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

Shiite coalition's future 'in danger'

The Shiite coalition, led by Abdul Aziz Al Hakim and Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, is facing a difficult future according to politicians and analysts. This is because of current withdrawals of the Sadr trend led by Shiite leader Muqtada Al Sadr and the pro-Sadr Al Resaleen bloc.

Iraqi politicians believe other threats to withdraw could mean the Shiite coalition will not enjoy a parliamentary majority and will not be able to head the Iraqi government in the future.

Jalal Eddin Al Saqeer, a leader in the Shiite coalition, told Gulf News: "The coalition option is to stay a majority bloc in the parliament of 85 seats after the withdrawal of the Sadr trend and the Fadhila Party, some parties in the coalition guaranteed not to withdraw and that means that the coalition will remain stronger and Al Maliki will remain as the head of the Iraqi government".

However, Hamid Al Mulla, a prominent figure in the Islamic Supreme Council led by Al Hakim, expressed his concerns to Gulf News over the withdrawals which threaten to dismantle the Shiite coalition bloc and convert it into a weak and small bloc.

The Shiite coalition formed a committee to negotiate with the Sadr trend to dissuade it from its withdrawal. Jameel Al Alousi, a political researcher, told Gulf News: "The future of the Shiite coalition is in danger because of two possibilities. The first is that the Sadr trend, Ayad Allawi's bloc, the Accord Front, Salih Al Mutlak, a Sunni secular leader and the Fadhila Party will form one parliamentary bloc which will enjoy the majority and will have the right to select a new Prime Minister. The second possibility is to organise early parliamentary elections. In all cases the Shiite coalition will not enjoy a parliamentary majority because of the current problems with the Sadr trend, the Al Fadhila party and other Shiite parties".

Sources in the Dawa Party led by Al Maliki said to Gulf News: "The matter is not so complicated for Al Maliki, he succeeded in winning positions of dissident Ministers in the Sunni Accord Front and Allawi's bloc and this is a political agenda that Al Maliki will use to promote his position in the government therefore it is expected he will continue his approach in urging ministers of other blocs to dissent as the Accord Front minister, Ali Baban, did recently and those represent seats inside the Parliament".

But where will Kurds stand taking into account the possible scenarios to the political alliances in Iraq.

Kurdish analyst Sadiq Faily said: "The disintegration of the Shiite coalition, which is the strategic ally of the Kurdistan Alliance, is very disturbing for the Kurdish leadership that took guarantees from Al Maliki and Al Hakim to support federalism, normalising the situation in Kirkuk and reducing Baghdad's central government powers. This grant will not be obtained from Allawi, the Arab Sunni nor the Sadr trend and therefore I think the Kurdish leaders will resume their political agendas again".

Gulfnews: Shiite coalition's future 'in danger'

Controversial Osprey aircraft deployed to Iraq

The first combat squadron of tilt-rotor V-22 Ospreys has been quietly deployed to Iraq, ushering a new form of aerial technology into 21st Century warfare.

A Marine Corps aviation squadron and 10 Ospreys left for Iraq on Monday aboard the U.S.S. Wasp, a small Navy aircraft carrier known as an amphibious assault ship, said Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Eric Dent.

The departure from the New River Marine Corps Air Station near Jacksonville, N.C., was made under extremely tight security with no advance notice to the news media and no ceremonial speeches by Marine Corps officials. ``It was just another workday for the squadron,'' Dent said.

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, nicknamed ``The Thunder Chickens,'' will be based at the Al Asad Airbase in western Iraq for at least seven months of combat operations. The Marine Corps Ospreys, known as MV-22s, will be used to ferry Marines as well as cargo throughout predominately Sunni Muslim Anbar province.

Dent, citing ``operational security,'' offered only limited details about the deployment and said he was not allowed to discuss the timetable of the trip or scheduled arrival in Iraq. The V-22s, which, in military-speak can ``self-deploy'' into war zones, could conceivably leave the Wasp en route and make the rest of the journey by air.

The deployment marks a long-sought goal after three-decades of tilt-rotor technology that began with the development and flight of Bell Helicopter's XV-15 prototype in the 1970s. Fort Worth-based Bell is manufacturing the Osprey with Boeing Helicopters of Ridley Township, Pa.

The aircraft, which flies like an airplane and lands and takes off like a helicopter, reaches speeds and distances well beyond that of traditional helicopters and is considered far more agile than the aging CH-46 ``Sea Knight'' helicopters that it s replacing.

But the Osprey's entry into combat will be under intense scrutiny after years of controversy that included delays, steadily rising costs and two fatal crashes in 2000 that nearly led to the program's cancellation.

Critics say the tilt-rotor concept is still unproven and could endanger the lives of its crewmembers in combat. Supporters say it is ideal for combat and will enable Marines to get into hot spots faster and more safely.

The aircraft has provided years of employment at Bell's plants in Texas, where about 1,700 employees manufacture major Osprey components at Grand Prairie and Hurst, near Dallas. The aircraft is assembled by up to 800 workers at another Bell plant in Amarillo.

Bell-Boeing spokesman Bob Leder, based in Amarillo, said workers weren't aware that their handiwork was on its way to Iraq until he posted a copy of a Marine Corps Times article about the deployment.

``There was a feeling of great excitement and at the same time we were praying for the safety of all the Marines,'' Leder said. ``It's like `OK, this is the real thing.'''

Dent said that ``just under 100'' members of the squadron were deployed along with the aircraft after training for the mission for more than a year.

The Thunder Chickens' 28 pilots, including two women, volunteered and were chosen by a Marine Corps selection board.

The squadron commander is Lt. Col. Paul J. Rock Jr., who has been flying Ospreys since the 1990s. At least a third of the squadron has had previous combat experience in Iraq.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 09/19/2007 | Controversial Osprey aircraft deployed to Iraq

Kucinich wants inquiry into Hunt, Iraq oil

Dennis Kucinich called for an investigation into an oil deal a Texas firm connected to the Bush administration signed with Iraq's Kurdistan government.

The Ohio Democrat said in a speech Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives the oil deal with Dallas-based Hunt Oil "raises questions" because of the company's founder's ties to President Bush.

He also said a deal between a U.S. firm and an Iraqi regional government undermines the U.S. policy to stand up the federal government.

"The deal also appears to undercut the goal of oil revenue sharing but is predictably consistent with the administration's attempt to privatize Iraqi oil assets," Kucinich said. He and a growing chorus of the anti-war movement say U.S. economic policy in Iraq is geared at breaking up the longtime nationalized oil sector.

Iraqi politics over oil policy are at a standstill over just this issue, whether the federal government or regions/provinces can sign oil deals and to what extent foreign/private firms should be allowed access.

Kucinich, one of the most vocal congressional critics of the Iraq war, especially as it concerns fears Iraq's vast oil reserves played some role in the war's motive, has called for a congressional investigation into any role the Bush administration played in the Hunt Oil deal.

He also wants to investigate how it will affect Iraq's proposal to redistribute oil revenue and what the administration is doing to promote oil privatization.

In a statement released Tuesday, Kucinich outlined Chief Executive Officer Ray Hunt's Bush connections:

Hunt was appointed by Bush twice to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board -- "which is said to have access to intelligence that experts acknowledge is advantageous to the international energy interest of the Hunt Oil Company," the statement said -- as well as other Bush and Republican Party fundraising positions.

It comes as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wrote in his new book, "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World," released Monday, "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq War is largely about oil."

"He is wrong. Oil was not and is not a motivation for our actions in Iraq," the U.S. State Department's coordinator for Iraq, David Satterfield, said Monday when asked about the Greenspan line.

Kucinich wants inquiry into Hunt, Iraq oil : World

Finance Not To Rely On Oil Next Year

Finance minister Baqir al-Zubaidi emphasized that, the next year would witnessing lower depending on oil revenues to financing the state budget by depending on %85 from the oil revenues and %15 from the other matters specially mobile companies taxes which increases on 3 billion dollars.

On the other hand, he added that, the last year of 2006 were depended on oil in supplying the budget at % 97, while this year were % 93, so the budget failure this year reached at 6 billion dollars resulted from decreasing of exporting the oil since they planed to export 1,900,000 barrel daily but just exporting 1,500,000 barrel daily and that caused the failure.

Finance Not To Rely On Oil Next Year | Iraq Updates

Baghdad revealed as bank robbery capital of the world

The attack had been planned with military precision. Twelve men, masked and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles stormed into the al-Sanik branch of the Bank of Baghdad, disarmed the guards, tied them up and then terrified the staff by firing into the ceiling. About $800,000 (£400,000) in US dollars and Iraqi dinars was grabbed before the gang drove away in three cars, untroubled by the many checkpoints in the area.

The raid was just the latest of a long and lucrative line that sees, on average, a million dollars a month being taken at gunpoint. Bank executives have been kidnapped from their homes for ransoms as high as $6mn. Amid the bombs and gunfire, there is one "industry" is doing remarkably well – Baghdad is now the bank robbery capital of the world.

Iraq holds the world record for both the first and second highest amounts taken in the history of bank robberies. Top of the league is the estimated $800m removed from the Central Bank by Saddam Hussein's son, Qusay, in the dying days of the regime as US tanks were rolling into Baghdad.
In second position is the heist, just two months ago, at the Dar al-Salam Bank at Sadoun Street in central Baghdad when three guards turned on their employers and left with $282m.

Other banks hit recently has been the al-Rafidian which lost $1.2m; the Industry Bank, which had $784,000 taken; Iraqi Trade Bank, $1.8m ; the Bank of Baghdad, $ 1.6m; al-Warka Bank, $750,000; The Middle East Investment Bank, $1.32m... the list goes on.

Four years after "liberation" and the coming of the free market, Iraq is almost entirely a cash economy with a mushrooming group of private banks and vast sums of money being moved daily across the country.

The US authorities praised the rise of the private banking sector as one of the success stories of Iraq.

