Thread: Iraq/Dinar News up until April 10th 11pm ctz

A decline in prices of commodities in the market
After being relatively stable
10 April 2007 (Iraq Directory)

Dr. Majid Al-Soori, expert at the Iraqi Central Bank, expected the decrease in prices as a result to the procedure taken by the Central Bank in raising the value of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar, and the matter requires a period of time estimated at the end of the current year.

Al-Soori drew attention that the insistence of traders on current prices is quite normal because the merchant looks back to the first exchange rate which makes him adheres to the current prices but reality will tempt them to lower their prices after the new supply of goods arrive.

He said: citizen can contribute in this equation through consumer awareness and waiting for the decline of prices and postpone part of his requirements and needs that are not urgent.

Prices at Baghdad markets are relatively stable for all goods and materials except transport fees despite the recent rise in price of fuel.

A number of shops owners in Baghdad said that the security plan has contributed greatly to the ease in the arrival of goods to the warehouses from the neighboring countries, despite the high amounts of transport fees, but traders mentioned that it is important for the Secretariat of Baghdad and the concerned authorities to work on the organization of the movement in the main markets in Baghdad, and seek to overcome the obstacles facing them represented in the works of cleaning and lift some barriers that hinder the vehicles transporting materials and goods, in addition to calling for the creation of alternative markets for those in the hot spots and provide security in other markets where terrorist operations continue.

Hashim Al Saeedy, trader at Alshorjah market, said that there is a good purchase movement these days because of the security plan which facilitated the arrival of people to the market as prices stayed as they are, despite the rise in fuel prices.

He added: we expect a growing turnout of citizens to purchase household electrical goods after the application of the new salary grading, which is hoped to raise the rates of governmental employees’ salaries.

On his part, Wisam Alzeidi, foodstuffs trader, at Jameelah market said that there is a growing buying and selling movement since the beginning of Baghdad security plan, which has greatly facilitated the arrival of traders from Iraq's various governorates to buy from Jameelah market, which is a center for the sale of bulk food.

Alzeidi added: prices are fixed, and there is no increase; and the news which refers to a rise in prices due to high fuel prices is nothing but rumors far away from the truth. In fact, some of the articles witnessed a decrease in their prices for because of the ease of shipment from the border to stores in the markets of Baghdad.

AlZeidi pointed out to the large movement of sale of materials and foodstuffs entering from Iran, Jordan and Syria, and that the prices of all materials are fixed and stable due to the stability of the dollar, which insures the merchant that there won’t be any coups at the dollar as it was before...

Abdul-Hasan Thamir, an economic researcher, said that the prices of materials and goods cannot stand any rise due to the stability of the salaries of governmental employees and the dollar’s exchange rates in Baghdad, through the "good" policy of the Central Bank to reduce the impact of inflation .. Therefore, prices remained stable.

Thamir added: the non-interference by government bodies in the work of merchants and the selling and buying operation increased the selling and buying movement without pressure.

A decline in prices of commodities in the market | Iraq Updates

Shell Has Expressed Willingness to Invest in Iraq's Gas Fields [ Print ]
World
EB Report , published 10/4/2007

Page [ 1 ]

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has expressed its willingness to the Iraqi government to invest in Iraq's gas fields and to set up a pipeline that would connect these gas fields to Europe via Turkey, a senior Iraqi oil official said Tuesday.

"There are attempts by Shell to open talks with the Iraqi government to develop Iraq's vast gas fields," the senior official at the Iraqi Oil Ministry told Dow Jones Newswires.

He said that Shell held serious talks with Iraq on development of gas fields during the government of former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi. "Now the company is trying to revive these talks."

Iraq, which has proven natural gas reserves of 3.15 trillion cubic meters, had a daily natural gas production of 1.164 billion cubic feet, of which 60% was flared.

Shell also wants to connect Iraq's gas fields to Europe, through setting up a new pipeline that would run parallel to an existing oil pipeline from Iraq's Kirkuk to Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, he said.

The Iraqi oil official said some European countries held a meeting recently in Syria to look at alternative sources of gas to those from the former Soviet Union, and Iraq attended that meeting.

