Thread: Iraq/Dinar News to April 19, 2007 10PM CST

Suicide bomber 'was MP's bodyguard'
Press Association
Thursday April 12, 2007 6:08 PM


A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria, killing at least eight people including three politicians, the American military said.

Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several politicians were eating lunch. State television said at least 30 people were wounded.

Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information, said they believed the suicide bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.

The officials also said two satchel bombs were found inside the building near the dining hall. A US military bomb squad was called and took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.


linky...
Suicide bomber 'was MP's bodyguard' | UK Latest | Guardian Unlimited

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

RIGHT ON!!

Will somebody in Iraq please stand up and be counted?

Appologize if posted yesterday or today.


Constitutional Committee Discuss points

11 April 2007 (Al-Sabaah)

MP Abbas al-Bayatee from Iraqi Unity Coalition said that, the constitutional performances committee would starting through two weeks in studying and discussing the disagreement points in the constitution as federalism, wealth distribution, provinces validity, depathification law and phrase 140 about Kirkuk.

He added that they re-reviewed two important issues as the union council which would be the second legality for laws room.

On the other hand, he said that there were a conversation inside the committee towards the constitutional court if it would be as a constitutional council on the French style which would return reviewing before the final judgment or as a constitutional court which would be as a final judgment.

Constitutional Committee Discuss points | Iraq Updates

Originally Posted by nikki

Suicide bomber 'was MP's bodyguard'
Press Association
Thursday April 12, 2007 6:08 PM


A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria, killing at least eight people including three politicians, the American military said.

Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several politicians were eating lunch. State television said at least 30 people were wounded.

Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information, said they believed the suicide bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.

The officials also said two satchel bombs were found inside the building near the dining hall. A US military bomb squad was called and took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.


linky...
Suicide bomber 'was MP's bodyguard' | UK Latest | Guardian Unlimited

This would indicate the fact that EVERYBODY needs to go through the checkpoints, scans, metal detectors, and get sniffed by the dogs...no matter who you are.

Originally Posted by Ranger III

Will somebody in Iraq please stand up and be counted?

They are afraid to stand up...heck, they can't even sit down to eat a meal in peace

Shahrastani : Iraq seeks to produce more than three million b / Y in 2007
Source : Reuters-12 / 04 / 2007

He said Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani on Thursday that Iraq hoped to increase production of about 1 million barrels a day this year to reach the target level for a long time is three million barrels a day by the resumption of northern exports.

And Iraq has been striving to overcome the problems of the acts of sabotage and poor infrastructure obsolete impeding production since the invasion, which led the United States to the country in 2003. The concentrated attacks on the main pipeline, which extends north through Turkey to the Mediterranean.

Shahrastani said to Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting with officials of energy in South Korea, "Iraq hopes to produce over three million barrels per day in 2007 and this could be achieved through reform of the northern pipeline, which hit the Mediterranean Sea."

According to a survey conducted by Reuters, hit production of Iraq in March in March 1.97 million barrels per day higher than the 1.89 million barrels a day in February. But Shahrastani said in December last December that the average production in 2006 amounted to 2.3 million barrels per day.

Despite the weak export production rose last month to 1.62 million barrels a day, the highest level since last September thanks to the increase in shipments from the southern oil port of Basra, according to the sources liner.

Shahrastani said that Iraq aimed to produce more than four million barrels a day in 2011.

Shahrastani, visiting Seoul for the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Minister of Energy Aljunnobi Korean Kim Jong atmosphere to promote opportunities for Korean companies in the development of oilfields in Iraq, which seeks to attract new investments to the oil industry.

In 1997 and signed the Korean National Oil Corporation and the Iraqi Oil Ministry in the era of former President Saddam Hussein an agreement in principle to develop the Halfaya oil reserves estimated at about 3.8 billion barrels and produces about 250 thousand barrels per day.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Ministry of Energy that the agreement has not been Alentvez because of the financial sanctions imposed by the United Nations on Iraq. But the memorandum of understanding signed by the two sides on Thursday confirmed that Iraq "will be positive" involvement of South Korea in the development of the field as soon as the draft law of Iraqi oil.

The Iraqi government acknowledged in February of a bill to regulate the oil sector, but have yet to be approved by Parliament. The bill allows the provinces to negotiate with the Iraqi international companies to develop oil fields.

Shahrastani said, "It is possible to pass the law during the two months since all the political parties in favor of it."

Iraqi Prime Minister confident of renewed Japanese investments
Source : Reuters-10 / 04 / 2007

He said 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.

Originally Posted by davzgirl

They are afraid to stand up...heck, they can't even sit down to eat a meal in peace

I am sorry for my ignorance, bt your point is?

