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

Higher demand for dollar in Iraqi Central Bank auction
By Dergham Mohammed Ali

Baghdad, 02 March 2007 (Voices of Iraq)

Demand for the dollar increased in the Iraqi Central Bank’s daily auction on Thursday to reach $63.110 million, compared with just $39.520 million on Wednesday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, which included $16.490 million in cash and $46.620 million in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,280 dinars per dollar, unchanged since yesterday.

None of the 12 banks that participated in Thursday's auction offered to sell dollars.

Ali al-Yaseri, a trader at the auction, told VOI that a stable exchange rate had discouraged banks from selling dollars.

The Iraqi Central Bank runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.



Higher demand for dollar in Iraqi Central Bank auction | Iraq Updates

Kurds and the forbidden fruit
By Dr Rashid Karadaghi

02 March 2007 (KurdishMedia)

Of all the responses to the feature story on the Kurds by the CBS 60 Minutes weekly program on Sunday, Feb.18th, that I have heard, the most poignant was what an American friend of mine told me that his wife had said after watching correspondent Bob Simon walking down a crowded street in Hawler (Erbil), the capital of Kurdistan, without any body armor or body guards, "Why aren't they [the Kurds] independent?"

Well, that is the same question that I (and millions of other Kurds) have been asking again and again all my life without getting any good answers. The story of the elusive Kurdish independence is as old as the mountains of Kurdistan and as endless as the Arabian tale of one-thousand-and-one nights. Why a people numbering about forty million with its own homeland, rich language and culture and ancient history, and plenty of natural resources, has to still dream about independence and freedom, instead of living that God-given right, like one hundred ninety-two other nations, most of whom are far less numerous than them, will always remain a mystery to me – and a testimony to man's inhumanity to man.

At its core, the Kurdish issue is no different from that of any other oppressed nation. It is about the yearning of a people for freedom from oppression and domination by others. It is the story of man's desire to be the master of his home and his destiny, a noble cause as old as the human race itself. It is this very basic freedom that has eluded this most-wronged nation despite the untold sacrifices it has made to attain it.

The Kurdish quest for freedom has become more complicated than any other nation's due to the extreme arrogance, inhumanity, cruelty, and indecency of those the Kurds have to wrest their freedom from. No doubt, history is full of atrocities committed by the strong against the weak, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to state emphatically that what the Kurds have suffered, and are suffering today, at the hands of their oppressors in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria is seldom matched by any in history. It has been the misfortune of the Kurds to have had to face oppressors of an especially brutal, barbaric, unyielding, and unthinking breed.

While it is true that the source of the oppression of the Kurds is the occupiers of Kurdistan – Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria -- no one can deny that the Western powers have been, and still are, complicit in prolonging this oppression and denying the Kurds their birthright. The Kurds should blame a great deal of their suffering for most of the twentieth century on the British for being the architects of the division of Kurdistan after WW1. And instead of making amends for all the damage they have inflicted on the Kurds, the British still actively and blindly support their fateful decision to parcel out Kurdistan and hand it over to the wolves.

By insisting on a unified Iraq and regarding the artificial borders of the countries which divide Kurdistan among them as sacrosanct, the US, Britain, and the rest of the Western powers are giving the green light to the chauvinists in those countries to continue to oppress the Kurds and deny them their fundamental rights as a nation. Instead of telling the truth, which is that over 98% of the people in South (Iraqi-occupied) Kurdistan voted for complete independence from Iraq in a referendum in January, 2005, US and British officials repeatedly claim that the Kurds don't want to be independent but remain part of a unified Iraq! Every Western reporter who has reported from Kurdistan in the last few years confirms what the results of that referendum showed, namely, that the Kurds don't feel they are part of Iraq and want their own independent country. Imagine if that referendum were held anywhere but in Kurdistan! Would the world community have dared to push it under the rug as they have done in this case? Ironically, just as in the past, the Kurds still don't have the right to speak for themselves, and even when they occasionally do, as they did in the 2005 referendum, their voice is completely ignored by the world.

In the civilized world, if you abuse your child, you risk heavy penalties, such as going to jail and / or having your child taken away from you by government social services. Yet, forty million Kurds have been abused, and continue to be abused, on a daily basis by the occupiers of Kurdistan and no international body has taken any action to stop the abuse.

Echoing the sentiments of all the occupiers of Kurdistan, be it in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, or Syria, the Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, is reported to have said a few days ago that the creation of an independent Kurdish state was a " pipe dream" and that "The gates of hell will open if such a state is declared." Well, the Kurdish response is, "Let them open, for this time the victimizer will burn with his victim, too!" The gates of hell have always been gaping for the Kurds, so there would be nothing new if Gul's dire prediction comes true. But instead of threatening annihilation if the Kurds become free, would it not be much wiser for those who are trampling on their rights to pursue the path which other civilized nations have taken in overcoming the problems inherited from the dark past?

