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

Amnesty International slams world's apathy toward Iraqi refugee crisis

In a recent report on Iraqi refugees, Amnesty International criticized the international community for its negligence in adequately responding to Iraq's refugee crisis and for "leaving the main host countries, Syria and Jordan, to shoulder too much of the responsibility."

In a report entitled, 'Millions in flight: The Iraqi refugee crisis,' and released on Monday, Amnesty International praised the Syrian and Jordanian governments for "largely keeping their borders open to date" and slammed other countries "for doing too little to help them cope with the huge demands they face in meeting the needs of around 2 million Iraqi refugees whom they now host."

"At least four million Iraqis are now displaced and their numbers are continuing to rise -- at an estimated rate of 2,000 people per day, making this the world's fastest growing displacement crisis," read the report quoting UNHCR figures.

"Syria now hosts 1.4 million Iraqi refugees and Jordan an estimated half million or more, while 2.2 million are displaced but still remain within Iraq."

"According to UNHCR, 1,425 Iraqi refugees were resettled to third countries in 2003, compared to a mere 404 in 2006," said the report.

"The desperate humanitarian situation of displaced Iraqis, including refugees and those who remain within Iraq, has been largely ignored by the world," Malcolm Smart, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International, said in a press release on Monday.

"A deepening humanitarian crisis and greater political instability across the wider region are looming, unless the international community meets its obligation to shoulder a fair share of the responsibility for protecting and assisting Iraqi refugees," he added.

"We are very concerned that the new visa requirements being introduced by Syria and Jordan will prevent Iraqis receiving the protection they need. We urge both governments to keep their borders open to those fleeing for their lives," he said. "However, other states must do more to assist these two countries by providing increased financial, technical and in-kind bilateral assistance to enable them to meet the health, schooling and other needs of the refugees, and by accepting greater number of especially vulnerable refugees for resettlement."

"The international community must accept a shared responsibility by resettling Iraqis from Jordan and Syria, particularly the most vulnerable, in a more expedient manner with a view to increasing the overall resettlement quotas in third countries," he noted. "In particular, having regard to their direct involvement in the conflict, the states that make up the U.S.-led Multi-National Force need to do more to alleviate the plight of those who have been forced from their homes by the violence, including those still in Iraq and the refugees in Syria, Jordan and other countries."

Amnesty International slams world's apathy toward Iraqi refugee crisis | Iraq Updates

ANALYSIS: Al-Maliki weathering crisis

Nearly two months after Sunni Arab ministers walked out, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appears to have weathered a political crisis that once threatened to bring down his government.

Using a mix of brinkmanship, political cunning and strong U.S. support, the Shiite leader now appears to have seized the political initiative from his opponents.

"I am victorious whether I stay in office or someone else takes over the helm," al-Maliki told Alhurra television in an interview aired Monday night.

He confidently dismissed charges by his Sunni Arab critics that he was pursuing sectarian policies. And he brushed aside criticism that he has failed to win over the Arab world's Sunni-dominated regimes.

The prime minister also took credit for the U.S.-backed revolt by Sunni tribal chiefs against al-Qaida in Anbar province, a one-time stronghold of insurgents. He blamed parliament for blocking legislation and holding up the appointment of new ministers by often failing to muster a quorum.

Al-Maliki, who meets President Bush this week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meetings, owes his survival in no small part to White House support and the failure of his critics to close ranks against his rule.

Six Sunni Arab ministers quit al-Maliki's government in early August over his failure to meet demands that included the release of security detainees not charged with specific crimes, disbanding militias and wider inclusion in decision-making on security issues.

The six come from the Iraq Accordance Front, parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc with 44 of the house's 275 seats. It is made up of three parties — Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi's moderate Iraqi Islamic Party and the hardline Congress of the People of Iraq led by Adnan al-Dulaimi and the National Dialogue Council headed by Sheik Khalaf al-Ilyan.

However, one of the six ministers who pulled out, Planning Minister Ali Baban, returned to his post last week. He was expelled by the Iraq Accordance Front and is currently in New York with al-Maliki.

Another Accordance Front member, deputy prime minister Salam al-Zobaie, met with al-Maliki on Thursday against the advice of his comrades and is said to be considering a comeback.

Lawmakers and al-Maliki aides say Washington's strong support was key to his survival.

Al-Maliki solidified his position when his Dawa party joined the "alliance of moderates," comprising the two main Kurdish parties and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party.

