Thread: Iraqi/Dinar News before 3-12-2007 7:45PM CentralTimeZone

Austria, Iraq: An Increasingly Attractive Petroleum Source
March 08, 2007 21 49 GMT

Summary

Austria's OMV announced March 8 that it has been in negotiations about energy contracts with the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, making it the first company to announce such talks. In its search for a supplier for its proposed Nabucco pipeline, OMV has faced difficulties from obvious suppliers like Iran and Russia -- making Iraq look like more of a possibility.

Analysis

Austria's OMV is in negotiations with the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) about oil and natural gas exploration contracts, according to a March 8 statement by OMV CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer. This makes OMV, Central Europe's largest oil and natural gas company, the first public company to announce that it is in active negotiations on energy deals with the Iraqi government.

OMV is looking for a supplier for its proposed Nabucco pipeline running from Turkey to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Iran and Russia have previously been considered as potential suppliers. Now, however, not only is Iraq also on the table, it is looking increasingly attractive.

The Iraqi government has been making some progress toward enacting new energy laws, though its drafts still need much work before a final version can be put into effect. Companies worldwide are closely eyeing Baghdad's progress toward energy agreements, while the KRG recently said it will sign energy deals in 2007 with 10 companies, mostly from the United States and Europe.

Iraq has approximately 3.2 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves and another 4.2 trillion cubic meters in probable reserves, a figure putting it in the top 10 list of the world's largest reserves. At present, however, Iraq produces just a sixth of its 1989 production level of 6 billion cubic meters (bcm). Also, approximately 70 percent of Iraq's natural gas reserves are associated, meaning the natural gas in produced along with oil. The bulk of its natural gas production and reserves are in northern Iraq, which is primarily Kurdish.

Iraq's main natural gas pipeline infrastructure runs west from Kirkuk to Baji and then on to Jordan, but this line has been dead for decades. OMV would have to build entirely new infrastructure to be able to export the natural gas from Kirkuk. The same goes for the associated oil reserves, though an oil pipeline runs from Kirkuk to Baji before going north to Mosul and then entering Turkey. This line is problematic, however, because it crosses through the territories of various ethnic groups. Moreover, in 2006 there were 78 attacks against energy infrastructure in Iraq, mostly around Baji. If OMV is serious about Iraqi supplies, it will have to build new oil and natural gas infrastructure in the relatively stable northern Kurdish territory. A pipeline from Kirkuk directly to Mosul, thus remaining within the Kurdish territory, would represent a reasonable design, though Kirkuk's future is in doubt given the dispute between the Kurds and Arabs for control of the northern city.

OMV has the technical expertise and the money to tackle a project like this while it searches for natural gas supplies to feed its Nabucco pipeline. The 2,000-mile pipeline is slated to see construction begin in 2008, be operational by 2011 and have a 30 bcm capacity by 2020.

None of OMV's options for supplying Nabucco is perfect. Europe has been growing more wary of relying on Russian supplies since Moscow began cutting both oil and natural gas during political squabbles. Meanwhile, Iran labors under U.S. sanctions, and could face the prospect of U.N. sanctions because of its nuclear activities. Europe has sought a way to diversify, but most alternatives also come with a cost -- either political or technical. So even though Iraq might not be the ideal choice for diversification, because Europe lacks perfect alternatives, Iraq has possibilities.

Before foreign oil companies can begin to return and invest in Iraq's energy sector, it needs an internationally accepted and regionally legitimate government and the insurgency must stop. Kurdistan, however, is an exception to these two prerequisites. The Kurdish region already has a stable and well-established regional government, though it would take a company with gall to strike a deal with the Kurdish region to the exclusion of the rest of Iraq -- especially given that Iraq's hydrocarbon law is still being crafted, and differences remain regarding authority over contracts with oil companies. OMV is a big enough company to break the ice as far as entering Iraq is concerned, however. And once it does so, a flood of companies will follow suit

Participate in production agreements for the development of Iraqi oil fields. اراء مناقشةThe views and observations of the discussion




برسBaghdad-file Press

. the oil expert said that the full Almahidi reopen serious and substantive discussion on how to develop oil wealth and the power Conventions participating in the production as a way of building the petroleum industry production in the country and take appropriate decisions in this regard is a national task at the current stage, which put the oil investment law for discussion by the House of Representatives.

و اكد . and expert Almahidi that in the beginning, must review the alternatives available to the government to provide the necessary investments to develop production capacity the Iraqi oil fields, and lifted from the current level of 2-2.5 million barrels per day to the level required by plans established before the Ministry of Oil and of 5.5-six million barrels per day, pointing out that this part of the planned increase, amounting to 3.5-four million barrels can be achieved by the development and completion of the development of seven giant fields, are : West Qurna, Majnoon and Halvaih rivers, and Omar, Nasiriyah and Artawi and brick, as these seven fields the rocks containing more than 50 billion barrels of oil could be drawn, and Bftrad annual attrition rate of 3% of the reserve above, it can produce an average of four million barrels per day from these fields for more than 15 years, after Ibda production gradual deterioration rate varies from field to another, a rate ranging between 5 and 10% of production, depending on the nature of the field, that is at a rate of 7% of annual production.

