Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until 5PM CST May 10,2007

Iraq creditors agree Dollars 30bn waiver


Friday, May 04, 2007

Creditor nations including the UK, Saudi Arabia and China have pledged to waive Dollars 30bn (Pounds 15.1bn) of Iraqi debt, about 60 per cent of what Baghdad estimates it owes other countries, Ban Ki-moon, United Nations secretary-general, said yesterday.

Mr Ban was speaking at the end of the first day of a two-day conference in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el Sheikh dealing with the UN-sponsored International Compact with Iraq, which aims at winning support to stabilise and rebuild the country.

"A number of countries have made concrete commitments under the compact today. In particular, there was broad support for the terms of the Paris Club on Iraq's outstanding debt," said Mr Ban, referring to the decision by the international creditors' group to forgive 80 per cent of Iraq's debt.

"Specific financial commitments made by particular countries are estimated at over Dollars 30bn," he told a news conference.

The figure included commitments by Bulgaria, China, Saudi Arabia, Greece and new commitments by the UK, Australia, Spain, Denmark and South Korea.

Few could expect Iraq's creditors to collect anything more than a small fraction of what they owe, much of which was run up under the rule of Saddam Hussein.

Some countries, however, appear to be holding out on a final pledge to forgive a concrete amount of debt in order to maintain leverage over the Iraqi government.

The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, which holds at least Dollars 15bn of Iraqi debt, said during the conference that it would deal with the question of debt according to the "principles" of the Paris Club, but added the actual amount was still being discussed.

Barham Salih, Iraq's deputy prime minister, said the question was of a technical nature involving the calculation of exactly how much Iraq owed. The kingdom, however, is also known to be unhappy with how Iraq's Shia-led government deals with the Sunni minority.

Russia, another significant debt-holder, has reportedly tied a waiver to a Saddam-era deal allowing a Russian company to invest in a large oilfield in the south.

Bayan Jaber, Iraq's foreign minister, was quoted by wire agencies as saying: "The Russians are hesitant. They want investment in the Rumaila oilfield in return for eliminating the debt."

Iraqi officials said at the conference they were adamant that there be no preconditions tied to debt relief.

Meanwhile, US officials said that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, met Walid Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, in the first high-level talks between the two countries in years, although few details were available yesterday evening.

The meeting came amid claims by US and Iraqi officials that suggested Syria and Iran might have been moving to limit support for militants operating in Iraq.

In Baghdad, Major General William Caldwell, US military spokesman, said there had been "some movement by the Syrians . . . there has been a reduction in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq" in the past month.

Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, said, meanwhile, there had been a "dramatic" reduction in the use by insurgents of explosively formed penetrators in the past three months.

The devices are a particularly deadly kind of roadside bomb which the US alleges have been supplied by Iran.

By STEVE NEGUS


© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2007

Middle East
U.S. Raids in Iraq Target Iranian Arms

(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
Iraqis rally in protest against a talk show aired by Al-Jazeera television, in Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 4, 2007. Thousands of angry Shiites poured onto the streets in towns and cities across central and southern Iraq to protest what they took to be insults by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television against Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric. By THOMAS WAGNER, The Associated Press
2007-05-04 14:00:09.0
Current rank: # 322 of 6,729

BAGHDAD -
U.S. forces broke up a Shiite militant cell believed to be smuggling an armor-piercing Iranian weapon responsible for an increasing number of American and Iraqi deaths, the military said. Sixteen suspected militants were arrested Friday in the Baghdad raid.

The military also announced that its forces had discovered and destroyed several caches of weapons over the last few months south of Baghdad, including Iranian-made rockets and mortars.

Roadside bombs have long been the No. 1 killer of U.S. and Iraqi forces in Iraq, but the use of the Iranian explosively formed penetrators, or EFP's, is rising. The weapons, which hurl a fist-sized lump of molten copper, can pierce even U.S. armored vehicles newly designed to deflect roadside bombs.

In Sadr City, the Baghdad slum that is home to Shiite militias allied with radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, coalition raids rounded up 16 suspected members of a militant cell that brought in the Iranian weapons, as well as militants seeking terrorist training, the U.S. said. Intelligence reports also indicate the cell is linked to kidnappings in Iraq, the statement said.

The military said over the last six months U.S. forces have found and destroyed four caches of Iranian-linked weapons around Mahmoudiya, a mostly Shiite enclave surrounded by Sunni-dominated areas about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Sectarian violence and attacks by militias and insurgents on American and Iraqi forces are common in the area.

Iranian officials deny importing weapons or militants into neighboring Iraq, but The Washington Post reported Friday that attacks in Iraq involving Iranian-made EFPs reached a record high last month.

