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

Turkish Artillery Shells Kurdistan Borders

Once more, the Turkish artillery started to shell Kurdistan borders in Zakho district under the pretense of the presence of PKK elements in these mountainous areas.

Our reporter said that the Turkish army started in shelling Barilla, Khamber and Gali Basagha areas in Zakho district, Duhok Province, and he couldn’t gave any details about the damages in the area because of the bombardment and roughness of the area.

PUKmedia :: English - Turkish Artillery Shells Kurdistan Borders

Zebari to Meet his Russian Counterpart

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari is going to visit Moscow today for the 3rd time, and he will discuss the bilateral and regional issues including the Scheduled Meeting in Istanbul about Iraq.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Kamineen said that “Minister Serge Lavrov and his Iraqi guest will discuss the implementing of Sharm al-sheikh decisions about Iraq”, and added that the both sides will discuss international and regional issues especially the middle east situation, Iranian nuclear program and developing the mutual relations between Iraq and Russia.

PUKmedia :: English - Zebari to Meet his Russian Counterpart

Brown, Washington and London won’t Abandons the Iraqi People

British Government, announced that the British PM Gordon Brown discussed yesterday with the American forces commander in Iraq General David Petraeus and American ambassador to Iraq Rayan Crocker the security situation in Iraq.

”The British PM asserted that his country, U.S., International Committee and their allies will not abandoned the Iraqi people.”, the statement added.

It is worth mentioning, Washington and London agreed on the necessity of achieving a more stable political process in Iraq.

General David Petraeus appreciated the major role of the British forces in Iraq.

In a press conference, Petraeus denied that there is a disagreement with London about the withdrawal of the British forces from the southern provinces of Iraq, and he suggested a plan to help the British forces to transfer the security responsibilities to the Iraqi forces in al-Basrah Province by the end of this year.

PUKmedia :: English - Brown, Washington and London won’t Abandons the Iraqi People

Assassinating a Leader in the Accordance Front Bloc

A security source in Babylon Police Command announced today that Dr. Laith al-Alwany the leader in the Accordance Front Bloc was assassinated in al-Hillah city, Babylon Province.

Eyewitnesses mentioned that a car carrying 3 persons shot the Doctor in front of his house and ran away, the source added.

PUKmedia :: English - Assassinating a Leader in the Accordance Front Bloc

US diplomats restricted to Baghdad's Green Zone after security row

The United States has ordered its diplomats Wednesday not to travel outside Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone as the row over the status of a US private security firm involved in a shooting incident continues. The so-called Green Zone houses the Iraqi government and a number of foreign diplomatic missions.

"In light of a serious security incident involving a US Embassy protective detail in the Mansour District of Baghdad, the Embassy has suspended official US government civilian ground movements outside the International Zone (IZ) and throughout Iraq," an embassy statement said.

The statement urged American nationals to remain vigilant concerning their personal security in Iraq.

The Iraqi government said Tuesday it would review all private security firms after a shooting over the weekend left 11 Iraqi civilians dead.

The status of all private security firms operating in the country, whether foreign or Iraqi, will be examined to ensure they are complying with Iraqi laws, a government statement said.

The US-based firm, Blackwater USA, had its licence rescinded and an investigation was launched Monday over the shooting incident.

The Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabagh, praised the work of private security firms Wednesday but said they had to comply with Iraqi laws and be held accountable in case of violations.

Al-Dabagh said the suspension of Blackwater's activities was temporary until the inquiry was completed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned the Sunday incident as "a criminal act" and vowed to punish the perpetrators, while the US State Department said it regretted the loss of human life.

The shooting occurred Sunday after a car bomb detonated near the al-Rahman mosque in the al-Mansour neighbourhood of west Baghdad, which was followed by an attack with two mortar rounds.

A Blackwater motorcade was passing at the time and its personnel opened fire in apparent reaction to the blasts, the director of the national command centre at Iraqi Ministry of Interior, General Abdul Karim Khalaf, told the independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

"According to eyewitnesses, the company's personnel opened fire on individuals after the explosion, killing and injuring a number of citizens," he said.

