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

Company (Chevron) recognizing offering bribes to the Saddam regime for the sale of oil facilities

بغداد - ترجمة مرتضى صلاح

Baghdad-interpretation Salah Mortada
Recognized Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, on charges of paying bribes to the dictatorship Principles in part of the process of buying oil contracts by the oil for food program, which ended with the fall of the regime on April 9, 2003.

وقالت صحيفة نيويورك تايمز

The New York Times newspaper said

The company entered into a settlement with the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that agreed to pay bribes recognition of the Saddam regime for reducing the percentage of the financial penalties imposed by financial irregularities to the extent of 30 million dollars only. He said investigators have not disclosed their identities to the fine imposed on the company for breaching legal longer the largest in the United States since about ten years ago. The newspaper said in its issue last Tuesday that the oil-for-food program, which began late in 1996, overseeing the marketing of food, medical equipment and essential for the people of Iraq after the Second Gulf War in 1991 through supervising oil imports to Iraq, which was about 64 billion dollars.

The newspaper said that Saddam's regime received bribes worth almost $ 2 billion when it was carried out smuggling of oil outside the oil for food program, according to a prosecutor at the Special Court irregularities OFFP Paul Volcker. Volcker said that the severed Principles in amounts up to $ 250 million in additional wages under the pretext of reform and transportation of crude oil through the pipeline was Istoktaha companies importing Iraqi oil during the last three years of the dictator's rule.

The newspaper said that the investigation is still pressing to know the biography of Finance six other American companies had been dealing with Saddam's regime bribe since mid-2004.

He continued that the Volcker accused of six oil companies but have not yet completed the biography financial files, which is expected to draw penalties and fines due to violation of the commitment of American companies policy of the American government abroad. Volcker added that Chevron paid more than $ 20 million to the Saddam regime in return for contracts for the sale of tens of millions of barrels of Iraqi oil via the port of Basra old between 2000 and 2002.

The newspaper said that the Foreign Minister, Condoleeza Rice was a member of the Board of Directors of Chevron during the contract period with the Principles, Rice has used its influence to get the company out of the quagmire of financial penalties and fines least possible losses.

The newspaper said, quoting judicial sources in the investigating body that company representatives admitted transferring funds to bribe Iraqi secret accounts in Amman via other companies - American to remove suspicions.

Translated version of http://www.alsabaah.com/

Cheney sees greater Iraqi sense of urgency


White House warns US President will veto funding bill that will bankroll war in Iraq for just three months.


By Olivier Knox - BAGHDAD

BAGHDAD - US Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday he sensed "a greater sense of urgency" in Baghdad after pushing most of Iraq's top political leaders to meet key economic, political and security goals.


But Cheney, kicking off a week-long Middle East trip with a surprise visit to Baghdad, indicated that he had received no specific commitments to achieve particular aims by a date certain.


"I did sense, today, a greater awareness on the part of the Iraqi officials I talked to of the importance of their working together to resolve these issues in a timely fashion," he said as he wrapped up a surprise visit to Iraq.


US officials have increasingly expressed exasperation over the slow pace of key legislation, including efforts to regulate oil revenues, set up regional elections and allow members of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party to hold government jobs.


Asked whether he had secured any specific commitments from Iraq's fragile government, Cheney said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would address some of those issues in a speech to lawmakers this week.


"I do believe that there's a great sense of urgency" among Iraqis, Cheney said, while underlining that making progress by a pre-determined date was "difficult to do with our Congress let alone somebody else's."


Cheney indicated that he had pushed Iraq's leaders to forgo plans for a two-month parliamentary summer recess, especially at a time when the White House's Democratic foes are trying to end US involvement in Iraq.


"I did make it clear that we believe it's very important to move on the issues before us in a timely fashion, that any undue delay would be difficult to explain," he said.


But he declined to say whether that plan was now a dead letter, saying: "I can't make that prediction. That's a sovereign issue."


Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed said after talks in Berlin with his German counterpart, Franz Josef Jung, that it was "impossible to take holiday given the current situation."


"The parliament should be there to serve the people," the minister said.


Asked whether Iraq's security situation had improved since he was last here in December 2005, Cheney said he had talked to Iraqi leaders and that "they believe the situation has gotten better."


"I have to rely on reports, just like everybody else, because obviously I spent today here basically in our embassy and military headquarters in the Green Zone so I can't speak from personal experience to what's going on all across Iraq," said Cheney.


Earlier, an explosion had rattled the windows of the workspace of the reporters covering the vice president's visit, prompting US government officials to lead them to a more secure area.


Bush to veto on Iraq funding bill

The White House warned Democrats Wednesday that President George W. Bush would use his veto power again on an Iraq funding bill that would bankroll the war in Iraq for just three months.


