Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

De high production. That. Or Norwegian oil field in Iraq

Source: Reuters-13/09/2007

The company (DE. That. Or) Norwegian independent oil on Thursday that its share of production from the field in the Kurdish area in northern Iraq increased to 6871 barrels per day in August of 5810 barrels in July.

The company said in a statement that the increase in production from the field Toki in Iraq rose total production of De. That. Or to 20340 barrels per day in August from 19654 barrels per day in July.

Comes de production. That. Or from the fields off Norway in Yemen and Iraq.

The company said that the quota in the field Toki 55% to a hot 5 in Toki achieved a cumulative rate of pumping 9000 barrels per day from three tests while the hot Tauke 8 rate pumping capacity of 20500 barrels per day of the five-Test.

Minister of Construction and Housing: We have implemented 198 projects at 81 billion dinars.

The continued implementation of 589 projects visited at 2756 billion dinars

Source: Sabah Al-13/09/2007

The Ministry of Construction and Housing construction sector functions of many Alstratejeh projects in the area of housing, roads, bridges and public buildings as a matter of anticipation make public the extent of achievement as far as particularly specific projects within the investment budget for the current year 2007.

The ministry published a report which revealed ranges from completed projects and the most important obstacles in the course of the work specified in the investment budget of the ministry as well as balancing development regions and governorates.

Minister of Construction and Housing Dizah Yi statement identified the size of the completed work of her Ministry b 198 projects at 81 billion dinars to one of the very last June.

Dizah Yi indicated that such projects herself at the center of 18 projects for roads, bridges and cost seven billion dinars in the share of public buildings, 79 projects at 14.5 billion dinars and 101 school buildings of the project cost of 59.5 billion dinars, pointing out that the Housing Fund loan in 8000 had loan amount a total of 47.5 billion dinars to build 4100 housing units until 29th April for the current year 2007.

With regard to ongoing projects Dizah Yi stated that the Ministry is implementing a project cost of 589 billion dinars 2756 spread at a cost of 349 billion dinars in 2402 investment budget for 2007 and allocate an annual rate of 422 billion dinars and 170 projects a cost of 191 billion dinars for other employers and eight projects cost 123 billion within dinars projects grants ahead first and second.

She noted that other projects within the World Bank loan to cost $ 135 million spread over 92 million dollars as draft central and $ 43 million as drafts of the Kurdistan region and $ 30 million for projects included the establishment of the Japanese loan three bridges in the province of Muthanna, pointing to such projects under the financial agreement in the Council of Ministers for the purpose of ratification by the House of Representatives.

The separation of the expanded report to the Ministry of Construction and Housing completed projects and continuing several axes as projects of roads and bridges in Kirkuk and Basra, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Salahuddin, Wasit and Baghdad, Muthanna, Karbala and Babil, Diwaniyah and Al-Anbar.

The completion rate reached 100% until the first of June, pointing out that the projects included maintenance and Tiling and clothing external and internal roads and maintenance of dams and barrages, bridges, the creation of new roads.

The report included projects for public buildings in several provinces completion rates hit 100% by the companies and good-Farouq, FAO, and Saad Al-Mansour and Mu'Tasim and the National Center for Consulting Engineers, Peace and National Center for the construction of laboratories.

The report pointed to the completion of building 102 schools in various provinces by companies ministry.

The report concluded continue to advance specific projects divided among 12 residential complex at 304 billion dinars and 176 projects for roads and bridges cost of 831 billion dinars and 179 projects a cost of 338 billion dinars for public buildings, and 170 projects cost 107 billion dinars for school buildings.

The report pointed out that the completion rates varied between 5-0 and another depending on the security situation and other circumstances affirming ministry sought to complete all projects at the end of this year.

Key U.S. ally killed in Iraq bombing

A key leader in the tribal rebellion in Anbar province against al Qaida in Iraq was killed Thursday by a bomb that had been planted near his home in the provincial capital of Ramadi, Iraqi police said.

Sheikh Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha , who lunched with President Bush during the president's brief visit to Anbar just 10 days ago, was leaving his house to go to his farm nearby in the early afternoon when the bomb exploded. Two other people, including a close aide, were also killed, Iraqi government television reported.