But the upsurge in robberies has meant that some branches have been unable to pay customers because of lack of cash.

One thing Iraq is not short of is men with guns. The banks, and their money convoys, are easy pickings. The security forces have their hands full with the insurgency and Shia militia groups and, in any case, are themselves suspected of carrying out many of the robberies.

Firas Ali Suleiman, a driver for the Bank of Baghdad described how a van carrying $1.6m from its Hilla branch to Baghdad was ambushed. "It was a Kia van and it was not armoured, but we had four guards with the money inside," he said.

"We were stopped at a checkpoint in Audiya run by the Ministry of Interior commandos. They ordered the back door to be opened and saw the money. The guards were called out and then put in handcuffs and hooded. I could hear them talking about the money and then they took the money out. I was told to drive away and I called the manager on my mobile and told him what happened.

"The next roadblock was by the Mehdi Army (Shia militia). I think they, too, were expecting to get some money but, by then, of course, it was gone. The police were called later but they did nothing."

Khalid Mohammed, the manager called by Mr Suleiman, is convinced most of the robberies take place with inside help. "I have been at a bank branch when the men with guns came. They knew exactly where the money was and, when they left, they went straight past all the checkpoints, no one searched their cars or asked any questions.

"Before the war we just had a few banks, now there are lots of private ones, so less security, and more opportunity for stealing."

Armed convoys, with darkened windows move through Baghdad every day.. They could be ministerial escorts, private security firms, or, as the police point out, robbers – and it is impossible for police to tell which is which.

Iraq's biggest heists

1: Central Bank (2003): $800m (£400m)
2: Dar al-Salam (2007): $282m
3. Iraqi Trade Bank (2007): $1.8m
4: Bank of Baghdad (2007): $1.6m
5: MEI Bank (2007): $1.32m

Baghdad revealed as bank robbery capital of the world | Iraq Updates

Sharp drop in demand for dollar in daily auction

Demand for the dollar was lower in the Iraqi Central Bank’s daily auction on Wednesday, reaching $39.030 million compared with $93.970 million on Tuesday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, including $3.630 million in cash and $35.400 in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,234 dinars per dollar, the same as yesterday.

None of the 13 banks that participated in Wednesday's session offered to sell dollars.

In statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), Ali al-Yasseri, a trader, said that de****e the expected stability in the exchange rate, banks sought to lower demands for the dollar to pressure the Central Bank to make a further decrease in the exchange rate on Thursday.

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

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

Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees receives first tranche of USAID grant funds

At the semi-annual General Assembly of the Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees (ICBG) meeting in Amman, the ICBG Board of Directors chairman announced that since ICBG has satisfied all conditions precedent to the disbursement of grant funds by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the first $500,000 tranche of a $5 million USAID grant has been transferred to the ICBG.

"I thank the USAID mission in Iraq for its support to the ICBG, and I urge all shareholder banks to promote bank lending activities to small and medium-size enterprises in Iraq. Such increased access to finance will certainly contribute to the development of sustainable economic growth for the private sector and help generate employment opportunities throughout Iraq," the ICBG chairman said.

The Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees, Ltd. was established by 11 Iraqi private banks with the help and assistance of the USAID-funded Izdihar project. The objective of the ICBG is to assist Iraqi small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in gaining increased access to bank loans. It provides partial guarantees of both principal and interest for loans made to SMEs by privately owned banks operating in Iraq.

Iraqi Company for Bank Guarantees receives first tranche of USAID grant funds | Iraq Updates

Attack damages Iraq pipeline

Iraq's northern oil export pipeline to Turkey was badly damaged in a sabotage attack on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

Attacks have largely shut down the pipeline from the northern Kirkuk oilfields since the US led invasion in March 2003. When the pipeline is down, Iraq relies on its main export terminal in the south at Basra.

Attack damages Iraq pipeline | Iraq Updates

Fadhila, Arab bloc and local figures in new Cabinet

Five fold agreement's leaders would concentrate their talks to agree on important legislations as oil law, financial resources and local elections.

These moves come shortly before PM's declare the reshuffle which includes give portfolios to the Fadhila party, Arab bloc "headed by Abd Jubori" besides candidates from three provinces are Anbar, Salahdeen and Nainwa instead of withdrew Consensus's ministers, while High Education Minister Abd A'ajeli would return to the Cabinet as well known source said.

MP Sami Asqari, Alliance, said that PM Noori Maliki seeks to make wide Govt. reforms through the expected reshuffles and fill vacant Ministries.

Fadhila, Arab bloc and local figures in new Cabinet | Iraq Updates

MPs in (Iraqi) bloc reveal division

Signs of division the Iraqi bloc appeared clearly, though the bloc's spokesman confirms that it didn’t crack, but some its members confirmed that there's difference in their opinions.

Radio SAWA quoted from sources that some of the bloc's members decide forming new bloc or work for change the headship of the bloc after what be confirmed about that leader of the bloc Ayad Alawi is seeks to cooperate with Ba'athists.

MPs in (Iraqi) bloc reveal division | Iraq Updates