Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until 5/23/07 Midnight CST

Originally Posted by JudasPriest

KRG vows to block oil law

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will block the draft hydrocarbons law in parliament, raising the stakes in a row with the Baghdad government over control of Iraq's oil reserves.

old news. last report they were in agreement with a couple points to be ironed out which is what they are doing presently in baghdad.

Originally Posted by Wm.Knowles

Sorry, if previously posted.

Action Central Bank economists welcomed convergence
بغداد - الصباحBaghdad-Sabah.
عدَّ اقتصاديون متخصصون في شؤون المال والنقد اجراءات البنك المركزي العراقي بخفض اسعار بيع الدولار مقابل الدينار خطوة مهمة على طريق السيطرة على حجم التضخم.وأكدوا اهمية رفع سعر الفائدة ليصل الى 12% في تحقيق هدف كبح جماح التضخم ما سيؤدي على المدى القصير الى استقرار مقبول في الاسعار السائدة في السوق العراقية.Counting economists specializing in finance and monetary procedures Iraqi Central Bank to lower the rate of the dinar against the dollar selling an important step toward controlling the volume of inflation. They emphasized the importance of raising the interest rate up to 12% in achieving the goal of curbing inflation would in the short term to stabilize an acceptable price prevailing in the Iraqi market.
It is noticeable that depression, and confusion author of this action on the stock sale and purchase rates in most of the stores are banking Baghdad must follow this dangerous turn in the stock market in the Iraqi press statements, a number of different Concerned importance of the matter and the enemy remarkable step towards reducing inflation and raise the value of Iraqi dinar and reduce prices goods and services.
وفي السياق ذاته اكد علي غالب بابان وزير التخطيط ان قرار البنك المركزي الذي جاء بعد دراسة مستفيضة من قبل اصحاب الشأن يهدف ايضاً الى تشجيع اصحاب رؤوس الاموال الى جانب المواطنين عموماً على الادخار.In the same context, Ali Ghalib Baban Minister of Planning said that the central bank's decision, which came after extensive study by the stakeholders also aims to encourage holders of capital in addition to citizens in general on saving. من جانبه قال محافظ البنك المركز سنان الشبيبي: ان هدف البنك المركزي حالياً ينحصر في محاربة التضخم الذي بلغ نحو 76% والحد من ارتفاعه من خلال توفير شروط افضل للتنمية الاقتصادية وتحسين اداء القطاع المصرفي وتوفير الاستقرار فيه.Meanwhile, the Bank Governor Sinan Shabibi Center : that the goal of the Central Bank is currently limited to the fight against inflation, which amounted to about 76% and reduce the height by providing better conditions for economic development and improving the performance of the banking sector and providing stability.
الى ذلك أكد الدكتور الشبيبي محافظ البنك المركزي العراقي ان من بين اسباب التضخم حالياً زيادة السيولة النقدية في التداول، ما اقتضى اتباع سياسة نقدية جديدة تهدف الى تحسين سعر صرف الدولار باتجاه تخفيض سعره عدة نقاط في المزاد الذي ينظمه البنك المركزي يومياً لبيع الدولار بهدف سحب النقد من التداول.So Dr. Shabibi governor of the Central Bank of Iraq that one of the reasons inflation is increasing cash in circulation, necessary follow a new monetary policy aimed at improving the dollar's exchange rate towards reducing the price of several points in the auction, organized by the Central Bank every day to sell the dollar in order to withdraw money from circulation.
فيما اوضح المستشار في البنك المركزي العراقي الدكتور مظهر محمد صالح ان المركزي هو الجهة المسؤولة بحكم قانون رقم 56 لسنة 2004 عن التصدي للتضخم وخفض مستوياته اذ شكل هذا المبدأ الاساس الذي تعتمده السياسة النقدية في تأدية واجباتها، وعلى هذا الاساس فلابد للبنك المركزي من ان يضع اولويات سياسته، ونقصد هنا السياسة النقدية في مكافحة الانشطة التضخمية باستخدام أدواته المتاحة.With Counsel explained in the Central Bank of Iraq, Dr Mohamed Saleh appearance that is the central body responsible by virtue of Law No. 56 of 2004 to cope with inflation and reduced levels as a basis of this principle adopted by the monetary policy in discharging its duties, On this basis must the Central Bank that sets policy priorities, and here we mean monetary policy to combat inflationary activities using the tools available.

Hello everyone. Debt and inflation and currency removal seem to be the strategy the GOI and CBI are using. And permit me to be a little optimistic, they seem to be working. All three are a huge part of the economic fundamental picture that underpins an appreciation in the currency in significant amounts. And still their foreign currency reserves have risen to 21Billion. Remarkable.

yes wm. it was previously posted and celebrated by some of us positive enlightened ones!!!

Overweight Iraqi president heads to US to lose weight
Published Date: May 21, 2007

BAGHDAD: Tired and battling obesity, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani flew to the United States yesterday for rest and help in tackling his weight problem. Talabani, in his early 70s, left from the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya in northeastern Iraq for a trip that could take several weeks. His office denied local media reports that Talabani was suffering from any specific illness and said he was in general good health apart from his weight.

It issued a statement quoting the president from a news conference on May 15. "I don't have any health problems except my obesity and I will treat it, God willing," the statement quoted Talabani as saying. "I will go ... to the United States of America to undergo general medical checks to reduce my weight." The former Kurdish rebel leader returned to his office in mid-March after two weeks in a Jordanian hospital, vowing that he was with Iraqis "until the final breath".

Talabani flew to Jordan on a medically equipped US military plane in February suffering from extreme fatigue and dehydration. His position as president is largely ceremonial but he is an influential figure at home and in Washington. On Saturday, the Washington Post newspaper reported that Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's biggest Shi'ite party in parliament, was in the United States undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

I

Business News
Dinar set to appreciate in long-term
Published Date: May 21, 2007

KUWAIT: Many factors played a role in abandoning the Kuwaiti dinar's peg to the US dollar and linking it instead with a basket of main currencies.

The most important factor might be the dramatic plunge in the dollar's exchange rate against global currencies. Pegging to the dollar was part of launching the Gulf Cooperation Council's unified currency, but increased local inflation rates and other economic negatives led to strong calls to abort such a link.

What is so strange about this issue is that the dollar's drop against other currencies, such as the euro and the British pound (GBP), coincided with its pegging with the dinar on January 5 of 2003 to implement a decision taken by GCC leaders during their summit in October of 2002.

Since April 2003 until last April, the dollar lost over 37.5 percent of its value against the British pound, and about 56 percent to the euro and 10 percent against Japan's yen (JPY).

While the dollar's value increased by six percent against the dollar, it lost 43 percent to the euro, 31 percent to GBP and 4.3 percent to the yen. As Kuwait relies greatly on imports, they increased greatly after the peg from KD 3.27 billion in 2003 to about KD 4.6 during 2006.

While increases in imports' value is natural due to increase in population and consumption, the value's increase was mainly caused by the dinar's low value against main currencies, except the dollar.

The dinar's peg to the dollar was part of the plan to launch the GCC's unified currency and monetary union. The peg was somewhat flexible as the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) had a maneuvering margin and the right to set an equilibrium ratio.

The massive decline in the dollar's exchange rate against main currencies...has contributed to the increase in local inflation rates, and this step comes within the effort made by the central banks to curb the inflation pressure in local economy. Until the completion of all the requirements to achieve the currency union and the launch of the Gulf currency, the central bank of Kuwait will continue to adopt the basket system, an official said.

Recent statements by governors of GCC monetary agencies regarding the possibility of ending the peg to the dollar created a stir between economists who were with or against such a step.

While some might wonder why GCC nations did not peg their currency to the euro, the answer is relevant to the euro being a fairly new currency that needs time to earn the trust of traders.

Other reasons are relevant to the dollar having a remarkable economic history and being the main valuation currency in global markets. After ending, even temporarily, the dinar-dollar peg, one might wonder how much time it will take the dinar to regain its standing against other currencies and more precisely how long will Kuwait's economy take to recover after this four-year peg.

Earlier yesterday, CBK's Governor Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah told Kuna while the dollar remained a key currency when it comes to setting exchange rate, the basket system provided more flexibility and space for maneuver.

That, he said, would boost the local economy's ability to absorb occasional sharp fluctuations and reduce the effect of such fluctuation involving main currencies on the short term in particular. - Kuna

Jordan, Iraq call for zero interference in internal Iraqi affairs


21 May 2007
DEAD SEA -- Jordan and Iraq called for zero interference in internal Iraqi affairs during a panel discussion on Iraq and the regional security dimension on Sunday, the last day of the World Economic Forum.