Iraq, which has proven natural gas reserves of 3.15 trillion cubic meters, had a daily natural gas production of 1.164 billion cubic feet a day and 60 percent of that was flared.

Shell's move comes following the Iraqi cabinet's recent approval of a draft oil and gas law that regulates how foreign companies would be able to invest in the country's vast oil and gas reserves that could be as much as 115 billion barrels. To become a law, it needs to be approved by parliament.

Iraqi oil officials have identified seven gas fields earmarked for development: Akkas (Western Desert- Anbar province), Mansuria (Diyala province), Kormor (Salahidden province), Jeria Pika (Diyala), Khashem Ahmer (Diyala), Siba (Basra), and Chemchemal (Suleimaniya and Kirkuk).

Since 2005, Shell has been helping draw up a natural gas master plan for Iraq, the official said. It has been also working on technical studies on the Maysan oil field in the south and the large Kirkuk field in the north.

Iraqi Trade Minister Talks to Asharq Al-Awsat
By Naseer Al-Ily
Bagdad, 10 April 2007 (Asharq Alawsat)

Trade Minister Dr Abdul Hassan Falah al-Sudani, has stressed that the most important achievement at the economic level of the Riyadh summit, which was held in Saudi Arabia last month, was to convene meetings for the cancellation of Iraqi debts to a number of Arab countries.

Al-Sudani said to Asharq Al-Awsat: "Saudi Arabia was one of the countries with which there were dialogues about the cancellation of debts." He stressed that Riyadh showed positive response to this issue, and the readiness to convene bilateral negotiations through which solutions based on the interest of Iraq and its people could be reached. Al-Sudani pointed out that the Saudi officials had pledged to invest in industry and trade in the secure zones, and in the regions along the borders between the two countries, such as Al-Samawah, Al-Anbar, and others.

They had also pledged to increase the volume of trade exchanges, and to participate in developing the economy and restoring the economic structures of its sectors. With regard to the debts to Kuwait, Al-Sudani pointed out:

"There are several sides conducting continuous negotiations with the Kuwaiti side, and a high level delegation is preparing to visit Kuwait soon for this purpose." As for the most important achievements of the Iraqi delegation that participated in the Riyadh conference, Al-Sudani explained: "The Riyadh conference resulted in achieving many points in the interest of Iraq.

We agreed with many Arab countries to increase cooperation in all economic, trade, and political fields. Also important resolutions were issued with regard to the Arab free-trade zone, and the measures to facilitate the customs and excise agreements that would achieve the third stage of the Arab economic unity.

The conference also discussed the issue of Arab cooperation to support the health and education services, and it was agreed to convene a meeting of the Arab education ministers to study the reality of Arab education and the problems of education in the Arab region.

Moreover, the issues of communications and electricity were discussed, and there is a proposal submitted by Kuwait and Egypt to convene an Arab economic summit." Among the other economic topics that were subject to discussion was the issue of Arab trade and economic cooperation - especially by the Gulf Cooperation Council through the use of borders, roads, and ports -and urging all the Arab countries to invest in Iraq.

The minister revealed that he conducted many negotiations with the Gulf countries that focused on revising the bilateral relations, especially those related to the fields of air travel and judicial issues.

With regard to the aid granted by the ministry to the afflicted Iraqi families, especially the displaced, the minister pointed out, "Recently the ministry introduced a program to face up to emergency circumstances.

The ministry has secured the provision of dry foodstuffs sufficient for a lengthy period, and is updating these foodstuffs continuously. Moreover, the ministry continues to secure all the quotas of the tense governorates through coordinating with the tribes and security authorities.

At the same time, our departments secure comprehensive food quotas for the displaced families in all the regions in which they have arrived." The minister said that his ministry decided to distribute "food aid to thousands of the poor families and to those displaced by force from their areas of residence.

This is in addition to providing the necessities, and treating the problems caused by the current circumstances and the displacement by force inflicted by armed terrorist groups that aim to destroy security and stability, and to terrorize people in their areas of residence."

The minister pointed out, "The plan to impose the law has resolved some of the problems faced by some agents in the tense regions in conveying the articles of the ration cards to the sons of our people in general.

This is particularly true as the ministry has provided the means for good storage for periods that could extend to four or five months in order to cover the shortage in these articles that resulted from armed terrorist operations."