The move by those groups to continue their support for al-Maliki quashed months of speculation that a new political alliance would be formed to oust him.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker surprisingly refrained from direct criticism of al-Maliki when he testified before Congress on Sept. 11, ignoring a flurry of negative U.S. reports on issues ranging from the capability of Iraq's security forces to corruption and political reform.

"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the other Iraqi leaders face enormous obstacles in their efforts to govern effectively," Crocker said. "They approach the task with a deep sense of commitment and patriotism."

Crocker had repeatedly complained of the lack of progress by the Iraqi government in meeting political benchmarks set by Washington. Those include an equitable distribution of oil wealth, holding provincial elections and constitutional reform.

"The Americans support al-Maliki because they have no substitute," said Mahmoud Othman, a prominent Kurdish lawmaker who is close to President Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd.

"But it's a failed government," he said.

Still, al-Maliki needs Sunni Arab participation or his administration would permanently loose its claim to being a "national unity" government.
Without it, his government is a Shiite-Kurdish coalition that falls short of the wider political inclusion Washington has been calling for.

But al-Maliki appears to be confident he can fill the vacant Cabinet jobs and aides say he is expected to make a decision on the issue on his return from New York later this week.

Until then, al-Maliki has sought to put pressure on the Sunnis, saying that the Cabinet jobs they left could not remain indefinitely vacant and threatening in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday to fill the posts by other Sunnis: specifically, U.S.-backed tribal chiefs in Anbar.

He did it again Monday, telling Alhurra he was considering the formation of a government of "technocrats" that would be smaller than the 40-member cabinet he has led since May last year.

"We reject blackmail," al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice president, told reporters Monday.

ANALYSIS: Al-Maliki weathering crisis | Iraq Updates

Newly established Iraqi microfinance institution awards first loan in Al-Anbar

A newly established indigenous microfinance institution, the Al-Takadum Organization in Al-Anbar, has opened in Al-Qaim, Iraq.

"This is a very important achievement for Al-Qaim, because it will help develop the local community and increase trade," one of the local sheiks that attended the opening ceremony said.

On Aug. 21, the day of the opening, the Imam of Al-Qaim issued a fatwa (religious decree) authorizing the functioning of the microfinance institution according to Islamic lending principles. On the basis of the fatwa, the mayor of Al-Qaim, who cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony, wrote an official letter to all the residents of the city describing the way in which the Al-Takadum microfinance institution will operate.

On Aug. 24, the validation that the fatwa is halal (acceptable) was announced in all mosques of the city and the residents were encouraged to borrow from the microfinance institution. The leaders of Al-Qaim emphasized that they regard the establishment of Al-Takadum as a well-deserved reward, since the local tribes succeeded in uprooting the insurgents and securing the city by themselves.

The new institution awarded the first loan – worth $2,000 - on the day of the official opening to the owner of a mobile phone shop who is seeking to expand his business. The staff of Al-Takadum already received 30 loan applications, out of which 15 were approved.

The establishment of the new institution in Al-Anbar is the result of a joint effort by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Izdihar project, the U.S. military and the provincial reconstruction team in Al-Asad.

Newly established Iraqi microfinance institution awards first loan in Al-Anbar | Iraq Updates

Post office for mail exchange with Iran opens in Wassit

The Iraqi communications authority opened a post office for exchanging mail and parcels with Iran in Zurbatia, the cross-border city in the east of Wassit province, head of communication authority in Wassit said.

“In the light of the cooperation agreement signed with the Iranians, a post office was opened on Sunday for exchanging letters and parcels at the Zurbatia border crossing with Iran," Karim Abdul Muhsin told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Zurbatia city is located 90 km east of Kut, capital city of Wassit province.
The Iraqi official added "it was agreed that exchanging letters and parcels between Iraq and Iran is to be carried out each Wednesday through the new office.”

As for the mechanism, Muhsin pointed out “The Kut post office will gather the letters and parcels to be mailed to Iran from citizens and government departments, they will be collated with central Baghdad mail, checked and then sealed.”

The director of the communication authority in Wassit said that fees will be calculated according to the ongoing tariffs for ordinary mail that exceed 10 grams of weight and for parcels that exceed 2 kilograms, with additional stamp and sticker fees that the authority has fixed for this purpose.

Kut city is 180 kilometers to the southeast of Baghdad.

Post office for mail exchange with Iran opens in Wassit | Iraq Updates

Petrel high on Iraq oil prospects

Irish firm Petrel Resources is upbeat on Iraq hydrocarbons ventures de****e reporting an increase in operating losses.

“There is not current oil and gas opportunity to match Iraq,” said Petrel Resources Managing Director David Horgan.

The company reported a 45 percent spike in interim operating losses but says work it has been doing in Iraq is a cause of optimism, The Independent reports.

Iraq has the third-largest reserves of oil in the world but further development has largely been hampered by the four-plus year-old warzone and a lack of new legislation governing the hydrocarbons sector.

Petrel, along with partner ITOCHU of Japan, has completed a technical cooperation agreement with the Iraq Ministry of Oil to study the Merjan oil field. The Irish-Japanese partners have also been awarded a technical cooperation agreement for the Dhufriya oil field, located east of al-Kut in the Wasit province.

Petrel has also completed surveys of the Subba and Luhais fields and, The Independent reports, the company is beginning to deliver equipment.

Horgan wants to sign production-sharing agreements with the government for those fields. If that takes place, it means the Iraqi government has backtracked on its previous statements that production-sharing agreements and other risk contracts would be only available for exploration blocks.

“We are confident that our approach will prove to be successful,” Horgan said. “Iraq today is, and will remain a place where international oil and gas players can be highly successful.”

Petrel high on Iraq oil prospects | Iraq Updates

Sorry if I posted this yesterday - I think I might have - but can't be bothered to go back and check - lol

Iraq Oil Deal Gets Everybody's Attention

The oil deal signed between Hunt Oil and the government in Iraq's Kurdish region earlier this month has raised eyebrows, in no small part because it appears to undercut President Bush's hope that Iraq could draft national legislation to share revenue from the country's vast oil reserves. Making the deal more curious is that it was crafted by one of the administration's staunchest supporters, Ray Hunt.

Hunt, chief executive of the Dallas-based company, has been a major fundraiser and contributor to Bush's presidential campaigns. He also serves on the president's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, putting him close to the latest information developed by the nation's intelligence agencies.

If Hunt is signing regional oil deals in Iraq, critics ask, what does he know about the prospects for a long-stalled national oil law that others don't?
Since the deal was made public, it has drawn the ire of the Iraqi national government, which has called the agreement illegal.

"Any oil deal has no standing as far as the government of Iraq is concerned," Iraq's oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, told reporters earlier this month. "All these contracts have to be approved by the federal authority before they are legal. This [contract] was not presented for approval. It has no standing."

It also has caught the eye of maverick Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a presidential candidate. He has called for a congressional investigation to probe the Bush administration's role in the deal as well as the implications for a national oil law in Iraq.

"As I have said for five years, this war is about oil. The Bush administration desires private control of Iraqi oil, but we have no right to force Iraq to give up their oil," Kucinich said. "We have no right to set preconditions for Iraq which lead Iraq to giving up control of their oil. The constitution of Iraq designates that the oil of Iraq is the property of all Iraqi people."

The deal signed by Hunt is a production-sharing contract for petroleum exploration in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. It is one of several the Kurds have signed with foreign oil companies in recent years and the first since they enacted a regional oil law last month. Kurdish officials have said that the deal would benefit all Iraqis through a revenue-sharing agreement.

Whatever people suspect, Bush says he did not know about the deal before it happened. But, he acknowledged, he has some concerns.

"Our embassy also expressed concern about it," Bush said. "I knew nothing about the deal. I need to know exactly how it happened. To the extent that it does undermine the ability for the government to come up with an oil-revenue-sharing plan that unifies the country, obviously I'm -- if it undermines that, I'm concerned."

Still Around

The Nelson Mandela Foundation wants the world to know that its 89-year-old namesake is very much alive. It seems that a line Bush used at his news conference last week left that fact in doubt -- at least for some people.

"I thought an interesting comment was made -- somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, 'Now, where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas," Bush said last week. "He was a brutal tyrant that divided people up and split families. And people are recovering from this. So there's the psychological recovery that is taking place."

The president's point, of course, was that leaders capable of fostering reconciliation in Iraq, as Mandela has in South Africa, were systematically killed by Hussein. But given Bush's well-earned reputation for struggling with the language, some people were not sure what he meant.

After Bush's comments circled the globe, the Mandela Foundation felt compelled to set the record straight. "All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive," Achmat Dangor, the foundation's chief executive officer, told Reuters on Friday.

