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

Partition of Iraq dangerous to us and whole region - Kuwait Emir

Dubai: Kuwait will not accept any plan to divide Iraq into federal regions and wants the United States to remain there until the country is stable, the Kuwaiti Emir said in remarks aired yesterday.

"We will not accept the partition of Iraq, we consider this to be dangerous to us. It will be dangerous for the whole region," Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah told Al Arabiya television, commenting on a US Senate resolution advocating the division of Iraq into federal regions.

"We are against this division and I think that even the Iraqis will not accept this."

Complex

The non-binding Senate amendment, which was passed last week, says the United States should actively support a political settlement among Iraqis based on a federal system of government.

The amendment has been widely interpreted as a proposal to divide Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions.Shaikh Sabah also called on the United States to keep its troops in Iraq until stability is seen on the ground.

"I say it frankly, I would like the United States to withdraw its troops from tomorrow, but do you think that if they pull out there will be stability in Iraq? I think not," he said.

"We will hold the United States responsible for the fighting in Iraq, therefore, I wish that they will not leave now before they maintain a strong army in Iraq that can protect Iraq and its people."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday that the resolution was well-meaning but failed to recognise the ethnic complexity of Iraqi cities and regions.

The Arab League criticised the resolution and described the idea as "hostile to Arab interests."

Gulfnews: Partition of Iraq dangerous to us and whole region - Kuwait Emir

Kirkuk compensation 'process is transparent'

Baghdad: The process of paying compensation for Arabs to leave Kirkuk and settle in other places, which was approved by the Committee for the Normalisation of Kirkuk [north of Iraq], has begun seriously and effectively, said the governor of the city.

Abdul Rahman Mustafa, Governor of Kirkuk, told Gulf News, "The compensation process has already begun and each Arab individual who wishes to leave Kirkuk is paid about twenty million Iraqi dinars [about Dh59,647]."

He added, "The process is transparent and without any external pressure, and this is the first phase to help implement Article 140 and it will be followed by ... referendum process to determine Kirkuk's fate."

According to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, compensations will be paid to Shiites and Sunni Arabs residing in the province to facilitate the process of returning to their original areas before fleeing to Kirkuk in the 1980s.

Identity struggle

Kirkuk is facing a struggle for its identity between Kurds, on the one side and Arabs and Turkmen, on the other, because of the Kurdish population's displacement during Saddam Hussain's regime and resettling thousands of Shiite Arabs from southern Iraq.

According to Kurdish sources, Kirkuk's population is 1.5 million citizens, 60 per cent of them are Kurds and 25 per cent are Arabs and the remaining are Turkmen.

The process of returning the Arab settlers to their original areas will facilitate the return of more than 200,000 Kurdish immigrants who were forced to flee from the city by the former regime.

Mohammad Arslan, a member of the Turkmen Front in Kirkuk, said to Gulf News: "The two Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdish Democratic Party, are trying to change the province's demography by forcing Arabs and Turkmen to leave Kirkuk and I think paying compensations is being done with force, and this will lead to confrontation."

Elite sources in former prime minister Ayad Allawi's group, says that an essential part of the recent Shiite-Kurdish agreement is to normalise the situation in Kirkuk because Kurds bartered with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to support this normalisation in return for their support.

Talal Al Sa'adi, a prominent leader in the Shiite Sadr trend, warned of the continuation of attempting to "normalise the situation" in Kirkuk.

He said, "The ideal situation is for Kirkuk to be an Iraqi city, not a Kurdish city or else it will lead to an escalation of violence and tension."

General Anwar Mohammad Ameen, army commander in Kirkuk said, "Kirkuk is a stable and calm province after the process of compensation payment and there is some understanding between Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen clans."

Gulfnews: Kirkuk compensation 'process is transparent'

New U.S. embassy opening in Iraq delayed: lawmaker

A leading U.S. lawmaker complained on Thursday that last month's target date to open the mammoth new U.S. Embassy complex in Baghdad could now be delayed by months due to contractor deficiencies.

In a letter to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos said such delays raised concerns over the adequacy of the department's management of overseas building operations.

"These delays and deficiencies undermine the security and the living standards of almost 1,000 foreign service officers and other embassy staff that will be housed at the Baghdad Embassy," wrote the California lawmaker, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the complaints made by Lantos and a spokesman said he did not know whether Negroponte had yet received the letter.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, when complete, will be the biggest in the world, costing some $600 million.