Asked if Bush would veto the House of Representatives bill in its current form, White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters: "Yes."


The White House threat came a week after Bush issued only the second veto of his presidency against a bill tying war funding to a timeline to start withdrawing US soldiers from Iraq in October with a target to get most of combat troops out by March 2008.


The new House bill backed by the Democratic majority would fund the Iraq war only into the summer months with an option to cut off funds in July.


Top House Democrats said a vote on a new war budget to send back to Bush could come as soon as Thursday.


They said the bill would fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for three months, but "fence off" around 40 billion dollars of funding until Bush reported progress in Iraq.


"There are restrictions on funding and there are also some of the spending items that were mentioned in the first veto message that are still in the bill," Snow told reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush headed to Kansas.


The spokesman said, however, that the Bush administration continues to negotiate with Democratic lawmakers.


White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten spoke on the telephone Tuesday with Representative David Obey, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and will meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday, Snow said. Print Printer Friendly Version

Fate of Kirkuk could spell trouble for Iraq
Published Date: May 09, 2007

KIRKUK: Abdullah Jasim, a Shiite Arab, left his native Basra in southern Iraq more than 30 years ago in search of a better life in the oil-producing city of Kirkuk. He opened three businesses and married off six daughters born in Kirkuk. But in the eyes of many in this northern flashpoint city at the heart of a looming ethnic row, Jasim and his family are "wafedins", or newcomers. "Most in my family have never seen Basra," said Jasim, 67, drinking tea with friends one recent afternoon. "No one forced us to come, but every time my sons and daughters apply for a job they are told: 'This job is not for you. This is only for the people of Kirkuk'." Iraq is expected to settle the final status of multi-ethnic Kirkuk in a local referendum by the end of 2007.

With Iraq's government and Washington focused on saving Baghdad from civil war, a think-tank last month warned that ignoring Kirkuk could see conflict spread to the relatively peaceful north and even spill over the border into Turkey. Kirkuk, an ancient city 250 km north of Baghdad, is claimed by ethnic Kurds, Arabs and Turkish-speaking Turkmen. Once a melting pot of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Turkmen and Armenians, the city's woes are a recipe for bloodshed if a peaceful solution is not found, analysts said. Kurds see Kirkuk as their historical capital and want it included in their autonomous Kurdistan region.

They want the referendum held by year-end as stated in the constitution. Arabs and Turkmen accuse Kurds of pushing them out of the city. Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, whose government includes Kurdish parties, last month agreed to give Arab families in Kirkuk $15,000 each and a piece of land if they voluntarily returned to their original towns. Saddam Hussein expelled thousands of Kurds and Turkmen from Kirkuk and replaced them with Arabs under an Arabisation plan in the 1970s and 80s. Arabs and Turkmen, who oppose a referendum for fear of becoming second-class citizens, said the relocation plan is a ploy to change the city's demographics ahead of the vote. "The referendum on Kirkuk is a red line," said Mohammed Khalil, a Sunni Arab member of Kirkuk's Provincial Council.

"Kurds are dreaming if they want to hold a referendum, but if there is a vote all Iraqis should be allowed to participate."

Danger for Maliki
Some local Kurdish leaders have warned that if the vote is delayed, Kurds could quit Maliki's government. Mohammed Ihsan, the Kurdish regional minister for "disputed territories," said the referendum should go ahead as planned. He blamed "Baathists" for causing bureaucratic obstacles that have delayed preparations for the vote, such as completing a census in Kirkuk by July 31.

"The Arabs who came here will not be forced out, but will not be allowed to vote in the referendum. They can live in peace there after the referendum," he told Reuters. Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, said he believed the constitution should be followed. "At the end of the day I believe there will be some compromises ... but I believe the constitutional procedure should be implemented," Zebari told Reuters recently. In negotiations ahead of the 2005 constitution, leaders from Iraq's Shiite majority agreed with Kurds to include the Kirkuk referendum in exchange for language on federalism that would allow the creation of a Shiite "super region" in the south. But not all Shiites now agree on giving Kirkuk away.

The parliamentary bloc of fiery Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr has announced a campaign to delay the vote. Washington, bogged down in Baghdad, has said little publicly about the issue. But as the deadline nears, Kurdish nationalists have stirred passions over Kirkuk in speeches and in pro-government media. "Kurds feel it's their chance to get Kirkuk," said Joost Hiltermann, from the International Crisis Group think tank.