It was the second assassination of Anbar tribal leaders key to the anti-al Qaida rebellion that has become the Bush administration's No. 1 example of progress in Iraq . In June, four sheiks of the Anbar Salvation Council were killed along with eight other people when a suicide bomber slipped past security at a Baghdad hotel and detonated a bomb he was wearing.

A U.S. Army expert on Iraq's tribes said he believed the tribal movement was too well entrenched for Abu Risha's death to derail it. Lt. Col. Richard D. Welch added that the assassination wasn't surprising.

"You can't have that kind of high visibility here and not expect something like this," he said.

Abu Risha literally had become the poster boy for the Anbar Salvation Council , the tribal group formed a year ago to combat al Qaida in Anbar. He was pictured on anti-al Qaida posters holding a rifle as gunmen fled. He was featured in a government-made television documentary, "The Land of Fire," with his distinctive bushy black mustache and neat goatee.

Mithal Alusi , a secular Sunni lawmaker from Anbar province and an Abu Risha ally, called the young sheik "an Iraqi patriot."

"He understood that the best way in Iraq is to have an Iraqi agenda and the best way to serve the Iraqi people," Alusi said. "He understood how important the United States was and how dangerous the Al Qaida, Syrian and Iranian agenda were."

Alusi blamed Al Qaida and Syrian intelligence for the assassination.

Abu Risha agreed to renounce Al Qaida along with dozens of other trible leaders but the group only became famous this year for their efforts after successes in the region were apparent. U.S troops began to support their fighters and absorb them into the government's security forces.

Experts cautioned that the tribes couldn't be trusted and that the new security forces could become militias for use against the Shiite-led central government.

So far, though, the arrangements with the tribes have led to significant reductions in attacks against U.S. forces in Anbar, the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. They also have became a model for U.S. forces, who have struck similar deals with local leaders in places such as Diyala province, north of Baghdad , which had emerged this spring as one of the most violent parts of the country.

Bush touted these arrangements with local leaders during his trip to a sprawling U.S. military base in Anbar earlier this month. During the short visit, he was photographed with Abu Risha .

The arrangements with the tribes also were a centerpiece of Gen. David Petraeus' testimony before Congress this week about progress in Iraq .

Among other things, Abu Risha was credited with cleaning up Ramadi, once a bastion for the Sunni Islamic extremists group Al Qaida, a place so dangerous last summer that the chances of gunfire or a bomb blast on any two-hour patrol were about 90 percent, Marines said. Now attacks there are rare.

For all his positive publicity, Abu Risha was a controversial figure. He was a sub-tribal sheikh who made his living off smuggling and was a known bandit. More prominent tribal leaders such as Ali Hatem al Suleiman , the prince of the largest Sunni tribe the, the Dulaim, publicly accused him of thievery and using police to conduct extrajudicial killings.

But he delivered thousands of men when the United States asked for fighters against Al Qaida, Brig. Gen John Allen , deputy commander of U.S. forces in Anbar, said to McClatchy Newspapers in June.

"Go find a tribal leader that isn't a smuggler," Allen said.

"When Sheikh Sattar says I take it personally when an American is killed I believe that," he said. "There is a true affinity between us...we'll have long conversations and none of it is about fighting."

In interviews, Abu Risha often said that he decided to take up arms against the Al Qaida after they killed his father and three of his brothers.

In recent months he had high political aspirations, sending envoys to meet with tribal sheikhs in Sadr City and ready to assume a role in the central government. Abu Risha announced only a few days before his death that he and other tribal leaders planned to run in the next elections as a political bloc.

He had been the target of at least one other assassination attempt since striking his deal with the United States . In February two suicide car bombers rammed the compound where he lived.

Key U.S. ally killed in Iraq bombing - Yahoo! News

Iraq tribal leader offers US talks

The head of the Islamic Army of Iraq has for the first time offered to open peace talks with US forces in the country, his spokesman tells Al Jazeera.

Ibrahim al-Shammari, the lead spokesman for one of the most significant Sunni armed groups, said the talks could take place if the US commits to a timetable for the withdrawal of its soldiers.