"We have to end proxy wars, we don't want any party to use Iraq as a fighting ground for capital gains," Foreign Affairs Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib said at the session, entitled "Iraq the regional security dimension."


He added, however, that the Kingdom first wants to see Iraq achieve political reconciliation internally and the revival of Iraqi nationalism.


"When there is a national feeling of weakness it opens the door for other affiliations to emerge... at the expense of our collective security in the region," he said.


Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al Hashemi stressed that the security of Iraq is becoming the security of the region and it is trying to convince its neighbours that "the situation in Iraq is going to spill over sooner or later."


He asked for help from Iraq's neighbours to reconcile internal differences before moving on to resolve external conflicts.


"We are not asking anyone to come and make decisions for us. All that we need is to stop people who are capitalising on our human tragedy; if this is beyond the capacity of the US then let the United Nations and our neighbours take over," the Iraqi vice president said.


Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, who also took part in the panel, said the roadmap to achieve stability must start "with an Iraqi national pact or power sharing arrangement" for it to succeed, adding that "there must also be a regional pact that includes the US."


In response to questions asked about Iraq's view of a May 26 meeting between Iran and the US to discuss peace in Iraq, Salih said: "We have a fundamental concern if this means that Iran and the US will decide the future of Iraq; that will be unacceptable."


Copanelist, Mohammad Larijani, director of the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics of Iran, said it is not in Iran's interest to interfere in Iraq.


"Iran is not interfering in the Iraq affair. We are there to help them, period... also we do not send arms into Iraq, they don't need them, Iraq is already full of arms," Larijani said.


US panelists participating in the discussion, senators Orrin Hatch and Gordon Smith disagreed with Larijani, saying there was concrete evidence that Iran is supplying weapons, bomb-making components and military trainers to Iraq.


"We have respect for Iran and desire to work together to stabilise the region; on the other hand we don't think that Iran is doing one tiddle for peace in the Middle East. Our country needs to do a better job, but it makes it very difficult when we know that Iran is sending weapons into Iraq that are killing Americans and Iraqis," said Hatch, a Republican from Utah.


Smith, a Republican senator from Oregon, added that he has seen confiscated Iranian weapons as well as captured Iranian advisers, who confessed to their mission to train Iraqis in military tactics.


"There is no question that we have evidence that Syrians and Iranians are working to destabilise Iraq. They should know that the days are coming to an end where Americans are in the streets of Iraq, but we will always be around to make sure a vacuum is not left that terrorists would fill," Smith said.

By Linda Hindi

© Jordan Times 2007

An army against the clock in Iraq


21 May 2007


America set a long clock ticking when it decided to spend $300 million to rebuild the sprawling military base here in Taji, Iraq, as a logistical center for the new Iraqi Army. This was to be the soldier's version of nation-building - maintenance depots, orderly barracks and professional schools for Iraqi officers and NCOs.

But the political clock in Washington is running on a different speed. Congress is impatient with the slow work of building a modern army - especially in a country where sectarian violence is destroying any semblance of normal life outside the confines of well-guarded compounds such as this one.

Taji illustrates the mismatch between the Bush administration's ambitious goals for Iraq and the fragile political base on which its policy rests - in Iraq and back home. The vast logistical effort is also a reminder that an American withdrawal from Iraq wouldn't be like turning off a light switch. It would take many months to remove the thousands of tanks, trucks and other vehicles and equipment parked in these dusty palm groves north of Baghdad.

Taji sits today as a magnificent but vulnerable white elephant. Flying over the base with Adm. William Fallon, the commander of CENTCOM, you get a sense of the scope of the American training and supply effort. The Black Hawk helicopter churns over acre after acre of newly refurbished barracks and motor pools. Vehicles are assembled in orderly lines that seem to stretch for miles. There is an army in embryo here, waiting to be claimed by a functioning country.

We pass a squadron of Iraqi soldiers who have just been issued M-16 rifles to replace their old Saddam-era AK-47s. They hoist the American-made weapons and let out what sounds like a spontaneous cheer. "The M-16s are telling them there's a change," says Capt. Matthew Sparks. In procuring US weapons for these soldiers, the idea was that America would be around for many years to help train and supply a friendly Iraqi military. You don't give combat rifles, after all, to potential adversaries.

