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

Iraqi Govn't, factions, people determined on Iraq's unity- Maliki

Baghdad, Oct 10, (VOI) – The Iraqi government, political parties and people are keen to preserve Iraq's unity, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a message to Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, the initiator of a recent U.S. Congress resolution calling for the division of Iraq along ethnic lines.

"I am grateful for your repeated visits to Iraq, and in my capacity as the head of an elected and democratic government, I affirm to you that the Iraqi leadership and political parties are committed to Iraq's unity," al-Maliki said.

"Iraqis strongly believe in the unity of their country from the very north to the very south. It is our land and we will ferociously defend its interests and unity."

The message, published on Wednesday on the cabinet's Web site, highlighted the Iraqi government's adherence to the constitution, which it said was voted upon by free and democratic referendum, and the federal system stipulated in the constitution.

Stressing his government's rejection of a "sectarian-based federalism," al-Maliki said that the Iraqi people have managed to undermine all attempts to provoke a civil war and trigger sectarian sedition.

A few days ago, the Senate approved, with 75 votes for and 23 against, a "non-binding" resolution envisaging the division of Iraq into three Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni entities, with a federal government in Baghdad undertaking border security and oil proceed management. Supporters of the resolution said that it was the "only solution" to stopping acts of violence that are sweeping the country.

Aswat Aliraq

Iran to open two consulates in northern Iraq

Baghdad - Iran will open two consulates in Iraq's Kurdish Autonomous Region after talks held by officials from the province in Tehran, a Kurdish government spokesman said on Wednesday.

'The decision by Iran to open consulates in the province comes after talks held by a Kurdish government delegation with Iranian officials,' Jamal Abdallah, the spokemsan for the Kurdish Autonomous Region told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The consulates will be opened in Arbil and Sulaymanyah to facilitate trade ties and relations between Iran and the Kurdish region, Abdallah said.
An official Kurdish delegation was in Tehran on Thursday to seek a reopening of Iran's border with the Kurdish Autonomous Region.

Iran closed its border with northern Iraq after US troops arrested an Iranian who was part of a trade delegation that was visiting the province. But border crossings have been reopened on Monday.

Iran to open two consulates in northern Iraq - Middle East

Iraq: Top Sunni cleric calls for dialogue with al-Qaeda

A top Iraqi Sunni cleric, Sheikh Harith al-Dari, who heads the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI), has said the group is open to dialogue with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"We reject the actions of al-Qaeda but they are still part of us, Sunnis, and we are 90 percent of them, because al-Qaeda is by now, Iraqi," said al-Dari in an interview with the Doha-based satellite TV channel Al Jazeera.

"For this reason we can speak to them and try to make their change their ideas and get them to return to reason," said al-Dari who is based in Jordan.

This statement offering dialogue to the terrorist group has angered Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc, the National Concord Front.

The bloc published a statement on its internet site calling al-Dari's position "dangerous because it pushes the terrorists to commit new crimes."

It also rejected al-Dari's other appeal calling on his believers not to adhere to Sunni tribal militias who have been fighting against al-Qaeda and hunting down the terrorists in the al-Anbar province.

Some tribal and Sunni insurgent groups have joined the fight against al-Qaeda, angered by its indiscriminate killings of civilians and harsh interpretation of Islam.

AKI - Adnkronos international Iraq: Top Sunni cleric calls for dialogue with al-Qaeda

US backs joint initiative

Baghdad: Following the formation of what is known as "awakening Sunni councils" against Al Qaida, the US forces, supported by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, have formed Shiite-Sunni awakening councils.
This is an attempt to allay fears by Shiite politicians and religious figures that exclusive awakening Sunni councils will cause an outbreak of sectarian violence, anaylsts said.

Al Maliki's government wants to apply this approach in mixed neighbourhoods.

"The government's approach was taken under pressure from Shiite political forces who feared that Sunni armed militias would turn into a military coup d'etat force, thus Shiite clerics in Najaf and Karbala strongly attacked the policy of forming awakening Sunni councils, beside Shiites believe that Sunni fighters were Al Qaida members and former Baathists," Ayad Abdul Hamid, a political researcher, told Gulf News.
US forces have started to establish Sunni-Shiite forces in the Al Dora and Assaydia mixed districts to fight Al Qaida.

However, Abdul Jabbar Al Bari, a former officer in the Interior Ministry in Iyad Allawi's era, told Gulf News: "Establishing mixed forces is very serious and it will not bolster the security operation, and this approach simply means failure to build Iraqi security forces."

Reconciliation process

Official sources in Baghdad confirmed that Al Maliki had adopted this approach to strengthen the national reconciliation process between Shiites and Sunnis and to address Al Qaida.