Iraqi Trade Minister Talks to Asharq Al-Awsat | Iraq Updates

Originally Posted by mustang sally

Shell Has Expressed Willingness to Invest in Iraq's Gas Fields [ Print ]
World
EB Report , published 10/4/2007

Page [ 1 ]

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has expressed its willingness to the Iraqi government to invest in Iraq's gas fields and to set up a pipeline that would connect these gas fields to Europe via Turkey, a senior Iraqi oil official said Tuesday.

"There are attempts by Shell to open talks with the Iraqi government to develop Iraq's vast gas fields," the senior official at the Iraqi Oil Ministry told Dow Jones Newswires.

He said that Shell held serious talks with Iraq on development of gas fields during the government of former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi. "Now the company is trying to revive these talks."

Iraq, which has proven natural gas reserves of 3.15 trillion cubic meters, had a daily natural gas production of 1.164 billion cubic feet, of which 60% was flared.

Shell also wants to connect Iraq's gas fields to Europe, through setting up a new pipeline that would run parallel to an existing oil pipeline from Iraq's Kirkuk to Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, he said.

The Iraqi oil official said some European countries held a meeting recently in Syria to look at alternative sources of gas to those from the former Soviet Union, and Iraq attended that meeting.

Iraq, which has proven natural gas reserves of 3.15 trillion cubic meters, had a daily natural gas production of 1.164 billion cubic feet a day and 60 percent of that was flared.

Shell's move comes following the Iraqi cabinet's recent approval of a draft oil and gas law that regulates how foreign companies would be able to invest in the country's vast oil and gas reserves that could be as much as 115 billion barrels. To become a law, it needs to be approved by parliament.

Iraqi oil officials have identified seven gas fields earmarked for development: Akkas (Western Desert- Anbar province), Mansuria (Diyala province), Kormor (Salahidden province), Jeria Pika (Diyala), Khashem Ahmer (Diyala), Siba (Basra), and Chemchemal (Suleimaniya and Kirkuk).

Since 2005, Shell has been helping draw up a natural gas master plan for Iraq, the official said. It has been also working on technical studies on the Maysan oil field in the south and the large Kirkuk field in the north.

Hello everyone. Here again we are seeing another aspect of iraqs wealth that is coming to the fore front. Gas. Very important, maybe as important as oil especially to southern europe. Decreases dependence on Russian gas. Thank You.

Al-Maliki is confident of renewed Japanese investments
(Voice of Iraq) - 10-04-2007 shall Sotaliraq.com - ÕæÊ ÇáÚÑÇÞ

Tokyo (Reuters) - The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday that he was confident that major Japanese companies will return to the investment in Iraq, which is ravaged by war.

Al-Maliki, in Tokyo on a four-day visit to hold talks with the Japanese government and Japanese businessmen.

He said al-Maliki told reporters through an interpreter that Iraq was the desire of the great Japanese side to engage in projects in Iraq, adding that the negotiations are still ongoing.

He was speaking a day after getting assurances from the Japanese leaders that Tokyo will continue to provide assistance to the reconstruction of Iraq.

Al-Maliki said that he also met with representatives of four major Japanese companies, pointing out the desire of these companies to work in Iraq in the area of oil and in other areas. He continued that he feels very optimistic about the potential for cooperation.

And Iraq and Japan signed a contract on Monday, Tokyo whereby 102.8 billion yen (861 million dollars) for the four projects as part of the total loan assistance.

Tokyo also said it was ready to provide Iraq's $ 510 million in the form of loans which is also part of its commitment to assist in financing the rehabilitation of water and sanitation, electricity and other installations.

The fight Iraq, which has the third largest oil reserves in the world confirmed to rebuild its devastated economy after four years of war in the aftermath of the invasion, led by the United States in 2003.

Japan is dependent on the Middle East for access to almost all its needs of crude oil.