America's military genius has always been in logistics - the ability to organize the supply lines of fuel, ammunition and spare parts that keep an army running after its first bold foray into enemy territory. Those are the skills that US officers have been trying to teach the Iraqis.

In a shed, an Iraqi NCO is leading a class in basic motor maintenance. He lectures to soldiers in overalls about the proper care and feeding of a drive shaft. Then he moves to a test engine and presses the ignition, producing a sputter and then an ear-splitting roar. The depot's Iraqi commander, Col. Abdel-Kareem Rafaat, says his soldiers know how to maintain the parts. But US advisers say the Iraqis still need help on the larger tasks of organizing the flows of fuel and supplies so that everything is in place when it's needed.

Out among the palm groves, a group of Iraqi Army chefs are completing a field cooking course. They are lined up in their white aprons, presenting their graduation meal of chicken, rice and soup to American visitors. It's quite tasty, actually; if all this army needed was food, it would already have secured the countryside.

The training mission at Taji involved a cultural transformation, which America took on without fully understanding it. Iraqi logistics were a mess under Saddam Hussein because nobody trusted anyone else. When spare parts were received, they were hoarded and sometimes sold on the black market. The Iraqi time horizon was short, and people didn't have confidence that if they played by the rules, they would get their fair share. The Americans meant to change that. We were going to build reliable systems that would reward patience and trust.

But in recent months, the Washington time horizon has grown as short and unpredictable as that of an Iraqi private. The military's plan still envisions a gradual and orderly buildup: The maintenance depot here, for example, won't be finished until July 2008, according to Brig Gen. Terry Wolff, who commands the training effort at Taji. And after that the US military plans to station trainers and advisers to help the Iraqis master the logistical challenges.

This US training mission in Iraq was the heart of the Baker-Hamilton report's recommendation last December. And it still seems to me the right way forward. American troops cannot stop a civil war in Iraq; but they can teach soldiers how to fix drive shafts, maintain engines and order spare parts. That's a basic mission that Congress should reaffirm, even as it questions the surge of more US troops into Baghdad. Time is the strategic resource now; Congress and the administration need to agree on ways to add some minutes to the clock.



Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by THE DAILY STAR.


Article originally published by The Daily Star 21-May-07

FORMER IRAQI SECURITY PERSONNEL CALLED TO REGISTER
The Iraqi government has ordered all former intelligence and security personnel who served under Saddam Hussein to register with the Interior Ministry, state-run Al-Iraqiyah television reported on May 19. Major General Abd al-Karim Khalaf, who heads the ministry's National Command Center, said that those who fail to register will be considered threats to the state. Regarding the would-be registrants, Khalaf said: "Those whose aptitude is good will be returned to service, while those whose aptitude is [poor] will be given their pension rights based on the provisions of the pertinent law.... Those who fail to report to the ministry or police stations will be considered people who are involved in actions that are hostile to our people based on the provisions of the law, the Iraqi Constitution, and the counterterrorism law." The call-up includes people who worked for intelligence, military intelligence, public security, and special security, Khalaf said. KR

IRAQI GOVERNMENT SIGN CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT WITH SHI'ITE CLERIC IN SOUTH
Local government officials and representatives of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr signed an 11-point cease-fire agreement in Al-Qadisiyah Governorate on May 20, Iraqi media reported. Al-Iraqiyah television said participants at the meeting agreed upon the need to uphold security, and said they will do their utmost to prevent any actions that undermine it. "We denounce, condemn, and censure the assassinations, killings, abductions, and acts of robbery and rape, as well as all the other crimes that took place in the governorate," Al-Qadisiyah Governor Khalil Jalil Hamzah said. Al-Iraqiyah reported that the agreement stipulates that weapons shall remain only in the hands of government security services. Al-Sharqiyah television reported on May 20 that the cease-fire will be in effect for only 30 days. The news channel said the agreement was made to allow for students to take their final exams, and that new negotiations will take place in 30 days' time. KR

Civil society : civil society and its role in national reconciliation

The principle of reconciliation and social harmony, plays a large role in ensuring the future of the country.