Fadwa Al Mashhadani, a political analyst, told Gulf News: "We must recognise this trend is the output of a sectarian government headed by Al Maliki who failed in building a national security force."

She added: "As for those, who head the Sunni-Shiite militias, they are very well known to be at the core of chaos. I wonder if the Americans hope that they will turn into the core of law and order?"

The goal of the awakening Sunni-Shiite councils is not only to expel Al Qaida elements, but also to pursue the Mahdi Army of Shiite leader Muqtada Al Sadr.

Gulfnews: US backs joint initiative

Analysis: Iraqi Kurds make oil sales pitch

The Kurdistan Regional Government is offering the global oil industry its first and, so far, only chance at entering the Iraqi crude sector. De****e anger in Baghdad, the KRG plans to sign even more controversial oil deals and is waving the "For Sale" sign proudly.

"We have many opportunities to excite you," KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami told UPI when asked what the "sales pitch" is to international oil firms. "And if you don't come forward now, you will lose."

The KRG, covering a three-province region in the north of the country, has pressed forward with its own oil agenda, claiming the national government refuses progress. Baghdad, however, says it's the Kurds who are the roadblock.

A proposed oil law that would govern the sector has been stuck in negotiations for a year. It's now on a Parliament committee's agenda, but its future is unknown.

The Kurds, with only a small portion of Iraq's known reserves but an expectation of finding a lot more, are demanding less central control. They want oil-producing regions and provinces to have the power to negotiate and sign contracts for exploration blocks. They also want the nationalized sector to be available to foreign/private investors.

Most in the Shiite-led central government, as well as the Sunni minority, are arguing for a central government to set the strategic oil policy, and there is a dispute as to foreign investment, for which the powerful oil unions want strict guidelines.

Both sides say the 2005 constitution supports their claims.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani was at an Iraq oil conference in Dubai early last month when the KRG announced a production-sharing contract with Dallas-based Hunt Oil Corp., the first deal signed since the KRG passed its own regional oil law; both are thorns in Baghdad's side.

"Those contracts have no standing as far as the Iraqi government is concerned," Shahristani said after the deal was announced. He said until a new oil law is passed, as called for in the constitution, a Saddam-era oil law that places the power in the federal government's hands still stands.

"We have a law, and the law only authorizes the Ministry of Oil to sign contracts and nobody else in Iraq now," he said, "so any contract signed by any other group has no standing." He called all but the very first KRG deals "illegal."

Shahristani said he wants to wait for a federal oil law. The major oil firms are waiting as well, fearing a deal with the KRG will blacklist them from any deals in the rest of the country, where nearly all of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves are located.

At the Dubai conference, senior officials at most of the major oil companies told UPI they were waiting on Baghdad. None would speak on the record.

With an ambitious oil development plan -- especially considering the state of security in the country -- Shahristani said he'd sign development deals by the end of this year, with or without a new oil law.

The KRG says the constitution legitimizes its semiautonomous region, thus its own oil law. Hawrami said the law is in line with a February version of the national oil law. That law was agreed upon by a negotiation team but has since fallen out of favor because of KRG objections.

"It is unfortunate, really, the behavior that's taking place by the Kurdistan region," Abdul-Hadi al-Hasani, deputy head of Parliament's Energy Committee, told UPI after the KRG last week announced two more oil deals. "They are supposed to wait until the oil and gas law is to be passed by the Parliament."

"We anticipate more partnerships as companies who have been studying the area for a while make their move," said Bob Fryklund, vice president of industry relations for the global energy consultants IHS.

"The independents are focused on KRG, while the majors are focused on the existing major fields in the south and central Iraq," Fryklund said. "Thus, continued signature of new blocks in the north by companies like Perenco and Heritage is not unexpected.

"The independents are looking for a foothold in high-potential exploration plays, and most know that in plays which are immature the first companies usually get the better position. ... Big fields are found by the first in," Fryklund said.

The deals are with Heritage Energy Middle East Ltd., a subsidiary of the Canadian firm Heritage Oil and Gas, and Perenco Kurdistan Ltd., a subsidiary of Perenco S.A. of France. Two more contracts were approved by the regional oil council and will be announced soon, Hawrami said.

"All sorts of companies have been in contact and registered with us since the approval of the regional law," he said. "The list includes American companies and many other nationalities."

"We are working on new contracts and we have no shortage of takers, but we have to go through the process in each case to get the best terms for Iraq under these contracts," he said.

When asked whether the future deals will be decided by negotiations with firms or by a bidding process, Hawrami said, "Many parties are interested to make a deal on each block, so we talk to them individually to see how they may fit with our policy and how to maximize our returns from one party versus another."

So far, Hawrami said, the production-sharing contracts give the contractors "15 percent of the profits after the approved cost recoveries."