Press conference of the Prime Minister at the National Press Club
(Voice of Iraq) - 10-04-2007 shall Sotaliraq.com - ÕæÊ ÇáÚÑÇÞ

Monday, April 10, 2007

Press statement

The Prime Minister, Mr. Nouri Kamel al-Maliki that there will solid and recording victories in the process of preserving security and the law, despite the current circumstances in the country and the attempts of terrorist organizations to disrupt the security situation and the circumstances will not prevent us from the path of reconstruction and development of the economy and building the political process on the basis of national reconciliation, This came during a press conference held by the sovereignty of the Japanese National Press Club in the Japanese capital of Tokyo at noon today with a number of ministers accompanying the delegation, sovereignty and added that the government is now working to develop the economy and provide services to citizens after years of deprivation suffered by the Iraqi people because of the policies of the dead - and-buried, as well as work to build security forces and the training and qualification for the receipt of full security responsibility and self-sufficiency, thus dispensing with the presence of the multinational force.
And Mr. Prime Minister, we have come to Japan to carry with us the projects and ideas that we want to establish the impact of the strong relations and the ancient advanced based on the exchange of experiences and competencies, adding that Japan has been exposed to the Iraq war and who left the roar of war. The sovereignty of Iraq has the potential to qualify for the advancement and also has rich natural resources help to achieve a leap in the economy and move the wheel to move forward. Iraq seeks to raise the level of cooperation and partnership with Japan in a manner that achieves the interests of the Iraqi and Japanese.
Mr. al-Maliki praised the humanitarian role played by the Japanese self-defense forces in the governorate of Al Muthanna and how they had formed good relations with the people of the province.
And Mr. Prime Minister, reviewed the progress made in the political sphere, which witnessed Iraq for the first time democracy, as the voice of the Iraqi people to permanent Iraqi constitution after it was temporarily held free and fair elections led to the establishment of an Iraqi parliament born from the womb of the people and the formation of a government of national unity comprising all Iraqi sects.
And, Mr. Prime Minister, that there is a case in the economic sphere, where for the first time the amount of the allocation of 13 billion dollars of investment, also increased the level of living of the Iraqi people with a significant decrease in the unemployment rate. As to the security side, the government is seeking in earnest to rehabilitate security institutions and the Iraqi army, which absorbed many members of the former army addition to the new young blood that joined it. And the media has praised the sovereignty of freedom enjoyed by the media in Iraq, where the now there are more than one hundred thirty space and the newspaper as well as magazines after Iraq had media one lauding the ruling party and the sole.
As for the presence of multinational forces in Iraq, Mr. Prime Minister : these forces and their presence has become dependent on the agreement of the Iraqi government, pending completion of building security forces and the government in Iraq resolution out of these forces that are now supported by and supportive of the Iraqi army and will be graduating from Iraqi territory inevitable in a time when the government believes it is capable of controlling the security conditions.
The Prime Minister expressed special thanks to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan for his interest in the Iraqi issue and its desire for security, stability and sovereignty thanked the Japanese prime minister and the friendly Japanese people for all their support and their attribution and to the government and people of Iraq.

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The House of Representatives decides to raise its tomorrow, Wednesday
(Voice of Iraq) - 10-04-2007 shall Sotaliraq.com - ÕæÊ ÇáÚÑÇÞ

By Hossam Shahamani
(In addition to the adjournment of the meeting)
Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
The first deputy of the House of Representatives, Dr. Khalid al-Attiyah, who chaired the meeting after the departure of President of the Council, Dr. Mahmoud Almshahadani adjournment of the meeting today to tomorrow, Wednesday, after the second reading of the draft Law on the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works.
Also during the meeting it was decided to postpone the discussion of the second reading of the project next Thursday so that Council members can codification of the proposals and comments on the draft Law on municipalities.
The board had discussed the Iraqi parliament, at its meeting held today, Tuesday, chaired by Dr. Mahmoud Almshahadani request of the President of the Council Education Committee on the printed curriculum and teacher holiday.
She suggested the Education Committee in the Parliament to make holiday teacher on the same day Mouled Al-Sharif, with a number of parliamentarians opposed to the Iraqi proposal that Mouled Al occasion alone.
As for the printing of school curricula in Iraq, the deputy said Wael Abdel Latif on the Iraqi List, "the publication of books inside Iraq, a good and necessary step."
With Dr. Ali Adib of the United Iraqi Alliance, "I agree with the view of Wael Abdel Latif, the need to print the special education curriculum and education in Iraq, but the problem lies in the fact that printing presses and a very old Iraqi Atsaleh to publish books."
He went on, saying, "The other problem facing the printing inside Iraq, electricity is being unsafe and thus expose the printer to default curriculum delivery in a timely manner."
He pointed out that the fuel price Ghali also not allowed to use the printer generators in the printed curriculum.
It was the parliament has held its Al (12) today, Tuesday, in Baghdad to discuss a number of items on its agenda.
The agenda included the reading of the names of the absent members of the meeting and discuss the request of the Education Committee on the printed curriculum and teacher holiday.
The agenda also included the first reading of the draft law on accession to the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the second reading of the draft Law on the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works.
It also is supposed to discuss the second reading of the draft law of the second amendment is
(30) of 2003, amending the salary scales for civil servants, has been postponed pending amendments to the second reading by the Chair Sheikh Khaled al-Attiyah.
RB-n p