و هي: and added that the provision of investment needed to put the government four alternatives to be selected commensurate with the possibility of Iraq's financial and how, and these alternatives are :

1.1. لها.The use of the international oil companies to finance development projects and the implementation of the required fields by entering them in the agreements, contracts, including participating in the production or TALC similar.

2.2. .Direct spending from the state budget for these projects.

3.3. الاقتراض .Borrowing from international banks and other sources of funding for oil guarantor of the loan.

4.4. .The participation of international companies in the finance and administration.

و. and expert analyzed the full Almahidi each of these alternatives is likely to Alternative IV as a compromise between the first and second alternatives, Battabarh convenient - related international economic and political, especially if Iraq was able to provide its share of the financial investment necessary for development. فمن .It is understood that the candidate for the development of the fields has already been discovered and evaluated and is ready for development and production without any risk borne by international companies in the case of the agreement on the development of these fields, as a result, the national petroleum company, which will be development of oil under the law could interfere with a partner companies for the cost of exploration and risk incurred by Iraq and the share of each party to negotiate between the two sides Akhathin into account the size and productivity of workers and the evaluation.

و ناقش . Almahidi and discussed on the second alternative direct spending from the state budget, as the best among all the alternatives if possible, it require the allocation of no less than three billion dollars annually from the state budget for eight consecutive years spent on implementation of projects development required. يكون.One of the weaknesses of this alternative is that the time required for the production of the project will be relatively long, so that can be translated into material losses Iraq will be needed

ÇÊÝÇÞíÇÊ ÇáãÔÇÑßÉ Ýí ÇáÇäÊÇÌ áÊØæíÑ ÇáÍÞæá ÇáäÝØíÉ ÇáÚÑÇÞíÉ.. ÇÑÇÁ æ ãáÇÍÙÇÊ ááãäÇÞÔÉ

The Iraq turns out to a consultation closed

(صوت العراق) - 10-03-2007(Voice of Iraq) - 10-03-2007
ارسل هذا الموضوع لصديقThis issue was sent to a friend

من كوثر عبد الامير ,وسانتا ميخائيلFrom the hushed Abdel Amir, Santa Mikhail
بغداد –(أصوات العراق)Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
بدأ رؤساء وأعضاء وفود الدول المشاركة فى مؤتمر العراق عقد جلسة تشاورية مغلقة ينتظر ان تخرج بمقررات لدعم العراق وتحديد الدولة المضيفة للمؤتمر القادم الذي سيعقد الشهر المقبل على مستوى وزراء الخارجية وسيكون مكملا لهذا المؤتمر .The heads and members of delegations participating States in the Iraq held a consultative meeting closed expected to leave the decisions in support of Iraq and the host for the next conference which will be held next month at the level of foreign ministers, will be complementary to the conference.
وذكرت مصادر اعلامية من داخل مقر المؤتمر لوكالة أنباء (أصوات العراق ) المستقلة ان جلسة التشاور ستخرج ببيان ختامي للمؤتمر الذي سينتهي اليوم.According to media sources from inside the headquarters of the News Agency (Voices of Iraq) that the independent consultation meeting will go a closing statement of the Conference , which will expire today.
كان المؤتمر الدولي بدأ بكلمة القاها وزير خارجية العراق هوشيار زيباري اعرب فيها عن امله في ان يخرج المؤتمر بمقررات عملية لصالح العراق .The International Conference began with an address by the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari in which he expressed his hope that the conference decisions the process for the benefit of Iraq.
فيما اكد رئيس الوزراء العراقي نورى المالكى فى كلمة افتتاحية انه يرفض ان يكون العراق ساحة لتصفية الحسابات الاقليمية الاقليمية ,او الاقلمية الدولية , كما يرفض ان يكون بلده قاعدة لشن هجمات على أي بلد، كما طالب الدول بتجفيف منابع الارهاب عن طريق منع الدعم اللوجستي والمالي والاعلامي له.Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in an opening speech that he refuses to Iraq to be an arena for settling accounts regional regional , territorial or international, It also refuses to be his base to launch attacks on any country, as demanded States draining the sources of terrorism through prevention the logistical and financial support to him and the media.
والدول المشاركة في المؤتمر هي كل من سوريا ، إيران, تركيا, امريكا, بريطانيا, فرنسا, الصين, روسيا، مصر ,الاردن, السعودية , الكويت, البحرين , الجامعة العربية ,منظمة المؤتمر الاسلامي ,الامم المتحدة.States participating in the conference are all from Syria, Iran, Turkey, America, Britain, France, China, Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations.
ح مH M

Oh, found another one...I think this is what the one above was referring to:

Voices of Iraq: Baghdad-Mortars
Posted by: nakr2004 on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 01:28 PM
Baghdad-Mortars
Mortars fall near Baghdad conference venue in the Green Zone
By Hadi al-Hadi
Baghdad, March 10, (VOI) – Mortar shells fell near the place where the Baghdad conference is being convened, in the Green Zone, while participants were holding a closed-door session, the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) learnt.
VOI correspondent said journalists were moved to a safe place.
Two explosions, believed to be mortar shells, were heard in the environs of the Iraqi foreign ministry, which is hosting the international conference for supporting Iraq.
The foreign ministry building in central Baghdad has witnessed the beginning of the conference on Iraq, being attended by neighboring countries as well as representatives from the UN, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
No casualties or injuries were reported.
AE/TP

Al-Maliki praised the plan and refuses to Baghdad turning Iraq into an arena

(Voice of Iraq) - 10-03-2007 This issue was sent to a friend

Denied the arrest "Abouammar" Prince "Islamic State of Iraq"
Al-Maliki praised the plan and refuses to Baghdad turning Iraq into an arena for accounts

Baghdad-agencies

Began in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Saturday, 3-10-2007 of the international conference on Iraq with the participation of the five permanent members of the Security Council The Iraqi neighboring states including Syria and Iran to discuss ways to stop the violence and sectarian fighting in Iraq.

And he pointed Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in the opening speech of the Conference to the aspirations of Iraq to come Enforcement Conference The implementation mechanisms help to consolidate security.

For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that Baghdad security plan launched awareness of the need to maintain the security and it will not distinguish between outside of the law and another or between one region and another, and added that the plan for Baghdad not the end but the beginning in pursuit of terrorists, pointing out that it had achieved positive results in its initial stages.

Al-Maliki said that Iraq should not become an arena settle their differences by other countries and interfere in the internal affairs of the country, and demanded Maliki that refrain States at the regional and international interference in Iraq's internal affairs and influence through the support of a range or Auark Party.
Al-Baghdadi is still at large

On the other hand, the official spokesman for the security of Baghdad today, Saturday, reported the arrest of Abu Omar al - Baghdadi, the leader of the organization called the the same Islamic State of Iraq in the area of Baghdad yesterday, Friday,.

He said Brigadier General Qasim Atta al-Musawi, told Reuters that "Iraqi forces managed day yesterday, Friday, the arrest of important person in al-Qaeda in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad. "

Musawi added, "The information available is the first point to the likelihood that the person who was arrested was Abu Omar al - Baghdadi. but after the investigations conducted with him shows that it is not that Al-Baghdadi, a leading figure in al-Qaeda. " Musawi and continued, "has not been arrested on any other person yesterday, Friday, but these personal leadership of the al-Qaeda network."

The Iraqi TV channel spokeswoman for the government quoted yesterday by the Commission on Security and Defense of the Iraqi Parliament saying that he was the arrest of "the Emir of the State of Iraq" Islamic Abouammar in Baghdadi, west of Baghdad.

Baghdad conference a chance to stabilize Iraq - British ambassador

The British ambassador to Iraq said on Thursday that the upcoming conference in Baghdad, next Saturday, will be a chance for Iraq's neighboring countries to end their support of armed groups, which aim to foil the ongoing political process.
"The conference will be a chance for the Iraqi government to show its policies and ability to its neighboring countries," Dominic Asquith told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"It is a chance to solve all problems," he added.
"Preserving Iraq's security and stability is something that concerns all neighboring countries," the ambassador noted.
Regarding Iran's problems with the U.S. and Britain, the ambassador noted that the conference will only tackle Iraq's problems, "and all countries have to realize the importance of cooperation for achieving peace and security in Iraq."
He stressed that "Iran must stop providing armed groups with weapons, which are being used in attacks against Multi-National forces."
"All neighboring countries have to realize that they are dealing with a legitimate and sovereign government," he noted, highlighting that the presence of Multi-National forces in Iraq is due to Iraqi government's desire for their presence.
He also refused to comment on the incursion, a few days ago, by British forces into an intelligence building in Basra belonging to the Iraqi interior ministry.
However he acknowledged a disagreement between the political parties in Basra and other southern provinces and the British forces.
Iraqi army troops and British forces, at dawn on Sunday, stormed the intelligence headquarters in Basra, 600km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and freed more than 30 captives there.
The conference is to be held in Baghdad, with the participation of Iraq's neighboring countries, Egypt, Bahrain, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab League and the Security Council's five permanent members, to seek a means of restoring regional stability.
The conference also seeks to lend support to the ongoing political process in Iraq.
Source: Voices of Iraq

Baghdad conference a chance to stabilize Iraq - British ambassador

The British ambassador to Iraq said on Thursday that the upcoming conference in Baghdad, next Saturday, will be a chance for Iraq's neighboring countries to end their support of armed groups, which aim to foil the ongoing political process.
"The conference will be a chance for the Iraqi government to show its policies and ability to its neighboring countries," Dominic Asquith told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"It is a chance to solve all problems," he added.
"Preserving Iraq's security and stability is something that concerns all neighboring countries," the ambassador noted.
Regarding Iran's problems with the U.S. and Britain, the ambassador noted that the conference will only tackle Iraq's problems, "and all countries have to realize the importance of cooperation for achieving peace and security in Iraq."
He stressed that "Iran must stop providing armed groups with weapons, which are being used in attacks against Multi-National forces."
"All neighboring countries have to realize that they are dealing with a legitimate and sovereign government," he noted, highlighting that the presence of Multi-National forces in Iraq is due to Iraqi government's desire for their presence.
He also refused to comment on the incursion, a few days ago, by British forces into an intelligence building in Basra belonging to the Iraqi interior ministry.
However he acknowledged a disagreement between the political parties in Basra and other southern provinces and the British forces.
Iraqi army troops and British forces, at dawn on Sunday, stormed the intelligence headquarters in Basra, 600km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and freed more than 30 captives there.
The conference is to be held in Baghdad, with the participation of Iraq's neighboring countries, Egypt, Bahrain, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab League and the Security Council's five permanent members, to seek a means of restoring regional stability.
The conference also seeks to lend support to the ongoing political process in Iraq.
Source: Voices of Iraq

DefenseLink News Transcript: DoD News Briefing with Amb. Carney from Iraq
At the table, we have Ambassador Timothy Carney, who's the coordinator for Economic Transition in Iraq with the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. He's joined by Mr. Joseph Gregoire, who serves as the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team leader; and also Mr. Jeremy -- Jeremiah Pam, who is the U.S. financial attache to Iraq. They're joining us today from the Coalition Press Information Center in Baghdad, and it's a privilege for us to hear from you about -- and to provide an update to us on economic and reconstruction activities in Iraq.

This is the first opportunity that we've had to talk to you gentlemen in this format, and typically what we do is allow you to take some time to give us an overview of what you're doing before we get into questions.

So let me turn it over to you, Ambassador, and let you get started.

AMB. CARNEY: Thanks very much. All three of us are delighted to be with the press corps. We're going to try to infuse some life into the dismal science and some passion into the effort at reconstruction that we're all here helping the Iraqis with.

My title is coordinator for Economic Transition in Iraq, and my job is essentially to assist the Iraqis to realize their considerable resources and the interests of giving services to their people and economic development and at the same time to try to bring all of the pots of U.S. money together.

Now, as we look at Baghdad and Iraq in general, and as you all would have heard from General Petraeus yesterday, clearly security is the most urgent problem. However, I submit that economic performance can make the government of Iraq, this government of Prime Minister Maliki, a valid interlocutor for the vital political solution that is the true future of this country.

What I hope to see emerge here are certain trends of governance. And I'm particularly focused on the execution of Iraq's capital budget; not the operating budget, the budget for salaries and pensions, but the capital budget that provides the money that can be used to give the people of Iraq -- and I mean all the people of Iraq, without any sectarian or ethnic bias -- the services that they definitely want.

At the same time, we have to see the passage of certain key laws. We've seen the framework law, the first of a sheaf of laws on hydrocarbons approved by the Council of Ministers at this point, but there are laws on de-Ba'athification, for example, and on provincial powers that can impact very, very importantly on the trends of governance that I've pointed to.

And finally, a trend that we'd like to see are the creation of jobs, at least in the short term. And as we all know, until there is real security, the Iraqi economy is not going to restart on a major, large scale. But in the interim, a significant number of jobs might be created.

There's an international dimension as well, especially when you look at budget execution. The U.S. Congress, the British parliament, indeed, Iraqis themselves are simply not willing to accept that unless the Iraqi government spends its capital budget -- and Jeremy Pam on my right is going to explain more about the details there -- if they don't spend their own money, why should the U.S. Congress appropriate U.S. money to be spent here in Iraq?

At bottom, when you look at the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, of which Joe Gregoire is a representative, we see these PRTs as a vital element in assisting the units of local governance to deliver services by spending their budget allocation.

So with that, let me turn to Treasury Attache Jeremy Pam for a presentation.

Thank you.

MR. PAM: Thank you, Ambassador Carney.

I think you've set out that the overall challenge very clearly, the -- just to flush out some of the numbers -- last year's -- Iraq's budget last year was $34 billion.

While all of the final data is not yet in, it looks like -- our current estimates are that they will end up having spent about 26 billion of that. Of the eight billion that they didn't execute -- well, of the 26 billion that they spent, that included much of their operating budget, as Ambassador Carney mentioned, including the salaries -- which itself is better than it was a couple of years ago, when there was difficulty even doing that.

But of the eight billion that wasn't spent, most of that -- perhaps five billion -- was from the capital budget, in a capital budget of a little over six billion. So most of the capital budget last year did not end up getting spent. Now that money that was not spent has been rebudgeted, put back into the 2007 budget, essentially fully financing a deficit, a surplus, of expenditures over revenue.

So the good news is that Iraq has a second chance to spend that money. But in order to take advantage of that second chance, they have to do a better job of spending it in responsible, financially accountable ways. And I think the very promising news of the recent weeks and indeed days is that they're showing a very strong indication of the readiness and the commitment and organization to do a better job spending that money and beginning capital projects.

Just on Wednesday of this week -- well, they passed their 2007 budget. The council of representatives passed it a few weeks ago, and they have issued the instructions necessary for provinces and ministries to begin spending it. And just this past Wednesday there was a government-wide conference, here in Baghdad, in which the deputy prime minister for economics, the finance minister and planning minister called in the entire government -- 10 or more ministers, including most of the key ministries, and a similar number of governors, and others representing all of the provinces -- to discuss the subject of budget execution and how they could do better in 2007.

There was an excellent discussion, and a great deal of useful information that was passed out. And we have every indication that the Iraqis who attended that are going to go back and begin acting on it.

AMB. CARNEY: Let me move now, if I may, to Joe Gregoire, who runs the largest PRT in Iraq. That's the one for Baghdad City. Joe, please.

MR. GREGOIRE: Thank you, Ambassador Carney.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I trust you will indulge me if I come across as a cheerleader for the Provincial Reconstruction Teams. To me, the PRTs are the quintessential, the ultimate in Secretary Rice's initiatives with regard to transformational diplomacy.

The PRTs were stood up initially in November 2005, and they were stood up essentially to build government capacity at the local government level. PRTs have been using projects and training to promote transparency, accountability, and more effective local government, as well as to promote reconciliation, build civil society and further economic recovery.

Through the PRTs, we have given the Iraqis, whom we engage on a daily basis, lead in this process. They've been determining projects that we've been funding with U.S. funds. They've been implementing these along with some of our implementing partners.

Their needs -- and when I say "their needs," I mean the needs of the Iraqis whom we engage, not the coalition's -- drives the process and the objectives.

The PRT allows for rapid mobilization of resources to tackle long-term problems, long-term development issues. We do this in large part because the PRTs are truly the quintessential civil-military teams.

Here in Baghdad, for example, we have approximately 90 people who compose this Provincial Reconstruction Team, more than third of whom are men and women in uniform. The other third are probably representatives of U.S. government agencies, and the remaining third are Iraqis, who are indeed are working day in and day out with us and with our Iraqi hosts.

The PRT is designed to kick-start developmental processes.

I say kick-start because so many of these processes -- and I'm thinking of development in particular -- may take years to play out. Short-term gains build for long-term development and strengthen democratic gains.

In Iraq, the PRT is supporting decentralization of government services. I think that's very important because the constitution of '05 provides for a devolution of powers to the provincial government. And so our mandate is to see to it that we strengthen the provincial governments to indeed carry out their tasks. We essentially have been doing it by focusing on five thematic areas: the rule of law, infrastructure for the provision of essential services, economic development, governance, and public diplomacy.

Ultimately, PRT is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. This is something that my colleagues at the Department of State and our colleagues in the Department of Defense recognized from the very start. The PRTs will go out of business. And when they do go out of business, most likely it will be because they've been successful. And they will be replaced completely through and with normal assistance programs. Eventually, the PRT which I'm leading, as will the other PRTs elsewhere in provinces, will fall under the USAID mandate. And when they do, that will be a sign that indeed we have achieved the mission we were sent out on.

Thank you. Mr. Ambassador?

AMB. CARNEY: We'd be delighted to take questions at this point.

MR. WHITMAN: Well, I'm sure we have a few here, Ambassador, so let's go ahead and get started. Go ahead.

Q Yes. This is Vince Crawley. I'm with the USINFO, State Department News Service. And I'm trying to get a sense on the PRTs. Could you just give us a flavor what your day-to-day work is when you're out engaging with the public?

AMB. CARNEY: Joe, would you let these folks know what the day- to-day work of a PRT is all about?

MR. GREGOIRE: Well, on any given day, Mr. Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen, we will have perhaps four or five engagements, most of them outside -- what we call beyond the wire; that is to say, engagements beyond the limits of the International Zone. We typically will hold discussions with members of the Provincial Council. That is the premier or the dominant legislative institution within the province. We will hold meetings on governance. By governance, I mean on policies, practices and procedures that aim to build capacity within local government units or institutions.

We will more often than not conduct three or four visits to police stations, detention centers and the prisons in any given week, so that our colleagues can assess the conditions within these institutions all with the view to building up capacity to ensure proper rule of law. We have virtually daily engagements with the officials at the Baghdad City Hall, more commonly known here as the Amanat, largely to coordinate the activities, numerous U.S. government agencies involved in the implementation of projects which aim to provide and meet the basic needs of the population, the inhabitants of the city.

I think that's a typical day, not to speak of the many other meetings that we would generally attend at the embassy level.

MR. WHITMAN: Thank you.

Tony.

Q Mr. Carney, this is Tony Capaccio with Bloomberg News. There's a general impression in Washington that many of the billions dollars that have been spent on Iraq reconstruction has been wasted, for want of a better word. You're aware of SIGIR reports from Stuart Bowen. You're aware of the Parson's audit on the police academy.

Can you give, from your perspective, the whole issue of waste? How -- is there a way to quantify, from your perspective, how much actually has been wasted of this 20-odd billion dollars spent to date? Again, there's a lot of suspicion about this in Washington.