"They feel Bush is a lameduck president and that Washington won't put pressure on them to let the deadline slip." Hiltermann said Kirkuk threatened to further erode US goals in Iraq and in the region. Turkey, wary that Iraqi Kurdish nationalism could ignite its own Kurdish community, has traded barbs in the past month with Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. Chinqeez Morat, a Turkman, blamed Kirkuk's woes on its oil. "If there was no oil in Kirkuk, nobody would take care of this town," Morat said. - Reuters

Soldiers continue to build schools, trust
Wednesday, 09 May 2007
By Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs



A local contractor from Tarmiyah carries a glass window to load up for shipment at a warehouse in northern Baghdad, May 2, 2007. The windows will be used in the construction of several schools north of the Iraqi capital. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rachel Ahner.CAMP TAJI — While insurgents continue attacks near and at construction sites, U.S. soldiers with Multi-National Division-Baghdad this week continue bringing construction supplies for several schools being built north of Baghdad.

Soldiers with 2nd “Stallion” Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, escorted local contractors transporting boxes of tiles, doors, windows, bathroom fixtures, ceiling fans and other building supplies for several new schools in two small towns north of the Iraqi capital, Tarmiyah and Musada.

One school under construction is the Huda Girls’ School in Tarmiyah, which was targeted by al-Qaeda extremists in the area twice in the past month using improvised explosive devices. In the most recent attempt by insurgents to halt construction, stallion soldiers discovered five artillery shells, two large explosive-filled propane tanks and numerous projectiles emplaced in and around the all-girls’ school.

According to the executive officer of the battalion, Maj. Robert Rodriguez, from Santa Fe, N.M., the Multi-National Division–Baghdad troops will continue to develop projects such as these, despite al-Qaeda’s attempts to stop them. The coalition is determined to show the people of Iraq its commitment to a better Iraq and to the people’s well-being.

“It is ironic that on the same day terrorists were planning to blow up the school, the soldiers of 2-8 Cav., along with local leaders, were making plans to deliver more school construction supplies,” Rodriguez said. “Together with the Iraqi people, the U.S. military makes Iraq a more secure, stable place one day at a time.”

Rodriguez said his unit remains committed to making Iraq a better, safer place to live, despite the terrorists’ efforts to stop them.

“You have al-Qaeda trying to influence even the opening of schools,” he said. “We won’t be deterred in our task to help these people. I think it sends a powerful message to the world.”

S. Korea to extend US$100 mln to Iraq, push joint oil development


Seoul, May 09, 2005 (WAM)-- South Korea will provide US$100 million in soft loans to Iraq to help rebuild the war-torn country and push for the joint development of crude oil, Yonhap News quoted Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy sources as having said on Wednesday.

The aid will come from South Korea's Economic Development and Cooperation Fund and be extended to Baghdad from 2008 to 2011. Details on the terms and use of the soft loans will be decided later, according to Yonahp, The amount is part of the $200 million pledged by Seoul last month at an international conference on the reconstruction of Iraq in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

South Korea has already provided 85 percent of the $260 million it offered to provide Iraq in late 2003. It said the remainder will be given within the year.

The ministry also said that efforts will be made to jointly develop new oil fields in in Iraq.

Iraq currently produces 2 million barrels of crude a day. Its daily output is expected to jump to six million barrels by 2011.


Article originally published by WAM (Emirates News Agency) 09-May-07

From a recent press briefing...

{cut..}

QUESTION: But as far as funding and tying it to that is the question.

AMBASSADOR CROCKER: Well, certainly from the political-economic side, just as is the case with the military, our people need the tools to get the job done. And the tools in this case are money. We really need to get the money out here so we can start making a difference on the streets.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Ken Fireman, Bloomberg.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. You said you were impressed by the responses that you heard from Prime Minister Maliki and his colleagues. Did they offer any specific commitments, particularly time commitments, in moving forward on some of the specific measures that you and other American officials have talked about; namely, hydrocarbon law, de-Baathification, provincial elections and constitutional reform?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I believe that Prime Minister Maliki plans an address to the parliament this week on many of these issues – [cough] excuse me – and, of course, it’s a political process that depends upon action by their legislative body. And but as I say, I do believe that there is a greater sense of urgency now than I’d seen previously.

QUESTION: But no specific time commitments?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It’s difficult to do with our own Congress, let alone somebody else’s.

Thanks, everybody.

END 7:25 P.M. (Local)

.S. Embassy Staff in Iraq to Wear Armor


May 9, 2007 12:55 PM (1 hr 14 mins ago)
By ROBERT H. REID, AP

Terms of UseMapSatelliteHybridBAGHDAD (Map, News) - The U.S. Embassy has ordered its staff to wear flak jackets and helmets while outdoors or in unprotected buildings following an increase in mortar and rocket attacks against the heavily protected Green Zone.

The order, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, was issued last week after four Asian contract workers were killed during a barrage into the Green Zone, a 3.5-square mile area along the west bank of the Tigris River in the center of Baghdad. The area contains the U.S. and British embassies and many key Iraqi government offices.