Baghdad-leader Nassar

We believe that the call by Mr. Prime Minister, on the need for dialogue and national reconciliation, proof needed unity, concord, national and social interaction

All communities and political groups, entities and movements and minority today, more so than ever to contribute new effective in building a new Iraq based on the law and constitutional rights, and the characteristics of a democratic culture in respect of opinion and the other opinion and promote meaningful dialogue in order to reach a common understanding of the working methods and initiate national actions would to strengthen state institutions and give Parliament the possibility of the spirit of the legislation fair and equitable in the equation of rights and equality for all segments of society, including respect and promote democratic federal Iraq march outward towards the future state of contemporary international and regional presence and prestige in the intellectual support of peace, solidarity and achieve independent project started. We, as civil society organizations, we call the political forces participating in the ongoing political process today, not to resort to the language of force and the tendency towards monopoly and domination What we are emphasizing in this context the importance of activating and enhancing mutual confidence and deal in a clear and transparent in all disputes and outstanding problems and focus on the role of the judiciary and legal institutions and the completion of construction details to achieve security, justice and promote harmony and tranquility throughout the country.
Work on the provision of public services and the elimination of unemployment and activating the role of educational institutions and cultural as well as giving the distinct role of civil society organizations and institutions would bring about real prospects to spread the culture of tolerance and solving problems and disputes and avoid violence, killing and stand in fighting terrorism and sectarian death. We believe that our role will have a significant impact on the shipping spirit of national reconciliation, through expansion of the ongoing dialogue between the blocs and the basic components of the Iraqi people to achieve the ultimate goal which brought the initiative of national reconciliation and dialogue.


Our consolidation efforts in fostering reconciliation process
The cross us activists and activists from civil society what they see at this sensitive stage through which the nation, the importance of adopting a non-governmental institutions symposia and conferences fostering unity and love among all components of Iraqi society in order to ensure its unity, They entrust these organizations to expand their participation in the protection of public freedoms and human rights and to promote the concepts of partnership and cooperation that underlines collective action in the public interest, and build collective developmental projects in the framework of the national dialogue and reconciliation to all parts of Iraq, and build a unified national social discourse, and had them : Rustam Haidaradho national body for civil society organizations, who said : CSOs role in the activation of a national reconciliation initiative, because it includes all segments of the Iraqi people, and was able to assess and Rasha of work and media support contributed to the project of national reconciliation, has befallen the Iraqi armed Street awareness and peace rather than guns and violence, Because civil society organizations close to the Iraqi people broadcast its message among them in order to unite efforts in fostering reconciliation process. The Commission, however, should be exclusively a state organs that could play its role in establishing security and stability in the entire nation. She also worked on the invitation of Iraqi society of all stripes to denounce forced relocation and re-build the deportees to their homes, and there are activities and the great strides in achieving justice between all the components of Iraqi society. The Martyr Abdullah capable Zadeh Association member political prisoners and the families of the martyrs Iraqi Turkmen pointed out that : of civil society organizations from direct relationship between the spectrum of Iraqi society and government institutions, which played a pioneering role in educating and distinguished members of the community and contribute in rebuilding Iraq after its liberation from dictatorship, The established principle of cooperation and promoted this idea and published a spirit of understanding among all components of Iraqi society, and organizations not augur well for building the new country and its presence attests to the dissemination of the spirit of democracy.