Iraqi prime minister to visit Egypt on April 20
(Voice of Iraq) - 10-04-2007
This issue was sent to a friend

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A spokesman for the Iraqi government to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will visit Egypt in April 20 April to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

He went on to say that Skinner is expected to meet with Prime Minister Maliki said Ahmed Nazif also, but he did not state the reasons for the visit. This will be the first visit to the owners to Egypt.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced last week that Egypt will host a conference of Iraq's neighbors as well as an international conference to help Iraq.

Implementation of Article 140 is a prerequisite in the political process
Date : Tuesday, April 10
Topic : Main Page
Arbil-Sabah new :
The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Barham Ahmed Saleh said that the resolutions of the Commission on the implementation of Article 140 is constitutional and legal obligation to the Iraqi government and the postponement or putting obstacles in the way of implementation is unacceptable in any form.
He said in a statement : "We are waiting for the return of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of his visit to Japan to hold talks with him on these decisions and the reason for referral to the House on Iraq." He added : "everyone should know that the implementation of Article 140 and raising the historic injustice caused to Kirkuk and other areas withheld is a basic condition for our participation in the coalition Alcordstani political process and the formation of the Iraqi government." He pointed out that the implementation of this commitment would be constitutional legal Mqiasna to assess the main issues. It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has decided to refer the resolutions of the Commission on the implementation of Article 140 to the House of Representatives of the Iraqi ratification. She described Ms. Nermin Othman, deputy head of the Supreme Committee for the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution Maliki's decision to refer the matter to the parliament for endorsement as obstruction to the implementation of Article 140 and the extension of the application, as Her : "There are attempts on our part and by Dr. Barham Ahmed Salih, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq to address the obstacles facing the implementation of this article." She added : "The Supreme Committee in Baghdad on April 11 extended meeting in this regard, is expected to be headed by the Minister of Justice and the Agency Mr. Safa net of this meeting, as the Hashim Al-Shebli, who was head of the Supreme Committee and the Iraqi Justice Minister Nuri al-Maliki for his resignation For his part, ratified by." He said the President of the governorate of Kirkuk, "in violation of legal before Nuri al-Maliki." He said : "This process illegality of the program of work of government-Maliki. The Supreme Committee's decisions do not require ratification by the Iraqi Parliament. "
Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the disputed areas. In another statement of a member of the Supreme Committee of the mentioned article, said improving

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Fierce fighting in central Baghdad.
Ok, let's go over what happened yesterday and today; last thing first. And please forgive me for the lack of chronological order, some information were received or corrected during the preparation of the post.


Unlike yesterday today began with an acute escalation in central Baghdad, particularly in al-Fadh and Sheik Omar districts where an American helicopter was hit around 9:30 this morning with ground fire and crashed near an old cemetery in the area, the Baghdad reporter of al-Arabiya first mentioned. There are also conflicting reports that another helicopter got hit but survived the attack.

I'm looking at this Reuters report (from 4pm) and it says the US military denied a crash occurred and now the latest news from al-Hurra (5pm) said nothing about attacks on helicopters but said the fighting was part of a joint Iraqi US operation to capture large numbers of suspects "in order to gather intelligence"

During the morning more US and Iraqi forces rushed into the scene and cordoned the area while two f-18 fighter jets and some Apache gunships patrolled above. The fighter jets withdrew after a while.
The fighting became more intense and at around 11 am several explosions were heard in the area but the cause remained unknown.