In an exclusive interview to Al Jazeera, al-Shammari said that although Sunni groups are turning away from al-Qaeda, it is not because of any deal with the US as claimed in Washington.

He said: "Al-Qaeda's agenda started to reveal itself clearly in October last year ... they started to consider themselves as a state and started to target other Iraqi resistance factions, including prominent Sunni personnel in our community, and this affected our relations with them.

"These killings started a media war between them and us, so we decided to break away quickly in order not to give our enemies the chance to benefit from it."

The Islamic Army in Iraq is thought to be the largest armed group and was established during the summer of 2003 to fight coalition forces.

When first formed, the group appeared to have the same ideologies as al-Qaeda the group has said its primary focus was the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq.

The group claims it is composed primarily of Iraqis (Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds) as well as Arabs.

Iraq tribal leader offers US talks | Iraq Updates

Sharp drop in demand for dollar in daily auction

Demand for the dollar dropped sharply in the Iraqi Central Bank’s auction on Wednesday, reaching $45.170 million compared with $80.525 million on Tuesday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, including $16.170 million in cash and $29 million in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,236 dinars per dollar, unchanged for the third session in a row.

The 12 banks that participated in Wednesday's session offered to sell $665,000, which the bank bought at an exchange rate of 1,234 dinars per dollar.

Ali al-Yasseri, a trader, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that private sector traders' low offers to sell dollars were meant to force the bank to lower its exchange rate.

The Iraqi Central Bank runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.

Sharp drop in demand for dollar in daily auction | Iraq Updates

Iran leader denies interference in Iraq

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday rejected the congressional testimony of the top U.S. officials in Iraq accusing Iran of interfering in its war-torn neighbor.

He also said the Islamic Republic could help in Iraq if the U.S. and British governments stopped alleging it is fighting a proxy war there by arming Shiite Muslim militias accused of attacking coalition forces and Sunni Arabs.

In an interview on Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad said Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker raised allegations of Iranian meddling solely because of the political debate within the United States over the war in Iraq.

"These comments are the result of their domestic competition. Our stance on Iraq is quite clear, but they made a mistake and keep repeating it," the hardline leader said in a live interview.

"Iran has no need to interfere in Iraq. The Iraqi government and nation are close friends of Iran," he added.

Later, in an interview broadcast by Britain's Channel 4 television, Ahmadinejad denied charges that Iran supplies weapons to Iraq's Shiite groups or allows bomb-making technology to be passed to insurgents, saying Iranians don't benefit from having a neighbor in conflict.

"We are the country that gets damaged a lot by Iraq's insecurity," he said.

Ahmadinejad said his regime would be able to help calm Iraq if Washington and London dropped their hostile attitude.

"We can help solve many problems in Iraq; we can help secure Iraq; we can help the attackers and insurgents go out of Iraq — if the American and British governments correct themselves," he said, speaking through a translator.

He said Iran's help is needed and urged Washington to accept it failed in Iraq. "If you bring 10 times more forces you still cannot succeed there. Victory awaits no one in Iraq," he said.

Ahmadinejad disputed the view of many security analysts that a quick U.S. pullout from Iraq would bring chaos to the region.

"If the U.S. leaves the region, there will be more friendship, and Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia would fill the power vacuum," he said. "We are ready to help providing security. We are natural allies."

In another area of contention between his government and the West, Ahmadinejad said Iran will not suspend uranium enrichment de****e the threat of tougher U.N. sanctions. He again insisted Tehran is not trying to develop nuclear weapons, as suspected by the U.S. and its allies.

"We do not want the bomb. We are against the bomb, actually," said the leader, who says the program is intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity.

Earlier in the day, the State Department said U.S. diplomats would press for tougher U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran during a Sept. 21 meeting with five other nations that have sometimes reluctantly used the body's punitive powers in the dispute over Tehran's atomic program.

The council's five permanent members, all nuclear powers, plus Germany have tried for nearly two years to use sanctions or the threat of them to persuade Iran to drop uranium enrichment, a process that can produce reactor fuel but also the material needed for nuclear bombs.

Two rounds of mild sanctions, meant more to shame Iran than to pinch it economically, have not slowed or stopped the disputed activities.