Publication of the spirit of peace and embrace social discourse unified national
In this difficult phase with Iraq initiated these organizations to support national reconciliation in order to preserve the unity and territorial homeland united Iraq, rejected the partition and fragmentation categorically, and here we consider the initiative of national reconciliation invitation to resolve all the problems the country and unite ranks against all kinds of factionalism and sectarianism and ethnicity. The organizations should also undertake to disseminate the spirit of tolerance, peace and social discourse embrace unified national. The work to protect public freedoms, human rights, war and love ties between nationalities Iraqi Sisterhood for thousands of years. Between us and Jamal Hashemi, head of the Federation literati Maysan : civil society organizations are the prime movers for the success of a draft national reconciliation, especially the main organizations working since the 1950s of the 20th century in Iraq, and that is the members of public bodies, and where all the components of the Iraqi people and national and ethnic leanings. In particular, the writers, and the Press Association, teachers unions, lawyers, engineers and professional organizations of a democratic and competent active student movement, and youth and women, and also aware that the fabric of our Iraqi consisting of 80% of the organizations of civil society and had a privileged role when tracking or pursuing speech of value and culture tolerant and respect for the opinion of others and stay away from the language of exclusion and marginalization in our Iraqi walk in the path of democracy and respect for human nationalities Keldans Iraqi Turkmen, Alcldoachorien, Address and the renunciation of violence and uproot all ideas of fascism and chauvinism that grew during the previous phase in the dead - and-buried under authoritarian rule, and I am sure the success of the reconciliation if political leaders adopted the ideas, suggestions and recommendations that will emerge from this conference, especially that the majority of civil society organizations Iraqi far from the sense of secular and religious intolerance It adopts and national human speech to the Iraqi community service and work to spread the culture of tolerance and democracy to build a homeland for all Iraqis. While President Hamid Rad said members of the Association of Electricity : that the hard work to expand the circle of national reconciliation and dialogue between people, is a step forward, and the civil society organizations recently held a quality contribution in this direction which aims to Iraq's unity and strengthen the bonds of love and peace between leanings and classes and minorities and doctrine. The principle of reconciliation and social harmony, plays a large role in ensuring the country's future and efforts to activate the focus of reconciliation and overcome the problems and the political and sectarian conflicts, contribute to the success of this initiative, which is the fundamental basis for settling the political process and the consolidation plans and the building of State institutions secure and stable and productive in that one .. We must strive with determination and lasting peace to translate these ideas and programs into action and the work and achievements of reaping fruit so quickly. For its part, wrote us Afifah fixed secretariat member Association of Iraqi women, and say : in this phase through which our people. it must be emphasized on the need to find national solutions sincere and honorable that can come and do UAE at all levels. We believe that national reconciliation and national dialogue which is now must be characterized by honesty and sense absorption problems and develop the homeland and the people present and the future in mind by all those responsible for political entities and blocs and communities and minorities and all who are able to put an end to spare the Iraqis to develop a formula acceptable to all be fair and effective for the survival of Iraq alive, has come to interact appropriately and correctly and take hold of us and join hands to build a school and a hospital, library, park and playgrounds for our children, away from hypochondria extremism and sectarianism abhorrent, there are large numbers were related in our society, where the father and mother Sunni, Shiite and vice, The boys did not know this, the extent fueled by the lawsuits, and sectarian Is it conceivable to happen fighting between single family and clan and the same society, despite happening, but we are all about stopping the bleeding and bring the conflicting views and submit to the mind and conscience and the sense of humanitarian based on love and peace for all. Dialogue and reconciliation go back to an Iraq escalating levels towards the future. The Secretary General of humanitarian altruism in Najaf Jamal Altaleghani : I believe that civil society organizations large area and wide to contribute to the success of the national reconciliation process by adopting the idea of national dialogue among all the forces that shape the nature of our society. that these organizations also believe in the rules includes popular segments of their people and the classes, methods and capable public education and awareness through public programs can be prepared in this regard, should play a major role in the development and broad spirit of reconciliation and the attainment of the goals that brought the initiative launched by the Prime Minister.

The role of civil society organizations promoting a culture of tolerance

اSo that holding such conferences and initiate subsequent administration seminars for the same purpose, and the activation of live programming and direct would create a broad-based, base for the beginning of a strong and successful in this great national project upon which all developments and positive changes which serves the interest of Iraq. We applaud this step, and we will seek the direction of large activation and contribute to the programs and achieve its objectives
المDesired promising an Iraq again strong and healthy.

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Originally Posted by Mike5200

IRAQI GOVERNMENT SIGN CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT WITH SHI'ITE CLERIC IN SOUTH
Local government officials and representatives of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr signed an 11-point cease-fire agreement in Al-Qadisiyah Governorate on May 20, Iraqi media reported. Al-Iraqiyah television said participants at the meeting agreed upon the need to uphold security, and said they will do their utmost to prevent any actions that undermine it. "We denounce, condemn, and censure the assassinations, killings, abductions, and acts of robbery and rape, as well as all the other crimes that took place in the governorate," Al-Qadisiyah Governor Khalil Jalil Hamzah said. Al-Iraqiyah reported that the agreement stipulates that weapons shall remain only in the hands of government security services. Al-Sharqiyah television reported on May 20 that the cease-fire will be in effect for only 30 days. The news channel said the agreement was made to allow for students to take their final exams, and that new negotiations will take place in 30 days' time. KR

wonderful news mike!! this should reduce the violence and al qaeda, or whats left of it, will stick out like a sore thumb.