Iraq.

The robberies have forced some financial institutions to change their business models and slash the amount of cash they keep on hand.
Zuhair al-Hafidh, 70, is the managing director of Ashur National Bank, which has 50 million dinars in capital -- roughly $38,500 -- and only two offices in the country, including one in Baghdad with just 25 employees.

"Smaller is better now," said al-Hafidh, whose bank focuses on the investment sector.

Iraqi banks guarantee their deposits, but customers have few assurances en route to and from institutions. And in a city where 100 people or more are killed every day, many residents of Baghdad say it is more practical to keep their savings near their loved ones.

"Keeping money in the house is better than keeping it in the bank because if anything happens to you, your family has the money," said al-Ajeely, the travel agent.

Iraqis' misgivings about banks date to Saddam Hussein's rule.

The former regime placed spontaneous restrictions on banks during times of unrest, notably a $750 monthly limit on withdrawals after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Less than a decade earlier, the government had moved to establish private banks because the 350 branches of the national bank were not enough to meet demand. Today, 21 banking companies operate in Iraq, but financial experts warn that is too few to serve the population and finance the rebuilding of the country.

While all of Iraq's banking companies still are operating, security problems have forced them to close several branches and shelve expansion plans.

Iraqis stash cash to avoid troubled banking system | Iraq Updates

Something is happening with جردية الوقائع العراقية ( that being the Online gazette - urunklink.net/iqlaw) .... I checked it out a couple of hours ago and the 2007 Budget Ratified by President link was there with the other 2 or 3 laws ratified yesterday. Now, I couldn't get the link up for a while, and just now came up with all the stuff from yesterday missing...No 2007 budget ratification, nothing...just the old stuff...

It looks like they are editing or something...