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

Iraq ministry finishes draft law on contractors

Iraq's Interior Ministry has finished draft legislation that would end the legal immunity enjoyed by private security contractors after a deadly shooting involving U.S. firm Blackwater, an official said on Tuesday.

In fresh violence, a suicide car bomb killed three people near a police station in the southern Shi'ite city of Basra. Car bombings are rare in Basra, the hub for Iraq's oil industry.

Two car bombs also killed six people and wounded 20 in the Zayouna district of eastern Baghdad, police and a ho****al official said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf told a news conference the draft law had been submitted to the State Shura Council, a body which vets legal language in drafts before they can be passed to parliament for debate.

Iraq has said it would review the status of all security firms after what it called a flagrant assault by Blackwater contractors. Eleven people were killed while the firm was escorting a U.S. embassy convoy through Baghdad on September 16.

"This legislation will cover everything to do with these companies. The companies will come under the grip of Iraqi law, will be monitored by the Interior Ministry and will work under its guidelines," Khalaf said.
"They will be strictly punished for any (violations) on the street."

The shooting has incensed Iraqis who regard the tens of thousands of security contractors working in the country as private armies that act with impunity.

At issue for many Iraqis is sovereignty, given that security firms have immunity from Iraqi law under a 2004 regulation written while Iraq was under U.S. administration following the toppling of Saddam Hussein the year before.

Stripping away their immunity could become a charged political issue with Washington, given that Blackwater and other major foreign security firms provide protection to numerous U.S. government bodies and reconstruction agencies.

SOFTENING STANCE

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had vowed to freeze the work of Blackwater, which guards the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and prosecute its staff over the shooting he called a crime.

Iraq has since appeared to soften its stand. The government said this week no action would be taken against Blackwater until after a joint investigation with U.S. officials.

Blackwater guards are accused of opening fire without provocation during the incident. Blackwater says its guards reacted lawfully to an attack on a U.S. convoy.

Khalaf has previously said the draft law would give the ministry powers to prosecute the companies and to refuse or revoke contracts. A number of security firms do not have the proper registration to operate in Iraq, which they blame on bureaucratic delays and obstacles.

In Basra, the city's police chief Major-General Abdul Jalil Khalaf blamed Sunni Islamist al Qaeda for the car bombing there. A health official said 20 people had been hurt.

Most violence in Basra has either been directed against British forces in the region or been fighting among Shi'ite factions vying for influence.

Seeking to defuse tension between Tehran and Washington, President Jalal Talabani urged the U.S. military to release an Iranian man who was detained last week in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The U.S. military accused the man of smuggling roadside bombs into Iraq and training foreign fighters. Iranian and Iraqi officials said the man was part of a trade delegation.

"The arrest of the Iranian citizen ... is illegal," Talabani, a Kurd, told a press conference in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya before leaving on a trip to the United States.

Kurdish officials say Iran has since closed its border with the autonomous region to protest against the detention.

Iraq ministry finishes draft law on contractors | Iraq Updates

Ahmadinejad says regional countries will fill vacuum in Iraq once US pulls out

Speaking at the first live video-conference held at the National Press Club, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday denied saying last summer that Iran was prepared "to fill the gap" as U. S. influence wanes in Iraq.

Appearing on screen in Washington via video link from outside UN headquarters in New York City, Ahmadinejad responded to the question of how Iran would fill such a gap by saying, " ... This too is one of those distortions by the press. I said our region will soon face a power vacuum, and Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia and regional countries are able to fill in that vacuum." "I said that nations, countries in the region are able to establish security themselves, and they do not need the presence of others in the region in order to arrive at security," Ahmadinejad responded. "This is what I said very clearly and will say again." Asked what role he sees Iran playing in the future of Iraq, Ahmadinejad said, "For hundreds of years we have lived in friendship and brotherhood with the people of Iraq. We want an independent powerful Iraq, a developed Iraq which will benefit the entire region." Iranians are the ones harmed most by insecurity in Iraq, he said.

"We would like to see peace, tranquility and progress in Iraq because people in Iraq have historical ties with us," he said. "Annually, millions of people from the two countries travel to the other country. There are a lot of intermarriages. There are many Iranians who are born in Iraq, and many Iraqis who are born in Iran." Iran wants nothing but goodness and progress for the Iraqi nation, he said, "but we think that regional countries themselves can know how to run the affairs of the region best. They do not need a guardian from outside to tell them how to do it." Asked about Pentagon allegations that Iran is smuggling surface-to-air missiles and other advanced weapons into Iraq for use against American troops, Ahmadinejad said, "We will allow the U.S. military there to basically take what it confiscates, whatever these missiles or whatever these weapons it claims it has or sees in Iraq. We think, in fact, the (U.S.) military should seek an answer to defeat in Iraq elsewhere in the misguided policies that it has led and the wrong perspective that it has had toward Iraq and its people. Regretfully, they are standing against the Iraqi people." Asked again if he would confirm that Iranian weapons were going into Iraq, Ahmadinejad said, "No, this does not exist. Are you telling me that the U.S. military is defeated as a result of two or three weapons here and there? There are two problems here looking at it like this. First of all, it undermines the power of the U.S. military by making statements like this. And second of all, U.S. politicians will not be able to make the right decision on matters about Iraq. The problem of the U.S. military lies elsewhere. They need to change their methods." Asked why Iran would not agree to a civilian nuclear partnership with other countries, instead of enriching its own uranium when doing so raises suspicions that it intends to develop nuclear weapons, Ahmadinejad said, "First of all, that is not right. We are a member of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and the powers of the IAEA explicitly grant us that right." Two years ago, he said, he made the same proposal in the United Nations, "but those selfish groups that did not want to listen to it did not embrace it. And secondly why should a nation tie its future to another group, another nation? Is the U.S. government willing to engage in partnership with us and advance its nuclear activities in partnership with us? If they are willing to do that, we are willing to do it, too." The President asked why the U.S. government, which is a member of the IAEA, should have more rights over Iran, which is also a member of the IAEA.

"If there is law, international law, it is equal for everyone," he said. "Why is it that some people want more rights for themselves?" Responding to recent remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that the world should prepare for war with Iran if negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program fail, Ahmadinejad said Kouchner took his remark back and revised it, "and secondly the United States and France are not the world, do not speak for the world." Iran is working under the inspection of the IAEA system, "and our activities are legal and for peaceful purposes," he said.

Ahmadinejad suggested that Kouchner be given time "to gain more experience in his new position, too, and then I am sure he will talk from a level with more higher maturity." Asked if Iran and Israel will ever co-exist in peace, Ahmadinejad said, "We do not recognize that regime because it is based on discrimination; ethnic discrimination, occupation, usurpation. And it consistently threatens its neighbors. Last week or so, it attacked Syria, and last year it attacked Lebanon." "They kill people, they displace people, they kill young people in their own homes," he said of the Israelis. "How is it possible to recognize this? I am surprised why members of the press do not raise voices of objection to the policies there." Asked about the Holocaust, and whether he would meet with Holocaust survivors, Ahmadinejad said, "Where did the Holocaust happen to begin with? It happened in Europe. And given that, why is it that the Palestinian people should be displaced? Why is it affecting them? Why are they paying the damage by giving up their land? Why?" Asked whether the 1979 capture of more than 50 U.S. hostages in Iran was morally justified or wrong, Ahmadinejad said, "I propose we do not return to the past, because then we would have to talk about records of 25 years of measures taken by the U.S. administration inside Iran and that history as well, from the coup in 1953 to its support of a dictatorship (the shah of Iran) and the humiliation of the Iranian people and efforts to divide Iran and to insult Iranian people, robbing Iran of its resources and defending (former Iraqi President) Saddam (Hussein) during an eight-year war against Iran." In answer to whether he planned to run for re-election in two years, Ahmadinejad smiled and said, "What do you think?"

Ahmadinejad says regional countries will fill vacuum in Iraq once US pulls out | Iraq Updates

Iraq to Issue 5 Million-Barrel Tender for Kirkuk Oil (Update1)

Iraq, the holder of the world's third-biggest oil reserves, will issue a tender in the next few days for 5 million barrels of Kirkuk-grade crude oil to be loaded from the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

Buyers who successfully bid will load the cargoes in October, an Iraqi oil official, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said today in a telephone interview from Baghdad. Iraq pumped as much as 1 million barrels of Kirkuk crude to Ceyhan in the past five days, the official said.

The oil producer has struggled to sustain exports from the north since 2004 because of suspected acts of sabotage against pipelines and other energy installations. A 40-inch pipe between the Kirkuk fields and the Baiji refinery was damaged Sept. 18 by an explosion. Such infrastructure is a target for insurgents fighting the government and U.S. forces in Iraq.

Amid continuing attacks, Iraq has increased its Kirkuk exports from Ceyhan in September. The State Oil Marketing Organization issued an earlier tender to sell 5 million barrels of Kirkuk oil for loading from the port on Oct. 5, according to traders on Sept. 14, who declined to be named because of company policy. It awarded a tender on Sept. 11 for another 5 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia has the world's largest reserves of crude, followed by Iran. Iraq produced 1.97 million barrels of oil a day in August, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Bloomberg.com: Energy

UPDATE 2-Kuwait's Agility in $250 mln Iraq telecom option

Kuwaiti logistics provider Agility (AGLT.KW: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it agreed a $250 million option to buy a stake in Iraq's Korek Telecom as Agility seeks to diversify away from its core business.

Agility's Dubai-based private equity unit, Alcazar Capital, agreed a "strategic" partnership with Irbil, Kurdistan-based Korek, Agility said in a statement on the Kuwaiti stock exchange Web site.

The purchase would provide Korek with "financial, administrative and operational flexibility that would enable it to focus on fulfilling the terms of Iraq's mobile licence contract," Agility said.

The two companies still have to reach final agreement on the transaction, it said without elaborating on the nature of the option.

Agility set up Alcazar this year to make acquisitions as part of a strategy to reduce its reliance on contracts with the U.S. military to supply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, its main source of income.

"We have such a strong network, especially in emerging markets, and quite often see very strong and lucrative business opportunities ... outside our core business," said an Agility spokeswoman.

The planned stake in Korek would help the telecoms company hold a planned initial public offering within four years as its licence requires, Agility said without elaborating.

"This partnership forms a concrete step to meeting that objective," Korek Chairman Mustafa Barzani was quoted as saying in the statement.

Korek paid $1.25 billion for one of three mobile phone licences Iraq sold in an auction last month and has 1.2 million customers, mainly in Iraq's northern Kurdish region.


EXPANSION

Agility's profits have surged during the past five years on supply deals with the U.S. military.

In June, it was part of a group with U.S. firm DynCorp International (DCP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) that won a 10-year, $50 billion logistics contract to supply food to U.S. troops in Iraq.

Shares of Agility closed 1.1 percent lower on Tuesday after the statement.
The company has said it is considering listing its shares in London or on another international exchange. Shares of Agility are also traded in Dubai.

UPDATE 2-Kuwait's Agility in $250 mln Iraq telecom option | News | Mergers/Acquisitions | Reuters

Iraq and Georgia Agree on Making Diplomatic Relations

Iraq and Georgia signed yesterday in the U.N. headquarter an agreement to make diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two countries were represented by Iraqi Perpetual Representative in the U.N. Dr. Hamid al-Bayati and his Georgian counterpart Arakli Alasania.

Dr. al-Bayati stressed that the Iraqi government will go on making diplomatic relations with all the world’s countries, especially those who helped the Iraqi people in building a democratic, free and federal country.

Meanwhile, Mr. Alasania expressed his desire to visit the Georgian forces in Iraq, and he stressed his country’s support for the Iraqi government to achieve security and stability, and returning Iraq to its natural position in the international committee.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq and Georgia Agree on Making Diplomatic Relations

Terrorists Explode a Gas Pipe in Kirkuk

Terrorists laid a mine under a gas pipe between al-Kaif and Chakhmakha villages, al-Doz district to the south of Kirkuk city, and exploded it resulting in a huge fire and gas leakage yesterday.

Mr. Hadi Hama Mustafa, al-Doz district commissioner said that the exploded pipe used to transfer a poisonous gas, therefore al-Kaif village was evacuated from its population to prevent casualties.

”A team from North Oil Company controlled the fire and extinguished it, and 2 citizens were infected because of the gas spreading”, he added.

After the fire was extinguished, al-Kaif village inhabitants returned to their homes.

PUKmedia :: English - Terrorists Explode a Gas Pipe in Kirkuk

30 Million Iraqi Dinar paid to Citizens for House-Building

In a meeting between the Iraqi ministers of Finance and Work and Housing, it was decided that an amount of 30 million I.Ds be paid to citizens, including Kurdistan Region, for building houses.

Bayan Dizaee, Iraq’s minister of Work and Housing told Kurdistani Nwe that the delay in agreeing on house-building payments was that, in Baghdad it was suggested to exclude Kurdistan Region for this kind of debt, but after long talks the sides agreed to include the Region as it is a debt paid back by citizens.

The minister of Iraq Construction said that the resolution was agreed on officially yesterday. It will be put in action before the advent of the New Year.

According to the resolution, “citizens must posses no less than 200 square meters of land and the amount paid to them will be 30 million I.Ds with an interest of 2%.”, she added.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...128&Ite mid=1

President Talabani Travels to New York

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani traveled from al-Sulaimaniyah International Airport heading to New York City to participate in the annual meeting holding by the former American President Bill Clinton, where he invites well-known personalities and the world’s Countries Presidents.

In a statement for the press, he said that “this visit came according to President’s Clinton invitation, where he has a project called President’s Clinton International initiative. This annual meeting is usually held to discuss four matters which are: Poor, violence, energy and education.”

And in answering a question about the Iranian detained in al-Sulaimaniyah, he said “we requested the American to release him, this arrest is illegal because the security dossier has been delivered to KRG few months ago, and actions like this returns to its authorities and we tried to convince them to release him.”

President Talabani mentioned that “the American action was under the pretence that the Iranian detained is relating to al-Quds Corps, and they had orders to arrest its elements inside Iraq.”

His Excellency was accompanied by Mr. Kosrat Rasul Ali, deputy of Kurdistan Region President.

PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani Travels to New York

KRG Allocates 40 million ID to complete Bazyan and Khabat Oil Refining Station Projects

Concerning Bazyan project, Kamal Abdul Qadir, Manager of the project, said to Kurdistani Nwe: This project, scheduled to commence in Feb 2008, delayed due to several problems.

“77 million ID allocated by Iraqi Central Government for both Bazyan project which is in Sulaimania province and Khabat project in Erbil province. Nevertheless, out of that amount 63 million ID provided by Iraqi Central government, requesting KRG to provide the rest of that amount”, he said.

“After several meetings, KRG decided to allocate the required amount 15 million ID, as well as 40 million ID more to both of the projects, out of which 24 million ID was for the Bazyan project”, he added.

“Now 40% of reservoir completed while it was 0% in July, and 55% of the project was completed the amount allocated by KRG is as much as necessary for Refining Stations, while within which there are several more projects to be implemented such as piping raw oil from Kirkuk, electricity power supply, and water supply by pipe from Goptapa district. It was scheduled that at end of 2006 the projects produce oil products. It is now nine months behind .At the end of this year, it will be completed, if there were no budget shortage”, he added.

In the other side, Jamal Abdullah ,KRG spokesman said “at the end of last Aug. high fuel commission, including KRG cooperation bureau representative and Iraqi Government representative, met to deal with fuel shortage and its provision was discussed .One of the solutions as mentioned is to complete these two projects. Minister of Industry, Iraqi central Government’s request on KRG to provide 40 million ID to complete the project was pointed out. KRG Deputy Prime Minister, who chaired the meeting, ordered that a letter would be submitted to Minister of Industry, KRG, to allocate the requested 40 million ID.”

PUKmedia :: English - KRG Allocates 40 million ID to complete Bazyan and Khabat Oil Refining Station Projects

Questions arise over Iraq oil deal

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, CEO 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.
Since the deal was made public, it has drawn the ire of the Iraqi national government, which has called the agreement illegal.

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.

The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA