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.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...86&k=53696&p=1

U.S. military probing alleged fuel diversion to Iraq operations

The U.S. military has begun investigating an allegation that fuel provided by Japan in the Indian Ocean may have been illegally used for U.S. operations in Iraq in 2003, the commander of U.S. forces in Japan said Tuesday.

"We are specifically looking at the questions out there posed by the Japanese government," Lt Gen Bruce Wright said, acknowledging that the U.S. military has launched the probe at the request of the Japanese government. Japanese peace group Peace Depot, citing U.S. military documents, claimed last week that the Maritime Self-Defense Force replenishment ship Tokiwa effectively provided illegal logistical support for the Iraq war by indirectly supplying fuel to the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.

Japan Today - News - U.S. military probing alleged fuel diversion to Iraq operations

Suicide Attack Rattles Iraq's Oil Region

A suicide car bomber Tuesday attacked a police headquarters in Basra, killing at least three policemen, wounding 20 people and raising fears about security in the oil-rich southern city now that British forces have withdrawn.

It was the second major suicide attack to kill Iraqi police in as many days. The police chief of Baqouba was among at least 24 people killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Sunni-Shiite reconciliation meeting late Monday. An al-Qaida front group Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, Basra's police chief, said the suicide bomber's legs were found tied to the steering wheel - clearly an attempt by the attack's planners to prevent the driver from running away.

Khalaf blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the attack, even though the terror movement was believed to have virtually no presence in the Basra area.

The attack occurred about 8 a.m. when the driver, wearing a traditional Arab robe and headgear, tried to steer his explosives-laden sedan into the downtown police headquarters building but was blocked by concrete barriers, Khalaf said.

The blast damaged nearby buildings and set several parked cars ablaze, witnesses reported.

Fears about security in Basra have been mounting since the British army left its last position within the city on Sept. 2 and redeployed to the municipal airport, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the north.

For more than two years, Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and headquarters of the country's vast southern oil fields, has been racked by violence from rival Shiite militias that have infiltrated police and government ranks.

Several of the biggest militias are associated with major Shiite political parties.

But suicide attacks - the hallmark of Sunni religious extremists - are rare in the mostly Shiite city. Officials were quick to point the finger at al-Qaida in Iraq, a Sunni extremist group.

"It seems that al-Qaida wants to make use of the fragile situation in the city caused by the tension among the parties and the city's officials," Khalaf said.

He said authorities had been devoting most of their resources to nighttime patrols but would increase the number of police and soldiers on the streets during the daytime.

In Baghdad, at least 15 people were killed or found dead Tuesday - apparent victims of political or sectarian violence, according to police reports. In the deadliest attack, a pair of car bombs exploded almost simultaneously near a line of elderly people waiting to get their monthly pensions from a bank, killing six people.

Gunmen killed police Lt. Col. Ali Sameen, director of emergency services in Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, police reported. The officer was gunned down Tuesday near his home, police reported.

North of the capital in Diyala province, a roadside bombing killed an American soldier Tuesday, the U.S. command said. At least 3,799 U.S. military members who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Also in Diyala, provincial leaders pledged to push ahead with efforts to bring Shiites and Sunnis together a day after the devastating suicide attack at the sectarian unity meeting in the provincial capital, Baqouba. At least 37 people were wounded, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

"This attack will not stop the provincial government's efforts to reconcile the tribes and help them put aside their differences to achieve unity," said provincial Gov. Raad Rashid al-Tamimi, who was wounded in the blast.

Police Maj. Salah al-Jurani said he believed al-Tamimi was the intended target. The dead included the governor's driver, and Baqouba's police chief, Brig. Gen. Ali Dalyan, and the Diyala provincial operations chief, Brig. Gen. Najib al-Taie.

In a Web statement, the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida-led group, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a member of its "martyrdom squad ... plunged with his suicide belt amid a gathering for national reconciliation."

"God enabled him to reap most of the chiefs of that fetid council," the statement said.

A private news agency, the Voice of Iraq, said the dead also included several tribal chiefs and members of a council formed to fight al-Qaida in the province.

In the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, President Jalal Talabani called again for the release of an Iranian official arrested last week by the Americans. The U.S. military said the Iranian, Mahmudi Farhadi, was a member of the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that smuggles weapons to Shiite extremists.

Iran shut down five border crossing points into the Kurdish part of northern Iraq to protest the arrest. The crossings remained closed Tuesday for a second day.

Talabani, a Kurd, said the Americans had no right to arrest anyone in the Kurdish region because security there is in the hands of the Kurds.