It sits in the heavily fortified Green Zone and is aimed at enabling diplomats to be completely self-sufficient, providing sleeping quarters and including a shopping complex, cinema, gym and extensive sporting facilities.

Its construction has been fraught with difficulty and another leading Democrat, Rep. Henry Waxman of California, complained in August that problems included faulty electrical wiring and failure to build proper blast-resistant walls.

Waxman has also opened an inquiry into accusations the State Department's inspector general interfered with investigations into waste and fraud involving the construction of the embassy. The inspector general rejected those claims.

In a major embarrassment earlier this year, a U.S. architectural firm posted detailed drawings of the new embassy on its Web site, sparking complaints their release could endanger U.S. personnel.

New U.S. embassy opening in Iraq delayed: lawmaker | Politics | Reuters

Minister Hails 2008 Budget

There will a large increase in funding for municipal services in Iraq in 2008, said Finance Minister Baqer al-Zubaidi as he unveiled 2008 budget.

Zubaidi said 2008 budget, estimated at $42 billion, is larger than 2007 due to the increase in oil prices. This year’s budget has been estimated at $41 billion.

Zubaidi made the remarks during a two-day conference in the southern city of Hilla held to discuss post-war reconstruction.

He said allocations to upgrade public utilities in the provinces will surge by 30 percent in 2008 to reach $3.7 billion.

The conference was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Burham Saleh and ministers of industry, electricity and defense.

Zubaidi said defense will remain the center-piece of budget allocations in 2008. He gave no figures but this year’s defense allocations have believed to have devoured more than one third of the budget.

“It is important that we supply and equip our armed forces in the ministries of interior and defense with the best weapons to enable them confront the danger of terrorism and crime,” the minister said.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-10-04\kurd.htm

Oversight in Iraq Projects Has Proven Difficult

President Bush has directed the State Department to establish provincial teams across Iraq with the aim of answering concerns over a raft of ill-conceived projects, bureaucratic confusion, and lack of oversight in the country's reconstruction.

Tom Timberman, who heads one of the reconstruction teams, is based 40 miles south of Baghdad, where the State Department has set up a sort of "mini Green Zone" — a large, heavily fortified regional embassy that houses foreign service officers charged with overseeing development in the key regions of Babil, Najaf and Karbala.

Timberman said the operation has been hobbled by insufficient staffing and travel restrictions.

"Some of [the officers] have not been able to visit their provinces since sometime last year," he said. "[It's] key because if you can't move around and visit places in your province, then you're not going to be terribly effective."

At 66, Timberman came out of retirement to work here. He has years of development experience, but he says the foreign service is simply too small to produce enough people with the necessary skills.

He cites other problems — a lack of overall planning, and, more importantly, the state department's relationship with the U.S. military has not been spelled out. Instead of pooling their resources, the two have often worked at crossed purposes.

Timberman said the State Department teams working out of the provincial capital, Hillah, were grounded most of the time because the State Department regional security officer would not permit them to travel de****e their high-priced security personnel and armored vehicles.
"His standard is to keep as many people alive and unharmed as possible. Unfortunately, if that becomes your total objective, then getting out becomes somewhere down at the bottom of the priority list," he said.

Lt. Col. Tom Roth, also based in the area, said he is on standby to help but has been repeatedly frustrated by the State Department security officer, known as the RSO, who will not allow his teams — known as PRTs — to travel with the military.

"I was always right here," Roth said. "I can take them anywhere."
"There were many times … the PRT would [not] … give me permission, and I'd say 'You got to be kidding me,' " he added.

Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker have now agreed that State Department officials can travel with the military. In the meantime, however, Roth says development has been conducted by remote control.

"Security in a vacuum is no security at all, if you are just maintaining the conditions that created the problems in the first place," Roth said.

Gen. Edward Cardon said an obvious missed opportunity is an airport in Najaf that could be providing jobs and economic growth.

"After four years, we are still not landing airplanes at the Najaf airport. I think there is now recognition that perhaps we can do something faster," he said.

With the help of military convoys, State Department officials are now finally meeting face-to-face with local leaders to sort out these kinds of projects. But the governor of Karbala complained that progress is still slow.

He said his most recent meeting with the State Department Reconstruction team produced nothing concrete.

Cardon, however, does see progress. He has seen the greatest success among civilian development teams embedded directly with military brigades.

"We would have done a lot better if [we'd put the] right experts early on into these brigades and allowed them to work in a coordinated fashion."
Timberman agreed, saying embedded reconstruction teams are key. He said the State Department's late arrival has cost local communities important training and preparation.

Timberman has signed up for another year, saying he is just now hitting his stride and the State Department is finally on the right track. Still, he worries that it could be too late to do what is necessary.

NPR : Oversight in Iraq Projects Has Proven Difficult

Edward Pietrzyk, the Polish ambassador to Iraq, was slightly wounded Wednesday and two civilians, including a bodyguard, were killed in a roadside bomb attack in downtown Baghdad. The attack took place a few hundred yards from the Polish Embassy.
The ambassador was being treated for burns and "is going to be fine," Deputy Ambassador Waldemar Figaj said.
Pietrzyk, 57, has been ambassador in Iraq since April. He was formerly commander of land forces in Poland.
A civilian passer-by died after at least two roadside bombs were detonated around 10 a.m., according to an Iraqi police official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A Polish security guard, believed to be Pietrzyk's driver, died at the ho****al a short time later, said Robert Szaniawski, a spokesman for the Polish Foreign Ministry.
At least 11 people, including three security guards with the convoy, were also wounded in the attack in the Karradah neighborhood, police said. The guards worked for Poland's Government Protection Office, which is responsible for the security of Polish officials in Iraq, said Dariusz Aleksandrowicz, the agency's spokesman.
"We still don't have the reasons for the attack," said Szaniawski, noting that the embassy is not in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the attack would not weaken his countrymen's resolve to fight terrorism in Iraq.
"Backing out before terrorists is the worst possible solution and I trust that the Poles, who are a brave nation, will not desert the battlefield," he said. "We must fight terrorism and that entails a certain risk."
Poland, a staunch U.S. ally, contributed combat troops to the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq, and has since led a multinational division south Baghdad. About 900 Polish troops are stationed there training Iraqi personnel; 21 have died during the conflict.
Last year, the Polish government extended its mission in Iraq until the end of 2007, leaving a decision on further extensions for later this year.
"Poland has been a strong and steadfast ally here and around the world, and we commend its commitment to a stable and secure Iraq," said a brief statement issued by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and the U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus, condemning the attack. "We stand ready to provide any additional assistance we can."

'100 million dollar al-Qaeda financier' netted in Iraq
Iraqi, US forces claim to have detained man involved in Al-Askari mosque bombing.

Iraqi and US forces have detained a man they believe received 100 million dollars this summer from Al-Qaeda sympathisers to hand out for "terrorist" operations in Iraq, the US military said Thursday.

"The 100 million was what our intelligence reports indicate he has received spanning several months this year," US military spokesman Sam Hymas said. "That is all the unclassified information I can give you."

He was also linked to purchasing explosives and weapons for the February 2006 attack on the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra, widely seen as the trigger of Iraq's sectarian strife, and a second attack on June 13 this year that destroyed the shrine's two minarets.

A statement from the military said the man, who was detained Tuesday in the central Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Kindi, was suspected of handing over 50,000 dollars a month to Al-Qaeda using his leather merchant business as a front.

"He is believed to have received one hundred million dollars this summer from terrorist supporters who cross the border illegally or fly into Iraq from Italy, Syria and Egypt," the military said.

He is also suspected of travelling abroad himself to seek money for Al-Qaeda and of employing up to 50 extremists to help deliver bomb-making materials to insurgents.

The suspect, who according to US military intelligence has stores in Jordan and Syria, was also wanted for allegedly shooting dead three US soldiers and wounding another in April this year, the military said.

'100 million dollar al-Qaeda financier' netted in Iraq | Iraq Updates

Kuwait's ruler rejects any partition of Iraq
Sheikh Sabah says dividing Iraq into federal regions dangerous for whole region.

Kuwait will not accept any plan to divide Iraq into federal regions and wants the United States to remain there until the country is stable, the ruler of the Gulf state said in remarks aired on Thursday.

"We will not accept the partition of Iraq, we consider this to be dangerous to us. It will be dangerous for the whole region," Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told Al-Arabiya television, commenting on a US Senate resolution advocating the division of Iraq into federal regions.

"We are against this division and I think that even the Iraqis will not accept this."

The non-binding Senate amendment, which was passed last week, says the United States should actively support a political settlement among Iraqis based on a federal system of government.

The amendment has been widely interpreted as a proposal to divide Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines into Sunni Arab, Shiite Arab and Kurdish regions.

Sheikh al-Sabah also called on the United States to keep its troops in Iraq until stability is seen on the ground.

"I say it frankly, I would like the (United States) to withdraw its troops from tomorrow, but do you think that if they pull out there will be stability in Iraq? I think not," he said.

"We will hold the United States responsible for the fighting in Iraq, therefore, I wish that they will not leave now before they maintain a strong army in Iraq that can protect Iraq and its people."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday that the resolution was well-meaning but failed to recognize the ethnic complexity of Iraqi cities and regions.

The Arab League criticized the resolution and described the idea as "hostile to Arab interests."

Kuwait's ruler rejects any partition of Iraq | Iraq Updates

Demand for dollar slightly drops in daily auction

Demand for the dollar was slightly lower in the Iraqi Central Bank’s auction on Thursday, reaching $62.615 million compared with $67.730 million on Wednesday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, including $3.250 million in cash and $59.365 in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,233 dinars per dollar, unchanged for the third session in a row.
None of the 14 banks that participated in Thursday's session offered to sell dollars.

In statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), Ali al-Yasseri, a trader, attributed the lower demand for the dollar in Thursday's session to the stable exchange rate for the third session running. The exchange rate in the local market is lower than that offered in today's auction, encouraging traders to make bids in foreign transfers more than to buy in cash.

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

Demand for dollar slightly drops in daily auction | Iraq Updates

Loans for small projects in governorates
After being confined to Baghdad

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Sheikh Radi, said that the Ministry has started implementing the program of facilitated loans to set up small projects for the unemployed in governorates after it was limited to Baghdad; the resolution stipulates the establishment of three projects in each province as a first stage, and the provinces which will complete their work will be granted additional amount for other projects in order to eliminate unemployment in all governorates.

He pointed out that the ministry suspended disbursement of subsidies of social protection network granted for the unemployed graduates of colleges and institutes, and also organized the recourse of citizens to the unit of social protection network, according to alphabet over the week, and visited "560" registered and unregistered projects in the provinces of Baghdad and Najaf. It visited "508" projects in Baghdad where "5" of the projects were included by the law articles, and visited "51" projects in Najaf where "9" of the projects were included by the law articles; during these visits "3" million, "279"thousand and "944"dinars were collected in addition to the incomes of rents of the properties of Baghdad governorate, which amounted to" 6 "million" 66 " thousand and" 580 "dinars.

The minister said during a press conference held in the office of the ministry, "We have formed committees to follow up the work in each governorate and these committees will be under the supervision of the minister and the ministry's two agents directly. The first committee will be responsible for the provinces "Basrah, Maysan, Thi Qar, Wasit and Muthanna," the second committee will be responsible for "Diwaniyah, Najaf, Karbala and Hilla," the third for the governorates," Al-Anbar, Salah al-Din and Ninawa "in addition to the fourth committee which includes Kirkuk and Kurdistan region and the fifth committee which will be responsible for Baghdad and Diyala. The segments covered in this program are graduates of colleges and institutes registered in labor centers and vocational training in each province and the damaged due to terrorist operations, like those who lost their supporter and the disabled ones who can not work as well as shopkeepers whose shops were inflicted by the impact of terrorist operations, in addition to the displaced persons who return to their home areas and the ones who did not so far provided that they set up the projects in their original provinces.

The Minister of Labor said that the Cabinet allocated $15 million to each province for the establishment of this project and this amount will be enhanced when the second phase is started. The loan ranges between "10 - 5" million dinars for each project, according to the submitted economic feasibility, to be paid back within a period ranging between "8-6" years with a grace period and that the interest does not exceed "2%" while the Ministry of Finance will bear "4%" of the interest given to the bank by each of the categories covered with the loan; also, the age condition was canceled for the graduates of colleges and institutes as it used to require that the age should not be more than "45" years and that this requirement will be eliminated during the second phase in Baghdad.


Loans for small projects in governorates | Iraq Updates