AMB. CARNEY: I think the answer to that question resides in the reality of transparency. As you know, when Congress appropriated those billions of dollars for reconstruction in Iraq, they mandated the creation of the special inspector general for Iraqi Reconstruction and that's Mr. Stuart Bowen, who you named.

And the effort that Mr. Bowen and his associates, the auditors, his team of investigators here in the field, living and working with us in the U.S. Embassy, has been put forth in a series of quarterly reports. And you're referring to one when you talk, for example, about the police academy, where the large contract was clearly inadequately done.

Now, I have the advantage of coming to this office and this job in the wake of the president's announcement of new policies in January of this year. And I can argue, I think successfully, that my focus is on now and on what's going to happen in this period of surge, not only military surge but also economic surge over the next four to six months. And I would submit that your particular question would be better addressed to the head of IRMO, the Iraqi Reconstruction Management Office.

Q Well, Bowen has also issued audits identifying what he calls a sustainment gap -- a clumsy term, obviously, but the whole notion of needing dollars beyond building to sustain projects that have been built and turned over to Iraqis to operate over the next several years. Do you have a concern that more money will be needed to bridge this so-called sustainment gap or problem that Bowen has identified?

AMB. CARNEY: I think an answer to your question there is, no question that when you put together a large brick-and-mortar project, let's call it a major bridge, for example, that you have to have an ongoing maintenance program to repair the bridge where needed. If it's damaged by floodwaters, for example, that you bring teams out; it will need to be resurfaced from time to time.

The point to make there is that Iraq is basically a rich country; that in fact there's been a successful effort to mightily reduce the debt that Iraq had incurred during the Saddam Hussein era. I would argue that as Iraq returns to its former levels of 3 million-plus barrels a day of oil exported, that you're going to find as much money as the country needs for the major portion of this effort at maintenance and sustainment as you've defined it.

Q Ambassador, Gordon Lubold from the Christian Science Monitor. At the beginning, in your opening statement, you seemed to emphasize the idea of providing reconstruction money and projects to all Iraqis. Can you characterize the way in which you spend money to prove to some populations that they're going to get a piece of the pie as well?

AMB. CARNEY: Yes, thanks. And let's not put too fine a point on it here. Let's say we're talking about Shi'a and Sunni and Kurds, and in particular Sunnis, who have been suffering, on the one hand, and at the same time engaging with al Qaeda to provoke Shi'a, with the result being something new since I was here almost four years ago, which is to say the large scale of sectarian violence.

But if you look at the government's requirement to be the government of all Iraqis, you need look no further than Anbar province, which is heavily Shi'a, as I believe you know. Anbar, like the other provinces, has a budget allocation. It's going to be somewhere in the vicinity over $200 million, I would suggest.

I know that the government sent a large chunk of monies for Anbar -- I beg your pardon. I said Anbar was Shi'a. I meant it is heavily Sunni. I misspoke.

I know the government has answered some of those needs in Anbar province, because it sent most of the capital budget to Anbar, to Sunni Anbar province, in the form of cash, because there are functioning banks. And the province apparently didn't have a bank account. So it sent nearly the dinar equivalent of more than $20 million to be secured at one of the coalition military bases in the province. That seems to me to be a sign, an evidence of the kind of good-faith effort towards ensuring the Sunni areas of Iraq are in a position to make contracts and deliver the services that the people need, at least a good indication of that.

Q Are you saying there that you're sending a disproportionate amount, perhaps more, to a Sunni area to prove to the Sunnis that they're getting a piece of it as well?

AMB. CARNEY: I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that Anbar is getting its fair share. As I understand it, the roughly $2.5 billion of the capital budget that goes to provinces does so on the basis of population.

But Jeremy, you might be able to comment on that.

MR. PAM: That's right. There has been a -- both in 2006 and in the current year of 2007, the current budget of 2007, the provincial allocations were based on population, and for the most part, there haven't been disagreements about the broad distributions. And so in 2007, for instance, Anbar province has been budgeted more than $100 million for capital projects, and in 2006, it received a similar amount.

AMB. CARNEY: Thanks. Thanks, Jeremy.

MR. WHITMAN: Luis.

Q Luis Martinez of ABC News. Ambassador Carney, do you find yourself operating under some kind of timeline as to when you want to see some form of success on the economic front? You call this the economic surge. We heard from the military commanders that they didn't expect any good readouts on how their operations are succeeding until late summer. What is your estimate of when you'll see some progress?

AMB. CARNEY: Well, I'd be a fool to lay out some sort of timeline that becomes cast in stone. I think, frankly, within a relatively short time -- I'm talking about a few months -- you're going to see the emergence of the trends that I've remarked on; trends on budget execution, the passage of the laws that are so key to the functioning of the society.

I'm less certain on the jobs, but, frankly, that may be ignorance on my part. I just haven't gotten myself smartened up on that aspect of the issue yet.

MR. WHITMAN: Jim.

Q Sir, Mr. Ambassador, this is Jim Garamone from American Forces Press Service. You know, a lot of people for the last couple of months have been talking about how important the hydrocarbon law is. What's the prognostication for that right now?

And the second question -- maybe to Jeremy -- financial institutions have been wrecked since, you know, essentially we got in there, and everyone has -- military officials and State Department officials -- have talked about the need to resurrect the financial institutions. How is that going? Is there progress?

AMB. CARNEY: Well, let me start with -- it isn't one law for hydrocarbons; I believe it's four. And the first one, indeed the very important one, the one that gives oil as a patrimony of all Iraqis, is the one that's been approved by the Council of Ministers and is teed up to go to the parliament, which here is called the Council of Representatives. Now, there are three other laws that relate to revenue sharing and the establishment of an Iraqi national oil company and yet another one -- the title of which escapes me -- that are going to have to be drafted, going to have to work through the Cabinet and then go as a package, as I understand it, to the Council of Ministers. I would guess that's going to take a few months as well.

But you know, I've, for example, served in Indonesia, which is a major exporter of oil and gas, and these oil questions in diverse and plural societies are absolutely vital and require the most careful sets of negotiations. And I believe I can point to the framework law as evidence that that process is something that Iraqis are capable of meeting.

Now, Jeremy, if you'd address the institutional lack here in Iraq.

MR. PAM: Sure.

It's certainly true that the financial institutions in Iraq are not what they need to be for a sustainable economic recovery.

Some of that is nothing new. It's the legacy of the function -- the way in which banks were used during the Saddam period.

Banks here were not full service banks in the Western sense of the word, of the concept, and didn't serve the function of intermediating between capital flows. Instead, they were primarily payment systems. They primarily served as payment -- as systems for payment of government salaries. And they continue -- in most places of the country they continue to serve that function. The situation in Anbar province that Ambassador Carney mentioned is the exception rather than the rule, where even that basic function has run into difficulty.

Nonetheless, it's true that the financial system has to be rejuvenated and begin performing a broader range of financial services. And the Iraqis have been working on that. The central bank, the Ministry of Finance and others have been recently discussing plans towards that end.

I don't think that the details of this have been announced yet, but I'm confident that there is progress, that progress has been made even in recent weeks and we'll continue to see more movement towards it in the near future.

Q Thank you.

MR. WHITMAN: We probably only have time for one more. (Off mike.)

Q This is Al Pessin from Voice of America. Can you tell us how it's going in the effort to expand the -- create and expand the provincial PRTs? Is the military delivering the folks that it said it would?

Do they have the right specialties? And how goes the effort to get more folks from State and other U.S. government agencies to volunteer to go out there in a few months and replace the military folks, as well as the effort to recruit contractors for the same purpose? So how's all that going?

AMB. CARNEY: I think I can reply in a word: that I do not have the full details on that. But I have a general knowledge that this process is going forward; that the military who are being sought for the intermediate period while State tries to go out and recruit, including among other U.S. government agencies, are more or less identified; that the extra 10 PRTs are in the process of being stood up. But frankly, you should address that question to somebody who's got a much more current knowledge.

Joe, are you perhaps more up to date than I am on this?

MR. GREGOIRE: Well, I do have some intimation, specifically that the Department of State has recruited all team leaders for the new PRTs that will be embedded within the brigade combat teams. I know the department is actively recruiting other core personnel. And I believe, although I cannot state as a certainty, that the military is also canvassing its civil affairs components to see whether or not there are people, whether it be in the Reserves or who might be redeployed, who do have an interest in serving on PRTs.

I think the process is working as fast as we might expect it to be at this point.

AMB. CARNEY: Thank you.

MR. WHITMAN: Carl, is it a quick one? Then we'll sneak it in here.

Q Yeah, it is pretty quick. Ambassador, I'm Carl Osgood. I write for Executive Intelligence Review. The U.N. agencies have estimated that somewhere around 3 million Iraqis have been displaced because of the violence, including a fair number of those outside of the -- refugees outside of the country. I'm wondering what impact that displacement of the population has on your efforts.

AMB. CARNEY: You make a good point.

There are a large number of Iraqi families that have been not only displaced but many, many others who have actually fled, including large number of professional people who would be enormously valuable in economic efforts here in Iraq.

There's a focus. I believe the secretary of State herself has raised this issue in testimony on the Hill -- was it perhaps not last week? And it's a well-placed focus.

I have just come to this press conference from a meeting at the prime minister's residence, where there was a focus, with the authorities who are competent in the city of Baghdad, and the Iraqi security authorities as well, talking about the conditions under which people might be brought back into their homes -- the security that's necessary, as well as the issue of dealing with squatters who have taken over homes. It's a thorny, complex problem. It's one that seems to be understood as, indeed, a difficult matter to deal with, but one that's quite urgent.

MR. WHITMAN: Well, gentlemen, if you would allow me to bring this to a close and to thank you one more time for joining us this evening, it's not often that we get an opportunity to talk to experts that are working the reconstruction aspects of the activities that are going on in Iraq. And so it has been very helpful for us, and we appreciate your time. And perhaps we can do this again in a couple of months. Then you can give us a further update.

AMB. CARNEY: We look forward to it, and you're very welcome.

MR. WHITMAN: Thank you.

(C) COPYRIGHT 2007, FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC., 1000 VERMONT AVE. NW; 5TH FLOOR; WASHINGTON, DC - 20005, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION CONSTITUTES A MISAPPROPRIATION UNDER APPLICABLE UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO IT IN RESPECT TO SUCH MISAPPROPRIATION. FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. IS A PRIVATE FIRM AND IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. NO COPYRIGHT IS CLAIMED AS TO ANY PART OF THE ORIGINAL WORK PREPARED BY A UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE AS PART OF THAT PERSON'S OFFICIAL DUTIES. FOR INFORMATION ON SUBSCRIBING TO FNS, PLEASE CALL JACK GRAEME AT 202-347-1400.

DefenseLink News Transcript: DoD News Briefing with Amb. Carney from Iraq

Iraq says that the Baghdad was successful

(Voice of Iraq) - 11-03-2007
This issue was sent to a friend

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq pointed out that the neighboring countries and global forces, including the United States, Iran and Syria agreed in Baghdad to stop sectarian violence and prevent him from Alanchar to other countries in the region is vital.

But at the time, which was ordered by President George Bush on Saturday, adding another 4400 troops of a force of 21500 additional troops had been said already by the Iran called for the withdrawal of all American forces from Iraq on the grounds that they incite violence.

After talks in Baghdad on Saturday between senior officials of the United States said that Turkey had offered to host a follow-up conference at the ministerial level in April and the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend the meeting.

Morter rockets landed and exploded near the building that hosted the conference Baghdad on Saturday shortly after the talks began. Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, resulted in a suicide car bomb attack that killed six Iraqi soldiers and injuring about 20 in another day of violence.

He urged Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki other countries in the oil-rich region to stop supporting armed men and make every effort to assist Baghdad, saying that it is in everyone's interest to stop the sectarian violence and prevent it from spreading in other countries in the region.

He said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in a press conference that the meeting was constructive and positive atmosphere in terms of the contract and the parties involved. He added that the discussions in the Conference, "focused mainly on the cooperation and eagerness of all to achieve security and stability in Iraq."

He went on to say that the committees were formed to discuss the issues of security and refugees, fuel and energy.

Iraq has called for the convening of the conference to rally regional support to end the sectarian violence that threatens to tear apart the country and claimed the lives of ten thousand people and led to the escape of some 2 million people abroad four years after the invasion, led by the United States for the overthrow of former President Saddam Hussein.

He said Zalmay Khalilzad had the United States Ambassador to Iraq, told reporters "there is no State representative at the table will benefit from the disintegration of Iraq, but that everyone will suffer severely."

He added that he spoke directly to the Iranian officials in bone mass, the largest Iranian official at the conference denied that he had any private talks with American officials during the meeting.

Washington accuses Syria and Iran backing the gunmen in Iraq, a charge denied by the countries.

The Sunni Arab states fear Iraq's neighbors, led by Saudi Arabia that violence will escalate and lead to the country sliding towards civil war comprehensive and extends to the outside of Iraq also are concerned about the growing influence of Shiites, who represent the majority in Iraq and Iran's Shiite influence in the country.

Turkey said it would oppose the secession of the region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, the autonomous okrugs, fearing that this would encourage separatist sentiments among its Kurdish population.

The annexation of Baghdad on Saturday, officials from Iraq's neighbors, the five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and some Arab countries.

In January January ordered Bush to send 21500 additional troops to Iraq, mostly deployed in Baghdad to promote stability there. There are about 140 thousand American troops in Iraq at the present time.

In addition to finding ways to stop the killings in Iraq, the conference was a rare opportunity for the meeting of old adversaries the United States, Iran and Syria.

Nor is the United States diplomatic ties with Iran but with the diplomatic contacts in multilateral discussions but it was rejected bilateral talks with Tehran.

The United States has diplomatic relations with Syria, but withdrew its ambassador to Damascus in early 2005, and there had been no diplomatic contacts at a high level with the past two years.

this is the start of something big, and we are almost thre people.

The session of the Iraqi businessmen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Iraqi businessmen (Baghdad, Irbil and Sulaymaniyah) today March 11, 2007 in a hotel in Irbil international session on the laws of international trade and institutional reform.

شارك وماتParticipated in the 37 businessmen from the cities mentioned, the purpose of the session and elaborated Ms. us (Michel Harinkton Tiri) Director of commercial law and institutional reform in the company (BEARING POINT) in a short PUKmedia saying : our company is the executive of the project, The aim of the course is the definition of companies and businessmen, their inclusion in the list of international facilitate dealings and business management, especially in the areas of banking, and the known Iraqi businessmen in Baghdad, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, which may help each other to exchange information وتحسين .And experience, and improving the performance of companies, and joint ventures in addition to reinforcing the links and relationships with banks and global companies, and this session is an international project for the development of the company and its activities in other countries as well, such as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Arab Republic of Egypt.

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?h...11-3/news29.htm