"Arresting a person inside the Kurdish region is illegal because the security file was handed over to the Kurdish government months ago," he told reporters before departing for New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

The arrest has raised friction between U.S. and Iraqi authorities at a time when tempers were already running high over the killing Sept. 16 of 11 Iraqi civilians allegedly by security guards from Blackwater USA, which protects American diplomats in Iraq. Blackwater insists its guards acted legally and were returning fire from armed insurgents.

Suicide Attack Rattles Iraq's Oil Region - WISN 12: Commitment 2008 News Story - WISN Milwaukee

Demand for dollar up, exchange rate stable in daily auction

Demand for the dollar was higher in the Iraqi Central Bank's auction on Tuesday, reaching $66.260 million compared with $56.785 million on Monday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, including $2.830 million in cash and $63.430 in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,234 dinars per dollar, unchanged for the sixth session running.
None of the 14 banks that participated in Tuesday's session offered to sell dollars.

Ali al-Yasseri, a trader, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that the stable exchange rate for the sixth session in a row had encouraged traders to make more bids in foreign transfers, while bids in cash shrunk during Tuesday's session.

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

Demand for dollar up, exchange rate stable in daily auction | Iraq Updates

Iraqi president brands Iranian national arrest "illegal"

Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani on Tuesday described as "illegal" the U.S. forces' arrest of an Iranian national in the Kurdistan region last week.

"The detention of the Iranian trade delegation member in the Kurdistan region is illegal since the security file for the region has been handed over to the Kurdistan region's authorities," Talabani told reporters at Sulaimaniya airport before his departure to New York to take part in an annual meeting organized by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Last week, U.S. forces arrested a member of an Iranian trade delegation on an official visit to the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.

The U.S. army accused the detainee of being a member of the "Iranian Revolutionary Guards-Quds Corps."

"The Americans have decided to arrest all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards- Quds Corps upon arrival in Iraqi territories," Talabani said.

On Monday, Iran closed all border-crossings with the Kurdistan region following the arrest of the Iranian delegation member.

The Iraqi president also sent on Saturday a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker in which he expressed his dissatisfaction over the arrest, calling for "an immediate release of the Iranian national."

Iraqi president brands Iranian national arrest "illegal" | Iraq Updates

Iraq-Iran border chaos over detainee dispute
Iran’s border closure with Iraq’s northern region causes severe economic fallout.

The sudden closure by Iran of its border with northern Iraq caused trucking chaos at the frontier on Tuesday, as experts warned of severe economic fallout and traders scrambled for goods.

"There are a huge number of trucks waiting to cross the border into Kurdistan but the Iranians are not allowing them through," said the mayor of Joman town near the Haj Umran border post in northern Iraq.

"The trucks are carrying frozen goods such as chicken, meat and eggs which are going to spoil. We spoke to the Iranian officials but they refused to allow the border post to open," Abdul Wahid Koani said.

Tehran said on Monday it was closing its frontier with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in protest at the detention last week of an Iranian by US troops.

Angry Kurdish merchants in the northern city of Arbil said they were being forced to search for other sources of foodstuffs and electronic goods, the main items imported from Iran.

"This closure will raise the prices in our markets and will cause big problems to our business all over the province, especially for those dealing in foodstuffs and household equipment," said merchant Najat Ahmed.

Another trader, Dulair Hajji Mohammed, said dealers would start looking to Turkey and Syria if the closure continued indefinitely.

"The overwhelming majority of goods in Kurdistan markets are Iranian-made," said Mohammed. "But if the borders continued to be closed, we will be forced to look for Syrian and Turkish goods de****e their higher cost."

Economic analyst Mohammed Salman of the University of Arbil warned that people on both sides of the frontier would be affected.

"The closure of the border will hit both the Iranians and Iraqis because Kurdistan is considered a fertile market for Iranian goods," said Salman.
Aziz Ibrahim, director general of the Kurdish ministry of trade, agreed there could be significant economic damage.

"There are 120 Iranian firms working in different regions of Kurdistan, most of which are participating in construction projects and have signed trade contracts with Iraqi concerns," Ibrahim said.

"Kurdistan is a key trading partner with Iran and a major importer of Iranian goods."

Kurdistan trade minister Mohammed Raouf estimated the value of goods crossing the border annually at one billion dollars.

Iran said it had shut the border following the detention on Thursday by US forces of Mahmudi Farhadi.

The US military charges that Farhadi is an officer in the covert operations arm of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, accused by American commanders of helping Shiite militias involved in Iraq's bloody sectarian conflict.

Iran has made clear that it regards Iraqi sovereignty at stake in Farhadi's continued custody after both the regional and national authorities of Iraq said he had been visiting with their consent.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, has said the arrest of an Iranian official who had been invited by the Kurdish authorities was "a humiliation for the regional administration."

The row comes as Iran intensifies its pressure on the Iraqi authorities to close the rear bases of separatist Kurdish guerrillas active in the Islamic republic's western provinces.

On Saturday, Iran confirmed for the first time that it had shelled suspected positions inside Iraq of the PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan), a rebel group linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani meanwhile arrived in Ankara on Tuesday to discuss a planned security cooperation agreement aimed at resolving the problem of Turkish Kurd rebels taking refuge in northern Iraq.

Ankara has threatened to attack Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq if Baghdad and Washington fail to curb the rebels, who have stepped up attacks inside Turkey this year.

Iraq-Iran border chaos over detainee dispute | Iraq Updates

Iraqis sceptical but hopeful over new UN mandate

As Western powers grapple with ways to raise the United Nations' profile in Iraq, war-weary Iraqis still smarting from years of tough UN sanctions are watching their efforts with scepticism -- and hope.

If the new UN mandate allows the world body to perform a broader role in promoting national reconciliation and helping end regional interference in Iraq, they say, a greater UN presence will be welcome.

But if it arrives with fettered authority and is dictated to by major powers, especially the United States, suspicions will remain.

"The question is why someone wants the international organisation to return now when it will be prevented from tackling a situation over which America has full control," the privately-owned Al-Mashriq newspaper said in an editorial.

Lashing out at UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, it said his pronouncements on a greater UN role in Iraq come too late.

Everybody at the United Nations kept silent when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, the paper said. "Why does everybody now want to have a say about Iraq?"

Iraqi member of parliament Hamid Mu'ala al-Saedi of the powerful Shiite bloc the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) was cautiously optimistic.

"I think there is possibility that the UN can play a prominent role in Iraq. But it should be allowed by the (world) political powers to perform this role," he said.

"Maybe the UN could not do big things in the past ... but now I believe there is good chance for it to play an important role, especially if it expands its functions and tackles issues such as national reconciliation and interference by neighbouring countries."

A high-level meeting on Iraq at the UN headquarters in New York on Saturday drew support for a bigger UN role in the country, especially in helping promote national reconciliation.

However, there was acknowledgment that a higher UN profile in Iraq would require greater improvement in the security situation.

Iraq again featured, albeit only in passing, during the opening session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, with US President George W. Bush urging support for the government in Baghdad, as well as those in Beirut and Kabul.

"The people of Lebanon and Afghanistan and Iraq have asked for our help. And every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand with them," Bush said.

UN Security Council Resolution 1770 adopted in August extended the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) by one year and urged it to "advise, support and assist" the Iraqi government on a wide range of issues.

The United Nations was assigned the task of helping Baghdad promote national reconciliation and dialogue with its neighbours on issues of border security, humanitarian aid and the return of the estimated 4.5 million Iraqis who have fled their homes.

Another Iraqi MP, Omar Abdul-Sattar Mahmud of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, was doubtful the world body would be allowed the freedom to play a significant role in a country under occupation by 160,000 US troops.

"We are all for internationalising the Iraqi issue provided Iraqis themselves play a role in reconciliation. If the UN is given enough powers, we will manage to get out of the bottleneck," he said.

"Any return without the authority to achieve those objectives will be a burden for Iraqis."

Lawyer Hassan Shaaban, co-ordinator of the Organisation of Human Rights and Democracy in Iraq, believes the United Nations is paralysed in Iraq due to "international influences on its policies and leadership".

"The mission of the UN can be positive in finding common ground for national reconciliation but the interference of the United States stops it short of implementing that task," Shaaban said.

The United Nations allowed a maximum of 65 staffers to reside in Iraq after its Baghdad office was hit on August 19, 2003 by a truck bomb that killed 22 people, including its special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Most Iraqis remember the United Nations for the sweeping economic sanctions it imposed in 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Regarded as the toughest, most comprehensive sanctions ever, they caused severe humanitarian suffering in Iraq and lasted until the US-led invasion of 2003.

Iraqis sceptical but hopeful over new UN mandate | Iraq Updates

Kuwait, Iraqi FMs discuss political process, reconstruction in Iraq

Kuwait's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Sabah held talks here Tuesday with Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari on the upcoming meetings of Iraq's neighbors, the political process and reconstruction in Iraq.

Speaking to KUNA and Kuwait TV after the meeting, Sheikh Mohammad said Kuwait and Iraq have been always coordinating positions in the UN meetings because the Iraqi issue was of great interest to the international community, specially after adoption of UN resolution 1770 which expands UN mission in Iraq.

Kuwait will host next October a meeting of interior ministers of Iraq's neighboring countries, noted Sheikh Mohammad, who is visiting New York for the UN General Assembly meetings. He also cited the meeting of the foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors in Istanbul, Turkey.

"The brothers in Iraq and us realize what is required from the neighboring countries, backing the political process, backing security and stability in Iraq, protecting and preventing violations of the Iraqi borders," said Sheikh Mohammad.