Iraq spokesman: Bomb won't stop oil law
Posted : Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:49:01GMT

WASHINGTON, April 12 Iraq's top spokesman said terrorist attacks on Parliament Thursday won't delay debate over the controversial law governing oil and natural gas.

In February, Kurdish and central government negotiators agreed on a hydrocarbons law framework, which was then approved by the Cabinet. It is expected to be taken up by the Parliament next month.

According to early media reports, two Sunni and one Shiite members of Parliament were among the eight killed Thursday in an explosion in the cafeteria of Parliament, in the heavily guarded Green Zone in Baghdad.

Ali al-Dabbagh, a former lawmaker and a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told UPI Thursday it won't set back the hydrocarbons law time frame.

"We hope that all the problems related to the Parliament, even today's problems, won't delay debating and approving such law," he said from a mobile phone while visiting Washington. Aside from the violence, the law has many hurdles to cross.

Negotiators must come to terms with how to divide the revenue from oil sales, as well as which region or government structure is in control of future oil exploration and production. Iraq has 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the third-most in the world.

Iraq spokesman: Bomb won't stop oil law

Iraqi hopes tied to summit
April 12 2007

The United Nations' new point man on Iraq reconstruction said Iraqi hopes are soaring over a planned international conference next month on the country's beleaguered economy, putting pressure on neighboring Arab governments to offer up real debt relief and other concessions.

"It would be a real slap in the face" if the May 3 gathering at the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el Sheik failed to produce concrete offers, Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N. undersecretary-general overseeing the Iraq-reconstruction program, said in an interview Tuesday with The Washington Times.

"It could undermine the vision of [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri] al-Maliki and his government to take the steps needed to restore Iraq's economy," the veteran Nigerian diplomat added.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh warned on a Washington visit yesterday that Iran is ready to expand its clout inside Iraq if Arab rivals like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait fail to support Iraq's economic recovery.
"If the Arab countries do not step up, Iran's influence in Iraq will grow," Mr. al-Dabbagh said.

The May 3 meeting on the U.N.-backed "International Compact on Iraq" will be followed, the next day, by a second conference of Iraq, its Middle East neighbors, the United States and other world powers on Iraq's security situation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to attend the Sharm el Sheik gathering, along with senior ministers from Iran and Syria.

Mr. Gambari said the compact is a five-year reconstruction plan started last month jointly by the United Nations and the al-Maliki government.
Under the plan, Iraq would agree to undertake a series of economic and political reforms in exchange for international investment and financial concessions.

Mr. al-Dabbagh said that, despite Iraq's vast oil and gas reserves, the country faces a five-year "bottleneck" trying to jump-start the economy and reform social and legal services while dealing with an increasingly violent insurgency.

Iraq's foreign debt stood at about $120 billion when Saddam Hussein's government fell in 2003. The United States forgave some $4.1 billion in Iraqi debt in late 2004, and the "Paris Club" of wealthy creditor nations pledged a major debt-forgiveness program.

But despite a debt-relief drive led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Iraq's Arab neighbors have been far less forthcoming.

Saudi Arabia still holds an estimated $28 billion in public and private debt, and Kuwait's parliament has balked at concessions on tens of billions of dollars in debt and reparations still owed from Iraq's invasion in 1991.
Mr. Gambari acknowledged the security situation in Iraq makes long-term economic planning and investment difficult. He also acknowledged that Iraq's Arab neighbors have been slow to support the al-Maliki government, which relies heavily on Shi'ite parties with extensive ties to Iran.

But he said he found "a "significant buy-in" from all the leading Iraqi factions for the reform program in the compact, including backing from leading Sunni politicians otherwise opposed to the al-Maliki government.
"We cannot wait until all is perfect in Iraq if we are to move ahead," he said.

The compact, which Mr. Gambari said is a top priority of new U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is one of the highest-profile U.N. efforts to date in Iraq. The world body was badly divided by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, and pulled out much of its top personnel after an August 2003 bombing that killed top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and other senior U.N. officials.

But Mr. Gambari said the United Nations has quietly expanded its presence in postwar Iraq, helping organize the country's three nationwide elections since 2005 and overseeing the debate over revising the country's constitution.
"Our profile in Iraq is more about quality than quantity, although we are now the single biggest foreign presence after the multinational military force," he said.
Mr. Gambari said U.N. envoy Ashraf Qazi, finishing up a three-year tour in Baghdad, has been able to meet with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shi'ite spiritual leader in Iraq who has consistently refused to deal with U.S. authorities.

Iraqi hopes tied to summit - World - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper