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

Investment allocations worth 310 million Dolarvi current year budget
- 09/10/2007 Business and Economy-09/10/2007

برس: Baghdad-file Press:

. The Iraqi government plans to calculate an increase of 30% in budget allocations development of the budget during the next year. جداً. An official source told (file Press), this decision came in furtherance of the role of the governorate of Basra and services in the direct implementation of conservation projects that the Iraqi government has allocated $ 310 million in the 2007 budget allocation of investment, including $ 195 million in budget allocations development regions have been the allocation of $ 50 million small soft loans to promote the private sector of income earners and businessmen, traders and industrialists as well as the network covered by social protection and the unemployed graduates very few benefits.
. The source added that the government has decided to support the formation of this trend Ttoiralastosmar body in the province of Basra to encourage investments by providing advice and coordination between the federal government and the Provincial Assembly, as well as the Development Fund for Basra and the allocation of $ 30 million from the Finance Ministry in support of this fund, which involved the donor countries to support, emphasizing willing to support Mr. Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister and his government to assign this fund for the advancement of the general situation in the governorate of Basra and the creation of job opportunities through expansion in the provision of loans for projects to support economic investment by the public sector, the Special contribute to the rehabilitation of the region in trade in goods and services.

المالية. It is noted that this came to the importance of maintaining gaps in Basra as Iraq and the Gulf doorway Marine serving all regions of Iraq in addition to the added reserve of oil a tremendous clique statute of Iraq's financial resources.

قي. The Iraqi government also attaches great importance to the development of provincial and encourage them to the planning and implementation of important projects and services that serve the Iraqi citizen.

Translated version of http://www.almalafpress.net/index.php?d=126&id=43478

Iraq vows to punish Blackwater guards
Government probe reveals guards were not provoked when they deliberately fired at civilians in Baghdad.

Iraq has vowed to punish US security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards were not provoked when they opened "deliberate" fire in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 civilians.

The US embassy was tight-lipped on Monday on whether those involved in the September 16 killings would be handed over for prosecution in a case that has thrown the spotlight on the often controversial work of private security operators in Iraq.

"This and other matters will be discussed by the joint commission as they proceed with their work, so it is best not to prejudge the outcome of their discussions at this point," embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said, referring to a joint Iraq-US inquiry into the shootings.

The Iraqi government said in its report into the killings in Nisoor Square released on Sunday that the Blackwater guards were unprovoked when they opened fire and that they should face legal punishment.

"The investigation committee appointed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ... has finished its inquiry and has found that there was no evidence that the convoy of Blackwater came under fire directly or indirectly," a government statement said.

"It was not touched even by a stone," it said.

"Employees of the company violated the rules governing use of force by security companies," it said. "They have committed a deliberate crime and should be punished under the law."

It gave the number of dead from the shootings as 17, considerably higher than the previous toll according to which at least 10 people had been killed. The statement said 22 people had been wounded.

The Iraqi government would now take "judicial measures to punish the company," the statement said.

Blackwater, employed to protect US government personnel in Iraq, maintains its men were legitimately responding to an ambush while escorting a US State Department convoy.

Nantongo said the Iraqi government report into Blackwater -- the largest private security firm in Iraq -- had been debated during the first meeting of the joint commission in Baghdad on Sunday.

"The commission discussed the status of the Iraqi and US investigations," she said.

The commission is looking at the September 16 incident involving Blackwater as well as at the wider business of private security contractors in Iraq.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's envoy, ambassador Patrick Kennedy, is also conducting an overall review of how the State Department conducts its protective security detail operations in Iraq.

Nantongo said on Monday that another two members of Kennedy's team are expected in Iraq this week and it was not clear when they would complete their task.

"It is still too early to talk about timelines," she said.

Based on Kennedy's initial findings, Rice on Friday tightened control of Blackwater's operations in Iraq, ordering security agents from the State Department to accompany every convoy.

The State Department said on Thursday it had ceded the lead role in the investigation of Blackwater, which is accused of involvement in nearly 200 shootings in Iraq, to the FBI.

Nantongo said a team of FBI investigators had arrived in Baghdad last Thursday and was involved in the investigations.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has also launched a review on his department's use of private security contractors.

Sunday's meeting of the joint commission was co-chaired by Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim and the US embassy's Patricia Butenis.

The commission comprises five embassy representatives, three from the US military and eight Iraqis.

"The two sides agreed to continue their coordination and to complete the process of inquiry in order to prevent the recurrence of any incidents in the future," said a statement from the committee heads.

Iraq vows to punish Blackwater guards | Iraq Updates

Jalal Talabani supports dividing Iraq and wants three US permanent bases in Iraq

The United States could withdraw more than 100,000 troops out of Iraq by the end of 2008 but should retain three permanent bases, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Sunday.

Interviewed on CNN in Washington, Talabani also backed a US Senate plan to decentralize Iraq along ethnic lines, but the ethnic Kurd said he opposed an independent Kurdistan.

"More than 100,000 can be back by the end of the next year," he said of the US troop presence in Iraq, which would leave about 30,000 personnel once a limited withdrawal planned by US President George W. Bush is complete.

Iraqi forces are making good progress which could allow US troops to begin a partial withdrawal from Iraq earlier than planned, Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said Friday.
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd

At White House talks Tuesday, Talabani and Bush discussed sluggish progress towards legislation to share oil revenues among Iraq's sectarian groups and rehabilitate former members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath regime.

Talabani told CNN that he wanted the United States to retain three permanent bases in northern, central and southern Iraq to train Iraqi forces "and preventing our neighbors from interfering."

"Of course, Iran included, we don't want Iran to interfere in our internal affairs. We want good relations with Iran," he said, while opposing a call from the US Congress to label Iran's Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organization."

Talabani did back a US Senate vote last month to subdivide Iraq into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni entities, with a federal government in Baghdad in charge of border security and oil revenues.

The plan is opposed by the White House and by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, but the Iraqi president said it merited careful consideration.

A close reading of the Senate's non-binding resolution shows that "in every article that it is insisting on the unity of Iraq, of the security of Iraq, of the prosperity of Iraq, of national reconciliation and asking our neighbors not to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq," Talabani said.

In any case, Iraq's Kurdistan regional government last week announced four more oil deals, ignoring criticism from Maliki's government and Washington that it is unilaterally selling off the country's national resources.

But Talabani stressed: "There is no possibility of having independent Kurdistan for many reasons."

Regional powers with their own Kurdish minorities such as Turkey, Iran, and Syria would "send arms to fight that," he said, and the Kurdish people's best interest lies in a "democratic, federal regime in Iraq."

Jalal Talabani supports dividing Iraq and wants three US permanent bases in Iraq | Iraq Updates

Sorry if already posted.

Sharp drop in demand for dollar in daily auction

Demand for the dollar was lower in the Iraqi Central Bank’s daily auction on Monday, reaching $42.700 million compared with $66.055 million on Sunday.

In its daily statement the bank said it had covered all bids, including $8.450 million in cash and $34.250 in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,232 dinars per dollar, one tick lower than yesterday.

The 13 banks that participated in Monday's session offered to sell $3 million, which the bank bought at an exchange rate of 1,230 dinars per dollar.

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

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

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

2 Million Barrels Daily Oil Exports

The mount of the exported oil from the northern and southern borders reached almost 2,650 million barrels daily.

A source at oil ministry said that, the mentioned amount reach directly to the international companies which were contracted with it and without any cripples.

He added that, exporting the oil across the northern borders amounted almost 350 000 barrels daily but in intermittent form, since the ministry tends to find a precautionary measure in the storages of Jihan Turkish port, because the companies used the nearer distance of transforming the oil which lessening the costs.

On the other hand, he uncovered of founding big steeling of the oil amounts in Ammara and Biji, by selling the oil to the stone factories.

2 Million Barrels Daily Oil Exports | Iraq Updates

Parliament delays voting on oil law

The Parliament delayed the voting on refusing veto of the oil investment law till after holiday of holy Lesser Bairam and while it discussed emigrants to Kurdistan's issue and executing 2007 budget, Sheikh Khalid Atteia revealed giving beneficiaries from social protection net ID100,000 on the occasion of the Bairam.

The session witnessed debate among MPs about voting on the oil law after vetoing it by presidency committee; some MPs refused this veto and considered it as breakdown of laws, while others thought that the veto is normal and legislative issues led to the veto.