Quoting Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who oversees day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, the paper said the number of attacks with the projectiles rose to 65 in April, most of them in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad. Officials said the projectiles are used almost exclusively by Shiite fighters against U.S. military targets.

EFPs were first reported used in Iraq in 2005 against British forces in the south, but have grown increasingly common, primarily in Baghdad.

The Post quoted Odierno as saying that before April, the month with the greatest number of projectile attacks was December 2006, with 62. It said the use of projectile weapons has risen over time as other types of bombs have become less effective against added U.S. armor.

Overall attacks using roadside bombs doubled in Iraq from 2006 to 2007 and number about 1,200 a month, the Post said. They cause roughly 70 percent of the casualties suffered by U.S. troops, the paper said.

Also Friday, the U.S. military identified two more top al-Qaida aides killed during an operation earlier this week targeting Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri, a senior propagandist for the terror network.

The American operation north of Baghdad led to days of conflicting reports from the Iraqi government that the leaders of al-Qaida and its front group, the Islamic State of Iraq had been killed.

The chief U.S. military spokesman on Thursday said the U.S. did not have the bodies of al-Qaida boss Abu Ayyub al-Masri or Islamic State leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and did not know "of anybody that does."

The military on Friday identified two of the other slain militants as al-Jubouri's spiritual guide Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi and a foreign fighter, Abu Ammar al-Masri, who it said was helping with insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaida.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, another U.S. military spokesman, said Friday that Abu Ammar al-Masri is unrelated to the al-Qaida boss.

Also Friday, a U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when their patrol was hit by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad. Since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, at least 3,357 members of the U.S. military have died, according to an Associated Press count.

Separately, a roadside bomb killed five Iraqi policemen on a patrol in western Baghdad.

Seven bodies were found floating in the Diyala River in Baqouba, 35 miles

northeast of Baghdad, and snipers were preventing police and medical teams from recovering from the remains along with other bodies spotted in recent weeks from the waterway, police said.

Lunar your letter in post #10 is awsome and i am glad that someone has seen it for themselves as i did when i was there the war is not throughout the whole country as the media tells everyone just a few towns. so thanks for the post it is good to hear.

OUTRAGE AT LAZY POLS OF IRAQ
AP
May 4, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - Lawmakers divided over whether to keep U.S. troops in Iraq are finding common ground on one topic: They are furious that Iraqi politicians are considering a lengthy break this summer.

"If they go off on vacation for two months while our troops fight - that would be the outrage of outrages," said Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.).

The Iraq parliament's recess, starting this July, would likely come without Baghdad politicians reaching agreements considered key to easing sectarian tensions. Examples include regulating distribution of 'oil wealth and reversing measures that have excluded many Sunnis from jobs because of Ba'ath party membership.

Iraqi politicians said yesterday the break might not happen or may be less than two months, but said it should be of no concern to U.S. lawmakers

'China ready to forgive Iraq's debts'
[4 May, 2007 l 0818 hrs ISTlPTI]

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BEIJING: China is ready to substantially reduce and forgive the debts owed by Iraq and has announced a fresh grant of 6.5 million US dollars to the war-ravaged country, the state media reported on Friday.

The announcement was made by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at a ministerial meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), which took place on Thursday at the Egyptian Red Sea resort, Sharm-el-Sheikh.

The Chinese grant will be used to help public health and education in Iraq, Yang was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"The Chinese government is ready to substantially reduce and forgive the debts owed by Iraq. In particular, it will forgive all the debts owed by the Iraqi government," Yang said, without specifying the amount.

China has taken note of Iraq's request for debt reduction and forgiveness according to the arrangements of the Paris Club of major creditor nations and is ready to resolve the issue through continued friendly consultation with Iraq, he said.

Yang said China supports the ICI, which he said serves as a blueprint for Iraq's future development and Reconstruction and defines its partnership with the international community.

On how to implement the ICI, Yang noted that the international community needs to increase consultation and work together to ensure assistance comes in a coordinated way.

China supports the UN in continuing to play a leading role in this effort, he said

Australia provides extra aid for Iraq's reconstruction

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Friday announced that Australia is providing an extra 22.5 million Australian dollars (18.5 million U.S. dollars) towards the reconstruction of Iraq and improving the lives of the Iraqi people.

This latest contribution brings Australia's total support for Iraq to more than 195 million Australian dollars (161 million U.S. dollars) since 2003.

Downer said Australia welcomes the International Compact with Iraq, launched Thursday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The International Compact with Iraq represented a road map for the next five years aimed at helping Iraq to achieve its goals of economic prosperity, political stability and lasting security.

Proposed to be co-chaired by Iraq and the United Nations, with the support of the World Bank, the initiative offers benchmarks for economic integration, increased security and good governance in the war-torn country.