Some think it is our fate to be enslaved forever. We reject that view totally because it is against the indomitable human spirit. To those who think Kurdish independence is a "pipe dream" we ask," What happened to the Ottoman empire and the Soviet Union and all the other oppressive empires of the past?" If any lesson is to be learnt from the fate of those empires and other dictatorial regimes, some of which we have witnessed in our lifetime, it is that people cannot be put in chains forever. Instead of fighting the inevitable and destroying themselves and the Kurds in the process, the occupiers of Kurdistan must get used to accept the fact that the day of deliverance is near for the Kurdish people, no matter what it takes.

"I am tired of reading history; I want to make it," the student leader of the Free Speech Movement in America was quoted as saying in 1964. It is about time the Kurds stopped reading history and started making it! It is about time they stopped dreaming of independence and started living it! It is about time they stopped whispering about independence and started shouting it so loud to deafen anybody who would stand between them and their freedom.


Kurds and the forbidden fruit | Iraq Updates

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

Iraqis agree over oil wealth policy - Zawya.com | Middle East Business News

Iraqis agree over oil wealth policy

02 March 2007
Cabinet passes law that will see revenues spread across country
Iraq's Cabinet has finally endorsed a landmark draft oil law in a move seen as crucial in determining how the country's oil wealth will be shared by its ethnic and sectarian groups.


In a political milestone the Cabinet, which includes members of the country's three main sectarian-political blocs the Shia, Sunni Arabs and the Kurds voted unanimously in favour of the legislation.


The move is a step towards ending the long-running stalemate over the powers of Iraq's federal and regional governments.


Passing a law to help settle potentially explosive disputes over theworld's third largest oil reserves has been a key demand of the US, which has linked it to continuing support for the Shi'ite-led national unity government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.


Under the draft oil law, regional administrations will be empowered to negotiate contracts with Western oil companies.


These contracts will be reviewed by a central government committee in Baghdad, headed by the prime minister.


The law still has to be approved by the Iraqi parliament, which is out of session until next week. A number of key documents need to be written to complete the full legislative package, which will govern the oil industry.


Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said Iraq's leaders had pledged to have the new law enacted by the end of May.


"The Cabinet endorsement...represents a major breakthrough for Iraq's political and economic transition," added Salih, who is also head of the committee that drafted the law.


Under the new law, revenues will be distributed to all 18 provinces based on the population size, a concession to the Sunni Arabs in central and western Iraq.


Most of the country's vast proven oil reserves are in the Kurdish north and the Shi'ite south, leaving many Sunnis fearful they will miss out on any windfall should the overall security situation improve enough to substantially boost production.


The draft law will allow the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to review existing contracts it has signed with foreign firms, to ensure consistency with the terms of the new law, Salih said.


Agreement on the law had been held up partly because officials from Kurdistan, where relative security has encouraged more development than elsewhere in Iraq, said they wanted assurances a new federal council will not invalidate their existing contracts.


In recent months, the KRG has signed oil exploration and development contracts with Norway's DNO, the Turkish-Canadian Genel-Addax, Canada's Western-Zagros, and Turkish-US PetPrime and A&T Energy.


The KRG said it didn't envisage any further changes being necessary on these contracts, but said it would submit them to the draft law's independent panel of experts. "to ensure that they meet Iraq-wide required standards. In the meantime, investment will continue under those contracts".


DNO said the new draft law appeared "more or less" in line with what it hoped for and affirmed plans to produce on average 7700 barrels per day in northern Iraq this year.


The law will also restructure the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) as an independent holding company and establish a Federal Council as a forum for national oil policy.


INOC will have affiliated regional operating companies and the oil ministry will be the regulator for the sector.


Iraq needs billions of dollars in foreign investment in order to reconstruct its oil industry. Production has fallen to less than 2 million bpd, down from 2.5 million bpd before the war.


Oil executives said a consensus has formed on what future oil contracts should look like despite a backdrop of bickering between Baghdad and the Kurdish authority over control of oil revenues and whether a national oil company should oversee contract negotiations.


Iraqi officials have indicated foreign investors will be offered "buyback contracts" for the most promising fields and "production sharing contracts" for the riskier prospects.


Western oil majors expect a national oil company to be formed to exploit the country's reserves.


© Upstream 2007

Iraqis agree over oil wealth policy - Zawya.com | Middle East Business News

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt this line "02 March 2007
Cabinet passes law that will see revenues spread across country"
Say the HCL is now law ?

Originally Posted by IITB

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt this line "02 March 2007
Cabinet passes law that will see revenues spread across country"
Say the HCL is now law ?

I think it needs to go to parlaiment, next.

marsadiraq.com

marsadiraq.com

Translated version of http://www.iraqalyoum.net/p3.htm

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ÞÇäæä ÇáäÝØ - ÊÝÇÕíá ( ÊÞÑíÑ ) :: Aswat al Iraq :: Aswat al Iraq

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl.../nhr0302f.html

Radio Sawa - مجلس الوزراء يقرر المصادقة على ات�اقية تخ�يض الديون مع نادي باريس

...go to the Parliament AFTER THE 10TH OF MARCH???