Parliament delays voting on oil law | Iraq Updates

Oil security improves, Iraq chief predicts

Security of the oil infrastructure in Iraq is to be less of a priority than the economic factors, Iraq's national security adviser predicts.

"Probably the last two years, one and a half years, we were talking about security, security, security," Mowaffak al-Rubaie said Friday at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Rubaie, in a mostly optimistic speech and answers to reporters' questions, said the trend in Iraq is that the security situation is improving, along with help and partnership with the United States.

"If we can sustain this level of security until the end of the year, I can tell you next year is going to be about services, services, services. Economy, economy, economy," he said. "And then security."

Iraq's vast oil and natural gas reserves have been hit hard by decades of misuse by Saddam Hussein, stunted by U.N. sanctions, and have survived thus far in the post-invasion war zone. While they need tens of billions of dollars in investment, the hydrocarbons and electricity sectors need a break from the regular attacks that are keeping out investment and hurting repairs.

"We are going to have more capital investment for next year in 2008 in the oil sector," Rubaie said. Iraq has been unable to turn capital allocations into expenditures, another setback.

He said he met with U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman while in Washington this week, and from the meeting produced a list of small "quick fix projects آ… to try to increase the number of barrels every day we get out."

"Protection of the pipelines and the infrastructure, gas as well as oil pipelines, as well as the power lines, these are issues we prioritize for next year," he said.

Iraq currently produces about 2 million bpd, though its reserves could handle much more. A five-year strategic plan has Iraq producing more than 6 million bpd.

That sector is pivotal," Rubaie said, "it's like the jugular vein for us."

Oil security improves, Iraq chief predicts | Iraq Updates

Yet again

Iraq's Kurdistan defends oil deals, says more soon

The government in Iraqi Kurdistan has reiterated its defence of oil and gas deals it has signed with foreign firms this year, with the semi-autonomous region's prime minister saying two more would be signed soon.

Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani accused Iraq's central government, which has said deals signed by Kurdistan after February 2007 are illegal, of being locked in a Saddam Hussein-era "time warp".

Oil Ministry officials in Baghdad were using Iraq's oil resources, the third-largest in the world, "to create obeisance and loyalty to the center", Barzani wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal at the weekend.

Iraq's cabinet agreed on a draft oil law, under which control and revenue from Iraq's oil reserves are to be shared among Baghdad and Iraq's provinces, but the law has since been stalled amid political infighting.

Frustrated by the delays, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) approved its own oil law in August and said last month it had signed a production sharing contract with a unit of U.S.-based Hunt Oil Co and with Impulse Energy Corp.

"So far, we have signed eight production-sharing contracts with international oil and gas companies," Barzani wrote.

"We expect to sign another two in the near future."

Barzani said the contracts were consistent with Iraq's constitution, which allows provinces substantial control of natural resources, and with the revenue-sharing provisions of the draft oil law.

He said the KRG had waited five months for Iraq's parliament to pass the draft law but there was no sign they would act "any time soon".
"We decided to 'lead from the front'," he said.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said in an interview with Reuters last month the KRG's deals were illegal and expressed concern about their "secrecy".

He said crude from the deals could not be legally exported because the draft law states that only Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation held the right to export.

Barzani said the KRG deals were not an attempt to "usurp" Iraq's oil resources and noted Washington's frustration at the slow progress of the oil law, a key legislative benchmark aimed at reconciling Iraq's warring communities.

"The resources that can ease the suffering of the people of Iraq lie beneath our feet," he said.

"We are not a 'rogue province' seeking an early escape from the chaos that has become Iraq," Barzani said.

Iraq's Kurdistan defends oil deals, says more soon | Iraq Updates

Forget victory in Iraq, go for stability

The Washington mountain has labored and brought forth less than a mouse. General David Petraeus and President George W. Bush have spoken, but United States policy in Iraq remains as it was. This policy has led the US into a trap, so that now the largest and most important power in the world is facing only bad options.

If the US followed its national interests, it would withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible, because the war can no longer be won. It is weakening the West's leading power and strengthening the West's enemies. But the US cannot withdraw without sending the entire region into chaos.

The US wanted to establish a democratic Iraq. Instead, after a US withdrawal, the country might fall apart, possibly leading to the "balkanization" of the Middle East, with extremely dangerous consequences for the whole region.

With the war in Iraq, the US also wanted to initiate a democratic transformation of the entire Middle East. Instead, it has helped Iran to gain a regional ascendancy that the country could never have achieved on its own. Instead of a democratic transformation, were the US to withdraw now, the Middle East would face a war of all against all for regional hegemony.

There is no indication that Bush will begin to grasp this bitter reality during the remaining months of his term. If he were to admit defeat, his presidency would be destroyed. He will thus pass the war on to his successor. This might be advantageous for Bush's domestic purposes, but as a foreign policy, it will only escalate the risk of a Middle East explosion.

The current US turn toward collaboration with Sunni militias holds within it the risk of a final break-up of Iraq into three parts. The key question is whether the consequences of Iraq's disintegration could be contained within its national borders, or whether large parts of the region would be affected. A disintegrating Iraq would draw all its neighbors and other powers in the region into an undeclared war of succession. Moreover, in the Middle East, there is no safety net like the European Union, which has helped lure the Balkans out of the abyss.

The only way out of this dilemma is to set a reachable and realistic goal. Instead of victory, the goal must be a minimum of stability - and this still seems achievable. Indeed, a US military withdrawal from Iraq can be accomplished without causing a major regional catastrophe only if America manages to establish such minimal regional stability. What this requires is a sustainable consensus that includes all the parties involved.

Iraq's future, if it still has any, will depend first and foremost on Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, and, secondly, on Iraq's neighbors and their interests and risk calculations. But even if Iraq does fall apart after US withdrawal, it will be of vital importance to contain the consequences of its disintegration within Iraq's own borders. This will require a regional consensus that only the US can bring about.

It is hard to understand why the US does so little to advance the goal of regional stabilization, especially since it still retains considerable leverage in this respect. As no regional power is strong enough to win a war of succession outright, all of these powers could only lose if a conflict ensues. Indeed, all will be threatened by internal destabilization as a consequence of such a confrontation.

Certainly, talks and conferences make little sense without a coherent policy. But with appropriate preparation, a regional solution is possible, and, of all the parties involved, Syria is uniquely positioned to help bring it about. Syria is the only Arab country allied with Iran, and, as Iraq's direct neighbor, it is crucial for Iraq's stabilization. Moreover, Lebanon's security and independence hinges on Syria, and Syria is one of the main actors in the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Finally, economically and politically, Syria is in a weak position and its interests are by no means congruent with those of Iran.

It's incomprehensible, then, why the US, having succeeded in striking a deal with Libya, vehemently rejects any initiative toward Syria. If Syria changed sides, the situation in the region would be fundamentally transformed. This would be true for Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq and, above all, Iran.

For Iran, this development would be tantamount to a strategic worst-case scenario, bringing about its definitive isolation. Should it become a realistic prospect, a decisive approach to Iran would make sense. The ensuing "grand bargain" should concern the stabilization of Iraq, Iran's nuclear program, and its role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If successful, the bargain should also aim at a total normalization of relations between Iran and the US.

To be sure, even a decisive regional strategy by the US and its Western partners will not stop terrorism and violence in Iraq or, indeed, in the Middle East overnight. But it would be a decisive first step toward changing the regional balance of power that would enable the stabilization of Iraq and the region as a whole. Only this can make a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq realistic in the foreseeable future.

Forget victory in Iraq, go for stability | Iraq Updates

British PM discusses Iraqi economy with minister

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently met with Iraqi Minister Hoshyar Zebari to discuss Iraq reconstruction and investment.
Brown stated that the current situation in Iraq requires further efforts for reconstruction and strengthening the Iraqi economy.

Zebari also met with Simon McDonald, foreign policy adviser to the British prime minister, discussing the importance of reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Iraqi economy.

McDonald stressed that the presence of the British in Basra shows a desire to establish security in Iraq and to implement investment projects. McDonald discussed how the disbursement of funds for reconstruction will serve the Iraqi economy and the global economy through an establishment of funds developed in cooperation with concerned Iraqi and American programs, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

British PM discusses Iraqi economy with minister | Iraq Updates