"The Compact is an important set of commitments that will help to build a stable, secure and prosperous future for Iraq. It also represents an important partnership between the Iraqi Government, its people and the international community," Downer said in a statement.

"Australia will continue to work with Iraq and the international community in the reconstruction process and will ensure that our aid program supports the Compact goals," he said.

Australian assistance will maintain its emphasis on Iraqi participation, capacity building, and employment creation, Downer said, adding that Australia also agreed to forgive around 850 million U.S. dollars of Iraq's debt to Australia.

Source: Xinhua

Iraq summit expected to call for more inclusion from Sunni Arabs in the political process

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writer
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, arrive to a press conference following the International Compact with Iraq conference at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt Thursday, May 3, 2007. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on all countries Thursday to forgive his country's foreign debts on the opening day of the Iraq conference. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — Iraq's neighbors negotiated a declaration Friday that would pledge support for Iraq's embattled Shiite-led government in return for more inclusion of Sunni Arabs in the political process.

The declaration, to be issued on the final day of a major regional conference on Iraq, came amid little sign that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would meet her Iranian counterpart.

The Iraqi government has pressed for talks between Rice and Manouchehr Mottaki, saying Washington's conflict with the government in Tehran is fueling instability in Iraq.

But U.S. officials have played down the chances for any substantive exchange, and some said they would wait for clearer signals from the Iranians that they were ready to talk.

A draft copy of the six-page declaration said the summit participants would agree to support Iraq's government as long as it ensured the "basic right of all Iraqi citizens to participate peacefully in the political process through the country's political system."

The declaration of support came one day after participants agreed on an ambitious blueprint to stabilize Iraq.

The International Compact with Iraq sets benchmarks to achieve a stable, united, democratic Iraq within five years. It defines international help for Iraq — including debt relief — but also sets tough commitments on the Baghdad government, particularly carrying out reforms aimed at giving Iraq's Sunni Arabs a greater role in the political process.

But Saudi Arabia said it was still negotiating with Iraq over writing off billions of dollars it is owed, and major creditors Kuwait and Russia failed to offer immediate debt relief — a key goal of the blueprint.

The absence of major commitments to reduce Iraq's debt was a sign that some, particularly Sunni Arab, nations are still keeping their distance from Iraq's government.

Still, the Iraqi government, the United Nations and many of the more than 60 countries and international organizations gathered here hailed the launch of the blueprint as a milestone.

It was an initiative of Iraq's first elected government, launched soon after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took office in June 2006 and strongly backed by the United Nations.

The debt issue loomed large over the meeting's unfinished business.

The Paris Club of affluent lender nations has already written off $100 billion of Iraq's debt — most from former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's war against Iran in the 1990s.

But the government still owes a huge amount. Iraq's finance minister put the total remaining at roughly $50 billion, but the numbers vary and in some cases are still not resolved — with some estimates as high as $62 billion.

Iraq's al-Maliki opened the conference urging "all our friends ... to forgive our debts and allow us to launch our reconstruction and development."

But the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia — a major lender — made no immediate public pledge. Saud al-Faisal said only that his country was in talks with Iraq "to have an appropriate solution to debts in line with rules of the Paris Club," which calls for forgiving at least 80 percent of Iraq's debts.

Before the conference, al-Faisal had confirmed that the kingdom would forgive 80 percent of Iraq's debt, raising expectations of an official announcement Thursday.

U.N. officials said the problem is that Saudi Arabia and Iraq never kept records and have not agreed on the size of the debt. Iraq's finance minister puts the debt at $17 billion, while the Saudis have estimated it at between $15 billion and $18 billion.

Kuwait is owed $15 billion, but its democratically elected parliament is refusing to consider any debt relief to Iraq — and the country's deputy prime minister did not mention the issue. There was also no mention of writing off the $13 billion Russia is owed.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, whose country is owed $8 billion, said Beijing "is ready to substantially reduce and forgive the debts owed by Iraq" and will forgive all government debts. He gave no figures.

Bulgaria, owed $4 billion, said it was finalizing "technical talks" with Iraq and then would consider a "realistic solution."

New grants and soft loans also came in.

British Prime Minister Margaret Beckett promised some $400 million. Other pledges from South Korea, Australia, Denmark and Spain totaled about $280 million.

In New York, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said the international community has been slow to live up to aid pledges in the past.

Zalmay Khalilzad, who until recently was the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said most countries have not come through on $13.5 billion in pledges made at a 2003 donor's conference in Madrid.

———

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan, Edith M. Lederer and Lee Keath in Sharm el-Sheik and Salah Nasrawi in Cairo contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Iraq rejects Russia's offer of debt-oil swap

Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 04 May 2007 (Gulf News)

Iraq, struggling to rebuild its war-shattered economy, has declared unacceptable an offer from Russia to forgive the debt it is owed by Baghdad in return for access to a major Iraqi oilfield.