The US State Department said the incident involved a diplomatic convoy travelling in Baghdad outside the Green Zone, and that the US military were investigating the exchange of fire.

"There was a firefight, we believe some innocent life was lost. Nobody wants to see that. But I can't tell you who was responsible for that," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Monday.

US diplomats restricted to Baghdad's Green Zone after security row : Middle East World

Overhaul of Iraqi cabinet will happen 'soon' - MP close to premier

A member of parliament close to Premier Nuri al-Maliki told Iraqi newspapers Wednesday that a cabinet reshuffle will be announced "soon. Sami al-Askary, member of the ruling United Iraqi Alliance, told al-Sabah newspaper that al-Maliki will fill the empty seats in his cabinet first then a complete overhaul of the other ministries will follow.

Al-Maliki's coalition government recently faced a crisis after ministers from the Shiite al-Sadr bloc and the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front pulled out.

The moves left the government with mainly Shiites and Kurds.

The government has been beseeching both parties to reconsider their decisions and return to office. But the Sadr camp and the Sunni Accord stood their grounds, except for a Sunni minister who left his party and returned to duty amid criticism from the Accord and other Sunni groups.

According to al-Askary, if the Accord continue their boycott of cabinet sessions, the premier will have to replace them with representatives from the provinces of Anbar, Salahaddin and Nineveh.

Less than two weeks ago, Al-Maliki said he had discussed with Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani a possible cabinet reshuffle that would include technocrats.

But this notion has not been widely negotiated among politicians, de****e having supporters from the secular front.

Last July, al-Maliki had said that in the planned cabinet reshuffle, whose date remains to be undisclosed, the number of Iraq's ministries will be reduced to from 36 to 20. "Similar" ministries will be merged, he had said.

Overhaul of Iraqi cabinet will happen 'soon' - MP close to premier : Middle East World

Iraq, US seek to defuse Blackwater crisis
Iraqi and US officials have set up a joint panel in a bid to defuse a crisis over the killing of civilians in a shootout involving US security firm Blackwater, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.

The panel will attempt to thrash out a compromise that will allow Blackwater, which provides protection to US embassy staff and other American officials, to continue its operations in Iraq, government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said.

"Iraqi and US officials have set up a joint committee to decide how this issue can be resolved," Dabbagh said. "The committee will begin its work today."

US officials have been barred from traveling by land outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, amid fears of attacks after Sunday's incident, in which Blackwater guards escorting US embassy officials opened fire in a Baghdad neighborhood, killing 10 people and wounding 13.

The Iraqi government said Monday it would revoke the license of US firm - one of the one of the largest private security operators in Iraq - and a top Iraqi judge has said it could face trial over the incident.
Dabbagh indicated, however, that the ban would not be permanent.

"We understand that this company is giving security to embassy staff, so we don't want to revoke their license permanently," he said.

"We want them operate within the laws of Iraq. They used effective fire against civilians, and we don't want this to happen again. We will decide the course of action to be taken [in talks with US officials].

"It is not against the American government. This is a technical matter, and we need to discuss with the Americans how we deal with this."

US and Iraqi sources said the shooting erupted after a bomb exploded near a US diplomatic convoy, but a US government incident report said armed insurgents fired on the convoy and Blackwater guards responded.

Blackwater said its contractors "acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack."

US officials are taking no chances, and have ordered embassy staff and other personnel to remain in the confines of the sprawling Green Zone in the heart of Baghdad.

"In light of a serious security incident involving a US embassy protective detail in ... Baghdad, the embassy has suspended official US government civilian ground movements outside the [Green Zone] and throughout Iraq," the embassy said in a notice to Americans.

"This suspension is in effect in order to assess mission security and procedures, as well as a possible increased threat to personnel traveling with security details outside the International Zone."

The Pentagon said it was taking a hard look into the US military's use of private security contractors in Iraq.

A spokesman for the US Central Command said 7,300 private security personnel were in Iraq, under contract to the US Defense Department as of July 5. Overall, there were 137,000 people in Iraq on Defense Department contracts.

Those figures do not include private security personnel or others under contract to the State Department - like the Blackwater contractors in the shooting - or other US agencies.

Iraqi police, meanwhile, said that Al Qaeda in Iraq militants have seized control of an village in the restive province of Diyala, after a two-day battle with a rival Sunni insurgent group.

Members of the rival Brigades of the 1920 Revolution fought to maintain control of Shuan village on the banks of the Diyala river, but were eventually routed, said police Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Al Obeidi.

Quoting villagers who escaped the assault, Obeidi said seven of the 30 houses in the village had been destroyed, but he gave no casualty figures.

In other violence, US soldier was killed in a small-arms fire attack Tuesday during combat operations in south Baghdad, the American military said.

The latest death brings American losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,788, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on Pentagon figures.

Iraq, US seek to defuse Blackwater crisis - Region - Middle East Times

Iraq to supply Jordan with 10,000 bpd crude oil

Iraq is expected to supply Jordan in the next few days with 10,000 barrels-per-day of crude oil under preferential terms, officials said.

The supply deal was signed last year but implementation had been hampered by poor security from the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where the crude would be transported by trucks to the Jordanian border.

The deal would cover almost 10 percent of Jordan's energy needs of around 100,000 barrels-per-day.

The oil supply deal would be the first official arrangement since the ending of cheap Iraqi energy supplies Jordan had relied on before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The energy dependant kingdom now buys its oil from the international market after Saudi Arabia ended a 50,000 barrels per day oil grant to compensate for the loss of Iraqi oil.

Jordan's negotiations with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to get discounted prices for its energy imports have yet to bear fruit. Record oil prices have worsened the country's chronic budget deficit. - Reuters

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/news...N&artid=130583

Iraq gives Russia no oil access promise

MOSCOW

Iraq's foreign minister said Wednesday he was interested in Russian companies rebuilding power plants in Iraq, but gave no commitments regarding the Russian bid to tap the country's giant West Qurna oil field.

Hoyshan Zebari said after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that an intergovernmental commission was to meet soon to discuss specifics of Russian companies' activities in Iraq, including prospects of Russian oil giant OAO Lukoil's exploring the West Qurna.

Lavrov said that Lukoil hopes to tap West Qurna as part of a consortium with ConocoPhillips. The U.S. oil giant holds a 20-percent stake in Lukoil, and analysts have said it could help the Russian company return to developing the oil field.

"The Iraqi market is open for competition of companies from all countries, and we have no special attitude for or against Russian companies," Zebari told reporters after the talks.

Russia, which developed close ties with Iraq under Saddam Hussein's regime and strongly opposed the U.S.-led war, has remained largely aloof from the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

Lukoil's 1997 contract to drill at the West Qurna field, which has an estimated reserve capacity of 4 billion barrels, has been hamstrung under the new authorities in Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament is expected to pass a new law that will review previous oil contracts and open the way to a wave of tenders to tap Iraq's enormous oil wealth.

Zebari said the Iraqi government encourages participation of Russian companies in rebuilding and maintaining Russian-built power plants in Iraq.

Lavrov said Russian companies were concerned about instability in Iraq, and that Moscow expected the Iraqi authorities to help provide security.

"I'm convinced that the Iraqi government's efforts to advance the national reconciliation and improve the security situation would help create more favorable conditions for broad trade and economic cooperation," Lavrov said.

Iraq gives Russia no oil access promise

Iraq''s PM calls US embassy to find alternative to Blackwater Security

Minister Nouri Al-Maliki on Wednesday called upon the US authorities in Baghdad to employ another security company instead of the Blackwater Security to provide security to its officials.

Al-Maliki's remarks followed charges against Blackwater personnel that they had killed ten Iraqis earlier this week, a matter he said "created a state of consternation and fury either at the official or the popular levels." "The activities of the company have been banned and it is up to the US embassy to depend on other companies," the Prime Minister told a press conference in Baghdad today.

According to Al-Maliki, Blackwater committed seven grave errors and it has to be held accountable for them.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesP...82&Language=en