Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until April 26, 2007 Midnight cst.

The first page : Maliki discuss with the Omanis consolidating relations between Baghdad and hometown ..Omani Deputy Prime Minister told (long) : ready to support Iraqis in all areas

Birthplace / envoy long
He met Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki yesterday, Wednesday, sultan of Oman, Sultan Qaboos, during the meeting, emphasis on the development and strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries.
.The Prime Minister had arrived in Muscat yesterday and was met at the airport by Omani Deputy Prime Minister Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, a number of senior officials Omanis. Al Said Exclusively b (long) : said that his country is ready to offer anything that might support the Iraqi people and government.
Officials said the Omani during the meeting support the era Iraq to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt early next month.

It is expected that during the visit, al-Maliki discuss regional cooperation and support to Iraq so as to enhance its national unity and the ongoing political process in the country as well as to strengthen bilateral relations in all fields, especially the economic and commercial.
Accompanying the Prime Minister on his visit, a delegation comprising the ministers of the interior and of State for Foreign Affairs and National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House and the political and media advisers to the Prime Minister.
Al-Maliki arrived in the Sultanate of Oman, coming from Kuwait, where he discussed with Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah Emir of Kuwait bilateral relations between the two countries.
He also held talks with His Highness, the Kuwaiti prime minister Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah addressed all issues of common concern and bilateral relations in various fields.
He praised Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki official results of his talks in Kuwait, asserting that it had been clear and positive and established a solid future relations between the two countries to resolve all issues which one we inherited from the former regime perfidious invasion of Kuwait.
Maliki added before leaving the country yesterday after a visit that lasted two days that an agreement had been reached to proceed to resolve all outstanding issues and dilemmas arising from the invasion of Kuwait treacherous according to the resolutions of international legitimacy resolutions. "
He said : "I think that between the State of Kuwait, Iraq is more than a question of decisions," pointing out that the "brotherhood and common interests and the desire of a real live between two neighbors can not leave one on the other."
He stated that his visit to Kuwait came to affirm the ties between the two countries and Iraq's more to come, whether political or economic, adding, "We have expressed our desire presence of Kuwaiti companies in Iraq and the readiness of companies to be present at the Kuwaiti economic file, and the service-oriented Iraqi.
Asked about the Iranian reservation on participating in the meeting of Iraq's neighbors and permanent members of the Security Council and the Group of Eight scheduled to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh early next month, wished the prime minister to remove this reservation.
He said : The Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will visit Tehran in order to resolve "certain issues and contract," which may be the reason for the existence of the reservation.
The cross-Malki expressed optimism the presence of Iran for this meeting and the results of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit of the International Decade for Iraq and the adoption of a document that was produced between Iraq and the United Nations and between countries, which will participate in this conference.
He stressed that his country placed great hopes on the meeting of the "Conference of the neighboring countries of Iraq to be held the following day, to the International Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.
He said : that his country is looking forward to obtain the support of participating States for the political process in Iraq and support the accomplishments of the Iraqi people from democracy and a constitution, elections and parliamentary political march along with the support of Iraq in the fight against terrorism, warned that he would not stop at the borders of Iraq.
He said : "What comes out of conference is an expression of international solidarity to confront the scourge of terrorism, as well as hazardous help Iraq reduce its debt and advancement in the task of reconstruction and therein.
He added : that Iraq is a rich country, but at this stage needs help from his brothers and friends in the world to advance, which would have a positive impact on the region.
Asked about the security wall around the city hung said, "We asked for his arrest and take other measures to maintain security for the people who hung on, adding that he would follow up this issue after his return to Baghdad.

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Iraq plans to renew oil tanker fleet in S.Korea
IDP - [24/04/2007]

Iraq aims to rebuild its ageing fleet of tankers to carry its crude oil exports and is planning to form a joint venture shipping company with a South Korean firm, the oil ministry's spokesman said on Monday.

"Iraq needs new huge oil shipping tankers to be capable of shipping exported crude oil," Asim Jihad said.
"South Korea will provide a fleet of...tankers to form a joint shipping company run by the Iraqis, and South Korea will have a share of profits of transporting crude oil.He said no agreement had been signed, but an "agreement in principle" was struck between Iraq's oil minister and his South Korean counterpart during a visit to Seoul earlier this month.

Jihad said ownership of the fleet would be transferred to Iraq's oil ministry after a period that would be specified in the final agreement.

He did not disclose the name of the South Korean company.

Other foreign companies had approached the ministry with offers to help rebuild Iraq's tanker fleet, which was crippled by decades of war and sanctions, Jihad said.

Iraq's once-proud Oil Shipping Company, which used to transport crude oil from the country's oil terminals in the Gulf city of Basra to refining facilities around the globe, has been out of operation since 1980.

Tankers now loading at Basra's terminal are foreign-owned.

On his visit to Seoul, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani signed a cooperation deal with South Korea's energy minister, Kim Young-joo, on broadening opportunities for South Koreans to secure oilfields in Iraq.

Iraq, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and needs billions of dollars to revive its oil sector, which is crucial for rebuilding its shattered economy.

Shahristani said last week that a long-awaited draft oil law will be submitted to Iraq's parliament this week but Kurdish officials have rejected aspects of the emerging legislation.

An oil law is vital for Iraq to attract investment from foreign firms to boost its oil output and rebuild its economy, but disputes that have dogged the process continue to simmer between regional and central governments.

The first page : Talabani : Kirkuk issue will be resolved in accordance with the Constitution


Sulaymaniyah / long
The President Jalal Talabani's optimism, the results and decisions of the Sharm el-Sheikh summit which will take place early next month, said : expect the conference to provide economic assistance and support the new government and to condemn terrorism is clear.
He added Talabani during his visit Sulaymaniyah, where he arrived yesterday, Wednesday, : that the issue will be resolved in accordance with the Constitution of Kirkuk in this regard, pointing to the statement of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki days ago that must normalize the situation in the city and then organize a referendum. The President of the Republic plan to impose law saying : plan applied well in spite of the shortcomings of existing at the same time stressing that "against the construction of barriers," in reference to actions American forces in the construction of barriers several areas of Baghdad, and said : better to follow another way to impose security instead of building a wall.

Concerning relations with Turkey, President Talabani said : good relations with Turkey and we do not want to create any problem at the present time, especially with the ruling Justice and Development Party, describing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan personality and successful democracy.
The President Talabani arrived in Sulaymaniyah International Airport yesterday afternoon Wednesday, accompanied by Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, and was received by members of the political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and a large number of party officials and the government.

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Almchidani Parliament Sesadrtshariaat task during the next term
Added news on 4-25-2007 12:52



اAlmchidani: Parliament Sesadrtshariaat task during the next term

A House Speaker Dr Mahmoud Almchidani the determination of Parliament pass legislation and laws task during the next few.

Almchidani said during his meeting with the representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, through a statement issued yesterday : that the parliament plays a vital role in shaping and determining the future of Iraq. He added : "The parliament is the foundation and center of the political life of contemporary Iraqi side, and through legislation which will be issued in the period ahead to address many vital issues, such as legislation concerning urgent investments or related to national reconciliation by another." And the statement that the two sides discussed the role of the international organization in support of parliamentary and democratic experience in Iraq and assist in building constitutional institutions. The same statement said that Almchidani yesterday received the first Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark's Bo Erik Weber to discuss ways to promote parliamentary relations between the two countries and the overall situation in Iraq and the region.

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Originally Posted by Lunar

Talks to settle differences with the Kurds on the Iraqi oil
Source : Reuters-25 / 04 / 2007

Meet officials from the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurdistan region this week to settle their differences on the draft law on oil, which will determine who controls the third largest oil reserves in the world.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani last week said that the law would be ready for presentation to Parliament this week and expected not enter parliament for substantial amendments.

But Kurds and energy officials described as supplements to the law unconstitutional, raising the possibility that further disagreements and disruptions witnessed by the law, which is long overdue.

Law and oil, which Washington believes is an important step towards reconciliation between the warring parties in Iraq is vital to attracting investment from foreign companies to increase oil production and the rebuilding of the devastated economy.

Ashti seminar, Minister of Natural Resources in the province Kurdish autonomous Reuters said that his objections focused on supplements law that prohibit Non control of the oil fields and give control to the new government oil company.

Nigervan Barzani, the Prime Minister of Kurdish territory said that the Kurds want the law last respect to the management of oil revenues in a single step with the oil.

Barzani said "the draft law and the law of oil distribution of oil revenues must be approved together in Parliament. Without the distribution of oil revenues under the law of oil. "

He added, "the oil revenues must be deposited in a special account and the share of Kurdish region should be clearly defined and have no objection if this account administered by Iraq or any of the international committee." The government wants the central deposit revenues in the calculation of central and distribution according to the population distribution.

Most Iraqi proven oil reserves located in the south, which is dominated by Shiites and the north, which is dominated by Kurds.

The equitable distribution of Iraq's wealth is vital for national reconciliation because the Sunni Arabs, who live in central and western Iraq worried that the agreement is inappropriate to deprive them of any additional income in the event the security situation has improved enough to increase production steadily. The Sunni Arabs are the main component of the fighters in Iraq.

Robert Gates urged American Minister of Defense last week, the leaders of Iraq to carry out a number of basic steps that support the reconciliation of the oil by the end of the summer.

But the draft law passed by the cabinet in February last and was praised by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as the mainstay of Iraq's unity not solve controversial issues such as how to share revenues Will controlled the central government or regional governments on the discovered fields not developed.

These details clarify supplements.

In January said Shahrastani, who expressed his willingness to listen to the viewpoint of the Kurdish government this week that the National Oil Company would control most of the major fields in the country.

He said that the seminar supplements law gives the government control of the unacceptable rate hits 80% of the reserves of Iraq. But they do not have the expertise or capital for the development of discovered fields not developed.

Supplements include the disputed fields currently producing and discovered fields and unused areas of exploration.

Mohammed Othman, an independent Kurd deputy of the Iraqi Parliament said that he was confident the bill passed.

The "United States of exerting pressure on the Kurds to the approval of the bill and I am sure they Sidhugueton them to agree to the supplements."

Lunar I am not knocking,but I believe I read this same artical back in Feb,or
one almost like it.I know your artical had todays date.I think the media just
recycles these articals.Thanks and again I am not knocking your post
Ronnie

Susie c'mon talk to us baby. All this news and nothing moving. What gives.

Asian Countries Hope to Win Oil Contracts in Iraq
By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
25 April 2007



As Iraq is debating a new law that will set guidelines under which authorities can negotiate with foreign oil firms, several energy-hungry countries in Asia hope to be among the first to sign contracts to explore the world's third largest oil reserves. Claudia Blume at VOA's Asia News in Hong Kong reports.

By the end of this month, the Iraqi parliament is expected to decide on a new oil law. If passed, the legislation will allow Iraq to sign contracts with foreign companies for the exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves.

Some energy-hungry countries in Asia - such as China, India, Vietnam and South Korea - are hoping they will be among the first to take advantage of the new law. Iraq, in urgent need of foreign investment, is actively courting countries in the region.

Earlier this month, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited South Korea and Japan and invited investment in his country's reconstruction, including the oil sector. Iraqi and South Korean oil ministers signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the development of Iraqi oil fields.


Employees work at Sheaiba oil refinery, west of Basrah, Iraq (File)
Tokyo pledged a loan of more than $850 million for the building of an oil export facility in Basrah, as part of a wider aid package for Iraq.

Clara Tan is an energy sector analyst with Singapore-based Energy Intelligence. She says Japan hopes its generous aid pledges will be rewarded with access to the country's oil reserves.

"I think part of that is - I will give you access to my energy sector and I hope that you will help me in terms of financing loans or in terms of technology expertise," Tan saidl

Some analysts think Iraq's first foreign contract to develop oil resources may not go to American and British oil companies but to China, a country that sat out the Iraq war.

Clara Tan says Beijing is discussing the revival of an oilfield deal it signed in the midst of U.N. sanctions that barred direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry.

"China has a contract signed a few years back under the old regime under Saddam Hussein," she said. "Now they are looking at renegotiating the contract, so talks have been going on for some time, so they have visited China and China has come to Baghdad to talk to them on the renegotiations."

Iraq's tense security situation is one of the biggest obstacles for foreign companies wanting to explore the country's oil fields.

But some experts say China might have an edge over other countries because its oil companies are so desperate to find new energy sources that they may be willing to take more risks than others.

VOA News - Asian Countries Hope to Win Oil Contracts in Iraq

Originally Posted by rkpdwp

Lunar I am not knocking,but I believe I read this same artical back in Feb,or
one almost like it.I know your artical had todays date.I think the media just
recycles these articals.Thanks and again I am not knocking your post
Ronnie

The Kurds are still discussing the oil law and several other issues mentioned have just occurred in the past few days so it's unlikely you read this one in February.....but hey Ronnie feel free to get online and contribute something newer.

DIPLOMACY
U.S. reaches out to Iran via back channel
In what amounts to a major shift for the White House, the United States is using Switzerland as an intermediary in order to exchange diplomatic messages with Iran.
BY WARREN P. STROBEL AND NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy News Service

WASHINGTON -- The United States has quietly increased its back-channel diplomatic contacts with Iran in recent months, a sign that those who favor engagement with Tehran have strengthened their hand in the Bush administration, according to U.S. officials.

Using Switzerland as an intermediary, American and Iranian officials have exchanged diplomatic messages on a variety of subjects, including the fate of a U.S. citizen missing in Iran, the future of five Iranian operatives whom American forces seized in Iraq, and old financial and property disputes.

SHIFT IN APPROACH

The contacts amount to a shift for the White House, which rebuffed an Iranian offer of wide-ranging talks on Iran's nuclear program, Middle East peace and direct relations after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Instead of engaging Iran, the White House largely shut down the Swiss channel, which both countries use in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.

''There's no doubt there's more willingness to talk now than there was a few years ago,'' one State Department official said.

U.S. officials, who discussed the sensitive issue only on condition of anonymity, cautioned that it doesn't amount to a secret dialogue over the biggest American-Iranian dispute: Iran's uranium-enrichment program, which U.S. officials say is intended to develop a nuclear weapon.

And it's unclear whether the change in the American approach is a long-term shift or a tactic to persuade Iran to attend a regional meeting next week about Iraq's future.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to travel to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik for the meeting of Iraq's neighbors and has urged Iran to send an envoy. It would be a ''missed opportunity'' for Iran if it didn't show up, she told the Financial Times this week.

Iran has threatened to boycott the session unless the United States releases the five Iranians seized in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in January.

The U.S. military said the five are members of Iran's paramilitary Quds force who were arming factions to fight each other; Iran said they're diplomats. While some State Department officials favor releasing the Iranians, the White House has decided not to do so, at least for now.

In another example of U.S. outreach, Washington has enlisted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who has close ties with Iran, to try to persuade the Iranians to attend the meeting. Zebari, who's about to travel to Tehran, said that the United States recognized that, for the violence in Iraq to decline, Iran must be included in the discussions.

''This has nothing to do with the [nuclear ]hreat,'' Zebari said. Washington is ``doing everything they can to get them to participate.''

The shift in approaches toward Iran began shortly after the November midterm elections, in which voters rejected Bush's Iraq War policies and handed control of Congress to Democrats.

SEEKING LEVERAGE

Before ramping up its diplomacy, the Bush administration took a series of military and diplomatic steps to win more leverage against Iran, which under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pursued newly assertive polices in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Those steps included sending another American aircraft-carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf, dispatching Patriot missile defenses to Arab allies, arresting the five Iranians, and accusing Iran of arming factions in Iraq.

Some Democratic lawmakers and European diplomats had voiced alarm that Bush was contemplating airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, a policy Vice President Dick Cheney and his allies are said to favor. That doesn't appear to be the dominant view in the administration right now.

After the U.S. failures in Iraq, ''There is a feeling that we can't get Iran wrong,'' a second State Department official said.

U.S. reaches out to Iran via back channel - 04/25/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

Name of God the Merciful
Republic of Iraq
Prime minister
April 24th, 2007

The prime minister recognizes the service and military retirement

The cabinet held its regular weekly meeting this morning, chaired by Dr. Barham Salih Prime Minister agency, the Board approved the retirement of military service and was referred to the House for a vote, also approved the appointment of Mr. Saber Eissawi for the post of Secretary of Baghdad.
During the meeting discussed several issues on the agenda and take the necessary decisions thereon.

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