Via Canada, the New Face of George Bush

The latest Macleans, the Canadian newsweekly that claims 2.9 million readers, features a striking image that is not too popular at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It's President Bush's face, but the rest of it is Saddam Hussein, including the mustache, hat and uniform. The image accompanies a story headlined "How George Bush Became the New Saddam," which chronicles how U.S. troops have partnered with some of Hussein's former "henchmen" in an effort to achieve order in parts of Iraq.

The provocative magazine cover made news in Canada, where it fired up bloggers and prompted stories from most major news outlets. "Macleans is a fairly conservative magazine. For the magazine to run that kind of cover surprised people," said Don Newman, senior parliamentary editor for CBC, the Canadian television network.

Both Bush and the war in Iraq are extremely unpopular in Canada, even if most Canadians stop short of equating Bush with Hussein, Newman said.

For Macleans editors, the decision to run the cover image was an easy one. "I don't think anybody quite anticipated the reaction would be this extreme," said Suneel Khanna, the magazine's director of communications. There's no word on how the cover affected sales, Khanna said, lamenting that it takes months to get information about newsstand activity.

Asked to comment on the image, the White House demurred. "That doesn't deserve a reaction," spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Decision Time

National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley appeared before the Council on Foreign Relations last week for a talk focused on Iraq. It mostly featured Hadley fielding questions from members of the audience as well as from moderator Thomas R. Pickering, who was the No. 3 official in President Bill Clinton's State Department.

Near the end, Pickering asked: "If you could do it all over again, would you really go into Iraq?"

Hadley did not miss a beat: "The reasons to go into Iraq really were the same. This was a tyrant who had acquired and used weapons of mass destruction, who had invaded his neighbors, who had oppressed his people, who'd defied the international community. . . . I think the answer is, the president would have done it all over again."

Pickering replied: "Your loyalty is admirable, Stephen. I commend you."

Setting the Stage

President Bush named Adam Belmar, a former ABC News senior producer, to be the White House's deputy director of communications for production, the person responsible for backdrops and other visual tools used at presidential events.

Iraq Oil Deal Gets Everybody's Attention | Iraq Updates

Iraq's Sadr group on anti-US tour of Arab states

Supporters of Iraq's radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have embarked on a tour of neighbouring countries to explain his group's latest anti-US strategies, the movement said on Tuesday.

The delegation left Iraq on Monday for a tour that will include Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, delegation leader Saleh al-Obeidi said in a statement issued from Sadr's headquarters in Najaf.

"The delegation will explain the new political strategies of Sadr to hasten the departure of American forces from Iraq," it said.

Sadr's movement, formed soon after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, is backed by a thousands-strong militia known as the Mahdi Army and is the most powerful Shiite group in Iraq.

At the end of August Sadr ordered his militiamen to observe a six-month ceasefire, including a halt to attacks on US forces.

The Sadrist movement, whose six ministers have boycotted the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki since April, in mid-September pulled out of the ruling Shiite dominated coalition, further upsetting Iraq's already fractured political landscape.

Iraq's Sadr group on anti-US tour of Arab states | Iraq Updates

Kurdish source denies border crossing with Iran is still open

A government source in Sulaimaniya denied that Iran had left a border crossing with Iraq's Kurdistan open, affirming that all border outlets with the region have been closed following the U.S. military forces' arrest of an Iranian last week.

"The Iranian government closed all of its official border crossings (with Iraq's Kurdistan)," Hussein Ahmed, the mayor of the cross-border Qalaat Diza area told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"There is an unofficial outlet at the Kily border point that has not yet been closed," the mayor said in response to media reports that the Iranian government has left one border crossing with Sulaimaniya open.

In statements to VOI, Sulaimaniya Ahmed Majid said earlier today that Iran had closed its three official border crossings in Bashmakh, Shalamcheh and Parviz Khan in Sulaimaniya, in addition to two other border outlets in Arbil.

No Iranian official or unofficial news agencies published any comments by Iranian authorities on the matter. The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) quoted Iraqi Kurdish sources and foreign agencies in its coverage of the news, while Iran's official news agency (IRNA) did not make any mention of the matter.

A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) told VOI earlier today that Iran closed all its five outlets on the borders with the Kurdistan region in protest against U.S. forces' arrest of an Iranian citizen for his suspected involvement with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and for allegedly smuggling weapons into Iraq.

A presidential statement on Saturday read that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani sent a message of "discontent" to U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad Ryan Crocker and the Multi-National Forces (MNF) commander in Baghdad General David Petraeus, in which he indicated that Iran threatened to close the borders with Kurdistan if the arrested Iranian citizen was not released.

Kurdish source denies border crossing with Iran is still open | Iraq Updates

Prices increase in Arbil markets after Iranian borders' closure

Wholesale markets in Iraq's Kurdistan region's capital city of Arbil have seen a slight increase in the prices of Iranian goods in the aftermath of the Iranian government's decision to close all border crossings with the region on Monday, with local traders expecting a further hike over the coming days.

A spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Jamal Abdullah, said earlier today that Iran closed all its five outlets on the borders with the Kurdistan region in protest against U.S. forces' arrest of an Iranian citizen for his suspected involvement in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps- Quds Force, and for allegedly smuggling weapons into Iraq.

A trader from Sheikh Allah, the main wholesale market in the city, who requested his name not be mentioned, said that one ton of Iranian iodized salt is now sold for 100,000 Iraqi dinars ($80), compared to 77,000 dinars ($61.5) earlier today. "It is hardly available in markets because of the closure of the borders," he indicated.

The trader explained that Iran, along with Turkey, is the main provider of foodstuffs and other consumer products to the region. "But trade activities with Iran are the most active," he noted, linking this to the relatively low transportation costs of Iranian goods.

According to him, Iranian export goods are transported to the borders with Arbil at a cost of 25,000 Iraqi dinars/ton ($ 20.2), while a ton of Turkish goods is transported for $2,000.

Iranian goods to the Kurdistan region are like "blood to the veins," he said. "They are indispensable."

Another trader said that Iranian threats to close the borders have raised the prices on all Iranian goods.

Half a dozen of Iranian Ofra soda increased from 4,000 dinars to 4,250 dinars the day the borders were closed," the trader explained. "The price increase is slight, but it will eventually affect the consumer."

Qasim Jasim, a foodstuff wholesale trader, said that he expects a similar increase in the prices of Turkish goods, which he said will replace Iranian goods in the region's markets.

Blaming the U.S. military forces for the price hike, Jasim said, "Their actions have struck a blow against our economy."

"Dozens of carriers and drivers will lose their jobs because of the closure of the borders," he added.

Prices increase in Arbil markets after Iranian borders' closure | Iraq Updates

Iranian decision to close borders raises Kurdish trader's concerns

An economic analyst agreed with a number of Kurdish traders in the city of Arbil that Iraq's Kurdistan region's markets will witness an increase in prices and will be negatively affected by the Iranian decision to close border outlets with Kurdistan, which is being enforced as of today.

However, the analyst asserted that in return Iran will lose a large market for Iranian products.

A spokesman for the regional government said earlier that Iran has closed its border outlets with the Iraqi Kurdistan region on Monday after U.S. forces arrested an Iranian citizen on Thursday.

The analyst, Salah Othman, emphasized that the Iranian decision will have negative consequences on the markets in Iraq's Kurdistan region, and will lead to an increase in prices which will be noticeable in the large quantity of Iranian products in the Kurdish markets, noting that there are mutual interests between the two sides, which will surely be affected by this decision.

"The damage that will affect the Kurdish economy will also affect the Iranian one, because Kurdistan is a consumer market for the Iranian products and if this market disappears, the Iranian producers have to find an alternative," the analyst explained.

"Iran depends on the Kurdish markets to get the Euro and this will also be affected after closing border outlets," he stated.

"More than 100 Iranian companies are working in Kurdistan and there are big trade relations between the two sides," Director general in trade ministry, Aziz Ibrahim, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"More than 120 Iranian companies are working in the region and the Iranian products were imported through three outlets: Berwez Khan, Bashmakh and Hag Omran," he added.

"There are also some Iranian companies that signed contracts with local companies to implement reconstruction projects," Ibrahim noted.

For his part, Karim Ali Hussein, a trader who was importing most of his goods from Iran, said that "markets will be negatively affected by this decision and it will lead to an increase in the prices of goods.

"Most of the Iranian goods in Kurdish markets are Rice, tomato sauce, Pepsi, heaters, carpets, and several house materials," he said.

Iranian decision to close borders raises Kurdish trader's concerns | Iraq Updates