Gas , Oil Law referred To Parliament | Iraq Updates

Gas , Oil Law referred To Parliament
Baghdad, 28 February 2007 (Al-Sabaah)
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High level source at ministries council emphasized that the council signed on gas and oil law then lifted to the parliament council aiming to signed it and agree as hoping to discusses it inside the council after ending the second legal permission which would end in the tenth of the coming month.

On his part, oil minister Dr. Hussein al-Shahrastani said in a press statement that the draft law was discussed for two continuous sessions from energy committee and it is ready for offering and votes.

Meanwhile, the minister declared that his ministry very interest to get full benefits from the new oily contracts to get more benefits for the Iraqis.

Originally Posted by nikki

Kurds and the forbidden fruit
By Dr Rashid Karadaghi

02 March 2007 (KurdishMedia)

Of all the responses to the feature story on the Kurds by the CBS 60 Minutes weekly program on Sunday, Feb.18th, that I have heard, the most poignant was what an American friend of mine told me that his wife had said after watching correspondent Bob Simon walking down a crowded street in Hawler (Erbil), the capital of Kurdistan, without any body armor or body guards, "Why aren't they [the Kurds] independent?"

but in Kurdistan! Would the world community have dared to push it under the rug as they have done in this case? Ironically, just as in the past, the Kurds still don't have the right to speak for themselves, and even when they occasionally do, as they did in the 2005 referendum, their voice is completely ignored by the world.

......................................

Echoing the sentiments of all the occupiers of Kurdistan, be it in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, or Syria, the Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, is reported to have said a few days ago that the creation of an independent Kurdish state was a " pipe dream" and that "The gates of hell will open if such a state is declared." Well, the Kurdish response is, "Let them open, for this time the victimizer will burn with his victim, too!" The gates of hell have always been gaping for the Kurds, so there would be nothing new if Gul's dire prediction comes true. But
"I am tired of reading history; I want to make it," the student leader of the Free Speech Movement in America was quoted as saying in 1964. It is about time the Kurds stopped reading history and started making it! It is about time they stopped dreaming of independence and started living it! It is about time they stopped whispering about independence and started shouting it so loud to deafen anybody who would stand between them and their freedom.


Kurds and the forbidden fruit | Iraq Updates

Here is the answer why that would not happen:

Turkey, Iraq, U.S. to meet on Iraq oil | Iraq Updates

Turkey, Iraq, U.S. to meet on Iraq oil
ANKARA, Turkey, 02 March 2007 (UPI)
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Turkey's energy minister said Ankara was asked for help developing oil in northern Iraq and will meet with U.S. and Iraq officials this month.

But Hilmi Guler said the negotiations will be with the central Iraqi government, not the Kurdish leaders that control the oil rich north and are at odds with Turkey.

The meeting this month will be the first step in talks on developing Iraq ' s northern oil, the Turkish Daily News reports. Investment in Iraq's oil sector will be governed by a hydrocarbons law that has been approved by the Iraqi cabinet but hasn't reached the Parliament yet. Negotiations have been heated and took nearly a year. At issue is who has control over development, the regions or the central government.

The meetings, which will take place in Turkey, were instigated by Iraqi officials, Guler said.

Turkey has said it could invade Kurdistan if the Kurdistan Regional Government attempts to break away from the rest of Iraq. Turkey, along with Iran and Syria, fear an Iraqi Kurdish move would empower their Kurdish populations.

Iraq has 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, of which the KRG controls a large share, though not the majority.

Turkey is deciding whether to form diplomatic relations with the KRG.

Originally Posted by rvalreadydang

WHAT IS THIS?? I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT AMOUNT BEFORE??

Bulletin buying and selling rates of the Iraqi dinar unsupported
سعر الشراءThe purchase price سعر البيعThe sale price العملةCurrency
2 79.3602 79.360 1 12 8 0.00012 8 0.000 الدولار الأمريكي $Dollar $
1692 .1692. 593593 1 6 93 .1 6 93. 440440 اليورو الأوروبي €We EURO
المصدر: البنك المركزي العراقيSource : Central Bank of Iraq

Translated version of http://www.ninanews.com/

dated yesterday, but where did they get that figure? it's easier to read on the site btw, the paste made the format all jumbled.

i think the html has caused the 1 to go to the end of the number instead of beginning. its the advfn number exactly if you move that one around to the beginning.

Originally Posted by IITB

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesnt this line "02 March 2007
Cabinet passes law that will see revenues spread across country"
Say the HCL is now law ?

no, they passed the DRAFT LAW. but i do agree its a rubber stamp in the parliament as the leaders of the parliament are in the cabinet. then enacted by tali and the boys. the fact of the matter is, they know its coming and they can now revalue the dinar if their intent was to wait until the hcl.

the only other thing i could possibly think of that they would want to wait for is the expiring of the sba contract. but considering theyve not used any of that money i dont see why it would be an issue at this point.