U.S. government employees who work outside of a "hardened structure" such as the current embassy building or travel "a substantial distance outdoors" must wear "personal protective equipment," meaning flak jackets and helmets, the order said.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed the order was in effect until further notice. But he refused to say more, citing security, and would not allow his name to be published, citing embassy regulations.

Mortar and rocket attacks have occurred from time to time since the early months of the U.S. presence in Iraq. But the recent attacks have raised new concern since they are occurring despite the U.S.-led crackdown, which has put thousands more American soldiers on the streets in attempts to restore order.

It's not clear what groups have been responsible for the recent attacks on the Green Zone. Some barrages have been launched from Shiite-dominated areas, but the Green Zone is also within range of Sunni militant strongholds.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Iraqi parliament to vote on new ministers
(AFP)

9 May 2007



BAGHDAD - Iraq’s parliament has received the names of six proposed new government ministers and will vote on Thursday on whether to confirm their appointments, deputy speaker Sheikh Hadi al-Atiyah said.


Atiyah did not reveal the names of the candidates to AFP.

Six Iraqi ministries have been without leadership since April 16, when politicians loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stepped down in protest at the government’s failure to restore peace and stability.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to fill the posts with skilled technocrats rather than partisans from Iraq’s bitterly divided sectarian factions.

Iraq’s fragile coalition government was born on May 20 last year after months of frantic horse-trading between Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions and has never appeared able to show a united front.

The six vacant ministries are health, communications, transport, agriculture, tourism and provincial affairs.

Civil society organizations and the oil and gas

The civil society organizations played an important role in the period leading up to elections to the National Assembly and the House of Representatives, and vote on the draft constitution, has contributed symposia, conferences and workshops such organizations to explain the contents of elections and constitution.


The debates have served many respects, perhaps the citizens in dire need to identify points of neutral civil and not politicized. (sounds like the people want a voice in this) These organizations are active players invited today to the attention of the draft law of oil and gas before the vote by the House of Representatives of legislation enacted, the law and a first deputy chairman of the National Council Sheikh Khaled al-Attiyah warned that the most important after the Iraqi constitution, and the importance of this law of the importance of oil to the Iraqis, as they represent about 93% revenue of the total national income of Iraq, a high percentage without any doubt. The purpose of the law as stated in Article 3 : It establishes the management system of oil operations in the Republic of Iraq, and wrote Oil Minister Dr. Hussein Shahrastani article on the law says in paragraph include : "The first concern (of the authors of the law) the supreme interests of Iraq, and the technical and legal considerations that ruled the materials in every detail of the law was based on national considerations, and sought to assimilate and to create a comprehensive and substantive legislative environment for the growth and prosperity of this vital sector for the benefit of the homeland and citizensCertainly, the draft written with Iraqi hands, written by three unknown Iraqi oil experts commissioned by the Oil Ministry, (an article I read says the oil law was written in English, and in translating it into Arabic caused the meaning to change...creating ALOT of problems. We know how that can be, right gang? ) was presented the draft on (Energy Commission) in the Cabinet, which introduced some amendments, presented to the cabinet, which voted unanimously, it would imply that all the political groups represented in the Iraqi Parliament been approved by the consent of the representatives and ministers in the cabinet, the draft before it reached the House before (the state council) for review and put it in a legal framework, and as oil minister said two days before the draft and arrived in the House of Representatives, which will soon (and as required by the working mechanisms of the Council) for a first reading and then second punctuated by extensive discussions, and then voting law. According to press leaks that some political forces participating in the political process wants this draft to become law binding before the end of this month, and it has no civil society organizations concerned with this law a lot of time, by the initiative to put their affairs in order as well as this draft definition, which was unaware of a large majority citizens of the states, although many of the local newspapers, Internet web sites published this draft, and then holding seminars and specialized conferences, workshops and hosting experts oil and economy policy, and effective parliamentary figures, to benefit from their experiences, views and input regarding this law.

Translated version of http://www.alsabaah.com/paper.php?source=akbar&mlf=interpage&sid=36228

Cheers!
DayDream

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مجلس الوزراءيوافق على فتح باب المناقصة لشركات الهاتف النقال في العراقThe Alozeraiwafiq to reopen bidding for the mobile phone companies in Iraq
الاربعاء, 09.05.2007, 11:16amWednesday, 09.05.2007, 11:16 am
وافق مجلس الوزراء على فتح باب المناقصة لشركات الهاتف النقال الراغبة بالعمل في العراق بهدف تشجيع عامل المنافسة بين تلك الشركات وتقديم افضل الخدمات للمواطنينThe cabinet agreed to reopen bidding for the mobile phone companies wishing to work in Iraq in order to encourage competition between workers of these companies and provide better services for citizens