But Iraq has accepted an Egyptian offer to forgive $800 million in debt, Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabor said on Thursday and three eastern European countries have offered an 80 percent write-down of debt owed to them.

Iraq has been struggling for years to reduce its massive debt burden, much of it money borrowed to finance the 1980-88 war with Iran.

When Saudi Arabia announced last month that it was writing off 80 percent of the more than $15 billion it was owed by Iraq, Jabor estimated his country's debt at $140 billion.

Jabor, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday for an international conference on Iraqi stability and reconstruction, said Iraq's creditors were all keen to gain access to its oil wealth, but the nation could not agree to such a link.

"The Russians are hesitant. They want investment in the Rumaila oilfield in return for eliminating the debt," Jabor told Reuters.

Moscow has forgiven Iraq much of the debt it owes, but not the entirety.

The world's top oil companies have been manoeuvring to win a stake in oilfields in Iraq, which holds the world's third biggest reserves.

They are awaiting passage of its oil law, expected within weeks, but would also require a fundamental return of law and order. The North and South Rumaila oilfields in the south make up the bulk of Iraq's crude exports, which run at about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).

Iraq's oilfields are suffering from decades of wars and sanctions, but the Rumaila fields could sustain production of around 1 million barrels per day with the help of foreign investment, analysts said.

Iraq''s neighbors'' forum calls for persecuting former regime''s officials

POL-IRAQ-NEIGHBORS-CONCLUSION
Iraq's neighbors' forum calls for persecuting former regime's officials

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, May 4 (KUNA) -- The conference of Iraq's neighboring nations called on Friday for persecution of the former regime's officials who committed war crimes against Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Iranian people.

In the final declaration, the forum stressed Iraq's unity, sovereignty, independence, Arab and Islamic identity, as well as respecting its borders and internal affairs.

Settling Iraq's disputes, suffering, preserving innocent lives, developing good ties with its neighbors, supporting its government, achieving its people's goals, denouncing terrorism, abidance by UN Security Council resolution 1546, banning terrorists from entering Iraq, setting the path for overall Iraqi reconciliation through dialogue and overall nation participation were highlighted by the declaration.

While lauding the Iraqi government's efforts to achieve national goals, the forum stressed the necessity of supporting Iraqi authorities to develop all needed sectors, such as Iraq's legislations and armed forces that would takeover the roles assumed by the Multi-National Force (MNF) in accordance with UNSC resolutions 1546 and 1723.

Achieving Iraq's goals is the responsibility of the Cabinet that should form, in cooperation with participating nations, work-teams to assist in fields of energy, electricity, security and helping displaced persons, noted the declaration.

In light of global accords, the international community, mainly the UN, has a great amount of responsibility in assisting Iraq, noted the declaration that lauded the support extended to displaced Iraqis by hosting nations, such as Syria and Jordan.

While calling for continuing efforts to hold an Iraqi national conciliation forum and welcoming the International Compact for Iraq (ICI), the participants called on the Iraqi government to form a committee handling the implementation of this forum's recommendations.(end) kz.

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Federal Iraq''s unity was stressed by its neighbors'' forum -- Zebari

POL-IRAQ-NEIGHBORS-ZEBARI
Federal Iraq's unity was stressed by its neighbors' forum -- Zebari

(With photos) SHRAK EL-SHEIKH, May 4 (KUNA) -- The closing statement of Iraq's neighboring nations conference has stressed the unity of a federal Iraq that would not be split into a number of states, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Friday.

During a press conference with Egyptian counterpart Ahmad Abul-Gheit after the international meeting on Iraq, Zebari said no one supported dividing Iraq and the participants were committed to supporting a unified federal Iraq.

The conference has achieved all aspirations as a complementary to last March's Baghdad conference, he added.

This meeting, he said, has taken place at a very critical time for the region and Iraq whose needs and demands from neighboring nations and international community were met by the final declaration.

Iraq's failure will not serve anyone and the conference paid much attention to its security and stability, explained Zebari who lauded Egypt's role in organizing Syrian-US and Iranian-US meetings on sidelines of the conference.

Achieving Iraq's goals requires removing this nation from tension and settling scores between other nations and sectarian violence is a great challenge facing Iraq, he added.

On his part, Abdul-Gheit stressed international support for Iraq to ensure its active regional and Arab participation through national reconciliation, reconstruction, ending violence and starting development.

While noting that the statement supported the Iraqi government's efforts, he said it also stressed supporting the government in rebuilding the armed forces that would takeover the roles assumed by the Multi-National Force (MNF) in accordance with UNSC resolutions 1546 and 1723.

The statement stressed assigning Iraq's government with implementing the forum's recommendations in cooperation with participating nations, he explained.(end) kz.

ayh

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