"We believe the efforts of this (Iraqi) government need support particularly concerning the national conciliation between all parties, we support the efforts of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki," added the Kuwaiti official.

Sheikh Mohammad said Iraq was in need of security and stability in order to pave the way for smooth reconstruction process thus regaining its regional position and strength within the international fold.

He said Zebari would be visiting Kuwait in the near future to continue consultations over a host of issues of mutual concern.

Zebari, meanwhile, said he informed Sheikh Mohammad about the security and political activities, as well as his diplomatic contacts in the UN and with US officials.

He said the Iraqi government has high hopes the security and political conditions were improving, "and they should be invested and built upon them. We need support of our brothers in the Arab countries.

"Kuwait was a leading country since day one and its position remains solid in backing the political process for the democratic change in Iraq," said Zebari.

Kuwait, Iraqi FMs discuss political process, reconstruction in Iraq | Iraq Updates

Iraq Stock Exchange index down by 0.110%

The index of Iraq's Stock Exchange (ISX) was down by 0.110% in the eleventh session this month compared to the previous session, closing at 38.820 points.

A statement published on the ISX Web site recorded a trading volume of more than 805 million shares worth over 989 million Iraqi dinars (801,783 U.S. dollars) during the session.

Non-Iraqi investors participated in Tuesday's session with six contracts worth over 5 million dinars in the fields of industry, agriculture and banking.

Al -Hilal Industries, al-Therar for Agricultural Production, the Commercial Bank of Iraq, Warka Bank for Investment, Modern Paint Industries, and National Metallic Industries were the companies traded by non-Iraqi investors.

Shares of 29 joint stock companies, including 13 banking, one investment, one hotel, one agricultural, three service, and 10 industrial companies were traded in the session. Concerning the traded banking companies, a 2.6% increase in the index of Dar Essalam Investment Bank was recorded. The price index of six banks was down, while six others maintained a consistent rate with the previous session.

The bank sector index closed at 37.500 points with a decline of 0.191% compared to the previous session.

The services sector index, at which three companies traded, closed at 77.640 points, 0.141% lower than the previous session, while the industrial sector index ended 11.740 points, same as the previous session.

In the hotels sector, the index closed at 15.156 points, with an increase of 0.238% compared to the previous session.

The statement concluded that 29 companies were traded in Tuesday's session out of 93 companies registered in Iraq's Stock Exchange, of which six indexes went up, 10 dropped, and 13 maintained their previous price.

Iraq Stock Exchange index down by 0.110% | Iraq Updates

Lawmaker says Rice interfered with Iraq inquiry

A leading Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of interfering in congressional inquiries into corruption in Iraq's government and the activities of U.S. security firm Blackwater.

Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman said State Department officials had told the Oversight and Government Reform Committee he chairs they could not provide details of corruption in Iraq's government unless the information was treated as a "state secret" and not revealed to the public.

"You are wrong to interfere with the committee's inquiry," Waxman said in a letter to Rice. "The State Department's position on this matter is ludicrous," added Waxman, a vocal opponent of the Bush administration's Iraq policies.

But State Department spokesman Tom Casey said there seemed to have been a "misunderstanding" over the issue and all the information requested by Congress had either been provided or was in the process of being provided.

Waxman said security contractor Blackwater, which was involved in an incident in which Iraqi civilians were killed last week, said they could not hand over documents relevant to an investigation without State Department approval.

But Casey said later Blackwater had been informed the State Department had no objection to it providing information to Waxman's committee.
Blackwater provides security for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and has a contract with the State Department.

The company was involved in a September 16 shooting in which 11 people were killed while Blackwater was escorting a convoy through Baghdad. The State Department is investigating the incident along with the Iraqis.

Waxman, who has called a hearing on Blackwater for October 2, released a letter his staff received from the security contractor's attorneys dated September 24.

"It (the State Department) directs Blackwater USA not to disclose any information concerning the contract without DOS (Department of State) preauthorization in writing."

Blackwater also urged the committee not to ask questions at the hearing that could reveal sensitive information "that could be utilized by our country's implacable enemies in Iraq."

Such information included the size of their security staff in Baghdad, weaponry and the operation of convoys.

Waxman also released a letter signed by State Department contracting officer Kiazan Moneypenny to Blackwater.

"I hereby direct Blackwater to make no disclosure of documents or information ... unless such disclosure has been authorized in writing by the contracting officer," wrote Moneypenny.

Waxman also complained Rice was refusing to testify at any hearings his committee planned to look at political reconciliation in Iraq, corruption or the Blackwater incident.

"We have offered to make available for testimony those officials in the best position to respond to the specific issues the committee has raised," said Casey.

Lawmaker says Rice interfered with Iraq inquiry | Iraq Updates