U.S. diplomats have not been specific about what they want the Security Council to try next, and some European diplomats are predicting contentious discussions among the six powers.

A senior Iranian envoy accused Western nations on Wednesday of "poisoning the environment" at a key meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna, Austria.

Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the United States and its allies were unfairly playing down successes of the agency's investigation into his nation's nuclear past.

The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran is using limited cooperation with the IAEA as a smoke screen to deflect attention from its continued defiance of the Security Council's order to freeze uranium enrichment.

Iran leader denies interference in Iraq | Iraq Updates

Maliki 'perplexed' at US anger over Iran ties
Iraqi PM says Americans criticized him for being photographed holding hands with Ahmadinejad.

Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki said in a CNN interview broadcast late Wednesday that he was "perplexed" at anger among US politicians over his close ties with Iran.

CNN told Maliki that many Americans criticized him for being photographed holding hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a visit to Tehran in early August.

"Honestly, I am perplexed by others," said Maliki, speaking through an interpreter.

"Nothing that happened is out of the ordinary. This is something normal between nations, even during conflict, they meet and negotiate," he said.

Maliki said that during the visit he raised US charges that Iran was smuggling weapons into Iraq that were used to attack US troops.

"This is the issue we brought up with Iran," Maliki said. "They said, (just like the) Syrians, (that) these come through against our wishes and beyond our control."

Maliki however told the Iranians that they were responsible for controlling their borders. "I believe that they are honest with us now in controlling their borders and stopping (the) infiltration of explosives through the borders that kill the Iraqis and the American soldiers," he said.

Ahmadinejad said August 20 that he is planning to visit to Iraq responding to an invitation from Maliki's Shiite-led government. He gave no date.

The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said Wednesday there was hard evidence of Iranian involvement in attacks on US soldiers.

Maliki 'perplexed' at US anger over Iran ties | Iraq Updates

Terrorism threatens world, whole region – Maliki

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday that terrorism started to threaten the world and the whole region, noting to the recent incidents in Algeria and Turkey.

“Terrorist organizations in Iraq became weak and lost their refuges as citizens started to cooperate with security forces,” the premier said during his visit to the anti-terrorism department.

“Iraq will become a country with big experience in fighting terrorism, because we witnessed different kinds of terrorists’ attacks,” al-Maliki said in a statement released by his office and received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

“We can offer our valuable experience to other countries for the good of humanity, but we will not engage our troops and security forces in wars and aggressions as the former regime did,” the premier also said.

“The government pins hopes on fighting terrorism efforts,” he highlighted, underlining on the importance of special forces to face terrorists and other armed groups.

“The prime minister gave instructions to set up an academy to develop and habilitate police forces’ capabilities,” the statement noted.

Terrorism threatens world, whole region – Maliki | Iraq Updates

IRAQ: DEAL ON OIL LAW AT RISK

(AGI) - Baghdad, Sept. 13 - The compromise among the Iraqi factions on the bill for the management of the immense Iraqi oil reserves has failed. The most important disagreement was between Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani and some members of the government of the Kurd provinces in the north of Iraq, where there is a lot of oil. Kurds want to change the bill to give more power to the regional authorities but according to al-Shahristani these modifications are against the constitution.

The managing of the oil reserves is one of the indicators on which US are making pressure on the Maliki government to present to the world a united country and a central authority that controls Iraq. The parts in the negotiation met in Baghdad yesterday and according to the deputy prime minister, Kurd Barham Salih, the negotiations for an agreement made some steps forward even if nobody can say if the dialogue will be successful.

The Iraqi Parliament is trying to pass a negotiated proposal, which was agreed on February, on this issue. But Sunni people have withdrawn their support to the bill after the Kurd government signed an agreement with a company of the Arab Emirates for the exploitation of some gas reserves. According to Kurds their new proposal meets the requirements asked by the constitution while Shahristani says their attitude is near to a declaration of independence.

AGI News on

Iraq: Kirkuk Referendum Likely To Be Delayed

September 13, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Since the ratification of the Iraqi Constitution in 2005, Iraq's Kurds have viewed the issue of the Kirkuk referendum as a "red line." They have held steadfast that Article 140 of the constitution be implemented to determine the political future of the oil-rich governorate, which is estimated to hold 6 percent of the world's oil reserves.


Article 140 calls for a three-step process, starting with "normalization," which aims to reverse the Arabization policies of the former regime, when thousands of Kurds and non-Arabs were driven from Kirkuk or were relocated and replaced with Arabs from central and southern Iraq. This is to be followed by a census and then a referendum -- scheduled to be held at the end of 2007 -- to determine whether Kirkuk Governorate will be incorporated into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

The Kurds have stood firm in their desire to see Article 140 implemented and hope that Kirkuk will become part of the Kurdish region. Indeed, Mas'ud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan regional, has warned that "if Article 140 is not implemented, then there will be a real civil war."

However, there are clear indications that the referendum may not take place as previously planned. The Firat news agency reported on September 10 that the Kurdish Alliance had agreed to postpone the referendum until May 2008. The alliance, which unites the two most powerful Kurdish parties, was clear to stress that the postponement was due entirely to technical reasons and not political pressure exerted by opponents of Article 140.

Signs Point To Delay

Rumors of a delay have been circulating for weeks. On August 16, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said it seemed highly improbable that the referendum would take place by the end of the year, citing the lack of preparation, sectarian wrangling, and missed deadlines.

The original timetable called for the census to be conducted by the end of July, but the normalization process is far from complete. In fact, the normalization process continues to be bogged down by technical problems and internal bickering. The Iraqi government on August 2 appointed Ra'id Fahmi as the new chairman of the committee charged with carrying out the implementation of Article 140, after the former chairman, Hashim al-Shabali, resigned.

The committee continues to wrestle with the sensitive issue of how to implement the normalization process, which inevitably involves removing Arab setters who were brought in during Saddam Hussein's Arabization program. While the committee has steadfastly denied that Arabs would be forcibly relocated, it adopted a controversial plan in early February to entice Arab families to voluntarily leave Kirkuk in exchange for a compensation package of approximately $15,000 and a plot of land to return to in their town of origin.

However, some critics of the plan describe it as tantamount to gerrymandering ahead of the referendum, while others call it another form of forced migration. The Sunni-led Muslim Scholars Association issued a statement on September 11 warning that the plan would harm the integrity of Iraq and lead to its eventual partitioning. "The conspiracy to divide Iraq enters a grave phase with the occupation puppet government officially encouraging through financial incentives, to expel Kirkuk's Arabs and facilitate their transfer to other regions of Iraq," the statement said.

Finally, there is the specter of violence among the Kurds, Turkomans, and Arabs who all have a stake in Kirkuk. There is a fear that holding the referendum in the ethnically mixed governorate could lead to the type of sectarian bloodshed that has gripped Baghdad and central Iraq.

Oil Deal Sends A Message

Considering the circumstances, the Kurdish regional government (KRG) may have had no choice but to acknowledge that a postponement of the referendum was inevitable. However, the anticipated postponement of the referendum may have emboldened the KRG to sign a production-sharing contract on September 8 with the U.S.-based Hunt Oil Company and Impulse Energy Corporation to conduct petroleum exploration in northern Iraq.

The deal was roundly denounced by Iraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani, who described it as illegal, since it was not approved by the central government in Baghdad. The KRG previously signed several contracts with foreign firms, all which have been condemned by al-Shahristani and the Baghdad government. This was the first contract the KRG signed with a foreign corporation since passing its own hydrocarbons law in early August.

The new oil contracts were certain to roil the Baghdad government, which has yet to pass its own oil and gas law after nearly a year of negotiations. While there is no doubt that the KRG was in negotiations with the two foreign firms, the timing of the deal sends a message that the Kurds are determined to control the resources in their region, in light of the Kirkuk referendum postponement.

Indeed, the postponement of the Kirkuk referendum, particularly after Kurdish leaders were so insistent that it be conducted by the end this year, was bound to create a certain degree of anxiety among the Kurds. What the Kurds worry about most is that the delay may become an open-ended postponement, which may leave the status of Kirkuk languishing indefinitely.

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