At around noon firefights erupted in the area and the sound of heavy machineguns was heard and from my rooftop I could see Apache helicopters engage at least one target with 30mm canon fire and perhaps small rockets, I couldn't be sure because the sounds were overlapping but zooming in through the finder of my camera I saw lines of smoke behind the patrolling Apaches and seconds later I could hear the sounds.

At 1 in the afternoon the fighter jets returned to the scene but this time only one f-16.
The tension and occasional clashes spread to involve a wide area in the center of eastern Baghdad including parts of Bab al-Mua'dam and al-Kasra.

A friend of mine who's a doctor at Baghdad's medical city said he and his colleagues were afraid to leave the complex because of the fighting going on in the streets.

Between 2 and 3 pm a few more explosions were heard and there was more heavy machinegun fire but now the situation has calmed down. At 5:20 it seems quiet from my place.
Ok, not exactly quiet, the last blast we heard 20 minutes ago turned out to be a suicide bomber who detonated himself (or his vehicle, not sure) somewhere in al-Waziriya not far from the main spot of fighting.

***

Yesterday passed peacefully, that's without any major incident recorded anywhere in the country.
I think it was a good decision to have an extended curfew, it prevented the clowns from organizing demonstrations in Baghdad, otherwise bad things would've been very difficult to avoid.

The situation in Diwaniya has calmed down a little bit and most militiamen are off the street, reportedly after receiving orders from Moqtada.
This didn't mean the operation has ended and the troops are still conducting house to house searches.

Sadr's militias always employ the "hide your weapons" approach to end the crises they start each time they are confronted with overwhelming force from the US and Iraqi military. I can't say for sure what good that does to them in the long run, one simply can't read a mind like Moqtada's but perhaps it's one of their PR stunts that are for domestic consumption, to show that their will to build peace is what ends the fighting and that they withdraw from the streets not out of fear from the troops but because they're doing it for the best of the people.
It's always "we'll get our weapons off the streets" maneuver—the half solution that relieves pressure and allows them to keep their force for future mischief.

Anyway, this might not work our perfectly for them this time in Diwaniya because the troops entered the city with the intent to strike the militia hard and capture its leaders.
A relative who lives there with whom I spoke on the phone last night said the troops are conducting raids on specific targets, aimed at capturing elements identified on a wanted list.

The commander of the 8th IA division in charge of the area was obviously suspicious of the demonstrations organized by the Sadrists in nearby Najaf (about 50km to the west) and he realized that demonstrators would possibly become reinforcements to the militiamen his soldiers are fighting so he made clear last night on TV that no marchers from other cities would be allowed to enter Diwaniya.

Speaking of the Sadrists' pitiful demonstrations. His aides were hoping to gather a million marchers for yesterday but all they could manage were less than ten thousands, that's even when they bussed people from Baghdad and Basra.The Arabic-speaking al-Alam Iranian channel claims the number was "hundreds of thousands" but that's just al-Alam, other channels and the footage we saw all put the number between 5 and 10 thousand.
I had personally been to a demonstration of 10 thousands once and what I saw yesterday was definitely smaller.
Flying Iraqi flags in large numbers is another exposed cheap trick combining methods from both Hezbollah and Saddam.
Replacing partisan sectarian banners with the national flag was likely inspired from Hezbollah's rallies in Lebanon. Both movements desperately try to show themselves as patriotic movements because they realize the others see them as Iran's tools.

On the other hand the way the flags were gathered is a trademark of the Ba'ath work; the flags that were carried during the demonstration as well as the flags that were seen hanging on walls in Baghdad were not donated by NGO's, nor bought with Sadr's money.
Elements of the Mehdi army paid visits to hundreds of shops and stores in several neighborhoods in Baghdad and "asked" the owners for money to buy flags; 6,000 dinars ($5) from stores on main streets and 2,000 dinars from stores in the alleys. This is exactly what the Ba'ath thugs used to do; using intimidation to steal hard-earned money from hardworking Iraqis to decorate their false demonstrations with posters and portraits.



That's all I have for now. Will make an update if I find more about what's going on.