The deals include a signing bonus, which Hawrami wouldn't detail, other than "not very significant, but designed to get ongoing commitments of the contractors."

Analysis: Iraqi Kurds make oil sales pitch : Middle East World

BREAKING NEWS: State Dept. may phase out Blackwater, other private security contractors in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department may phase out or limit the use of private security guards in Iraq, which could mean canceling Blackwater USA's contract or awarding it to another company in line with an Iraqi government demand, The Associated Press has learned.
Such steps would be difficult given U.S. reliance on Blackwater and other contractors, but they are among options being studied during a comprehensive review of security in Iraq, two senior officials said.
The review was ordered after a Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater guards protecting a U.S. Embassy convoy in Baghdad are accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians.

BREAKING NEWS: State Dept. may phase out Blackwater, other private security contractors in Iraq - News - MSNBC.com

The Kirkuk Issue

Shortly a critical referendum will be held in Northern Iraq to determine the future of the important city of Kirkuk. There are real fears that the aspirations of the Kurds to reclaim the city as an integral part of the Kurdish region will be sabotaged.If the referendum is held and the decision made to join Iraqi Kurdistan, what will the implications be for other minority groups and the relations with Turkey?

Anyone seeking familiarity with the history of the region need only read Nikiteen's Les Kurdes, which is a history of the Kurds. In May 1958, in his preface to this book, the renowned orientalist, Louis Massignon, wrote that co-operation between the mountain Kurds and the Seljuki Turks allowed them to jointly occupy Anatolia. He added that if this co-operation could be re-established and their small differences resolved, they would play an important role in this region of the Middle East.

In the last 30 years, however, everything has changed as a result of the policy of the Arabisation of the Kirkuk region. The 1957 census is the last one which is accepted as legitimate. Today, any individual or group claiming to have the exact statistics of the numbers of Kurds, Turkmans, Arabs and others, is doing so for his own political ends and is not to be believed.

Today, we face an entirely new situation arising from the elections for the Kirkuk Provisional Council held in January 2005. Some people chose not to participate and, consequently, do not accept its result. But the strange thing is that every group is represented in the Council, including those critics of it.

As for myself, I see the Kirkuk issue not as a question of minority or majority, but as a lack of trust in each other which must be overcome. To succeed, we have to find a way to return to the pre-1958 situation when all groups lived peacefully together. This will not be easy, but we should not be discouraged as there still exist areas in Kirkuk where this is the norm. This proves that the problem is not one of ethnicity but of misunderstanding, often caused by outside interference.

From the creation of the Iraqi state, the Central Government constantly tried to undermine and manipulate relations between Kurds and Turkmans, forcing them both to accept the Government's policy. For instance, an Arab was always appointed as Director of Education in Kirkuk. The Kurdish community was encouraged to believe that the Turkmans would never allow them to decide their own policies, and vice versa, if the Director was from either of their communities.

After the fall of the Ba'athist regime in April 2003, the threat came from some extreme Arab organisations and from certain other regional states that were interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq. They used the Arab and international media to disseminate propaganda against the Kurds, accusing them of wanting the "Kurdishisation" of Kirkuk!

In truth, the real interest of all these groups is Kirkuk's oil. By acts of terrorism, the killing of innocent people, and threats against anyone who does not agree with their policies, they aim to make the city insecure.

Their ultimate goal is to prevent the referendum taking place in the time stated according to Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution. They use terrorism as a means of ensuring that the situation in Kirkuk remains as it was under Saddam Hussein and the Ba'athist regime, when the regime controlled the oil revenue and thousands of donams (1 donam = 2,500 square metres) of prime agricultural land was taken by new Arab settlers.

But the Kirkuk region belongs geographically to the Kurdistan region and, even if there were not one drop of oil there, the Kurds would continue to press for this. They do not claim that Kirkuk is a city populated by Kurds alone, but say repeatedly, that there has always been a mix of ethnic groups who lived peacefully together and that every effort should be made to enable them to do so again and to reinstate the principles which governed their lives in the past.

It is not the original Turkman families of Kirkuk who are responsible for attempts to sour relations between Kurds and Turkmans but those who are under outside influence. Many ex-leaders of the “Turkman Front” have spoken of their dealings with various officials of the Iraqi Security Services and say that they were unable to take any decision without consulting them.

Those elements should be rejected. If Kirkuk province becomes a part of the Kurdish region, the number of Turkman MPs in the Parliament of Kurdistan would increase and they would get more ministerial posts - possibly even the post of Assistant Prime Minister.

What then of the potentially destabilising presence of the PKK in southern Kurdistan and the threat by the Turkish army to invade Kurdistan's territory? Are the suggestions that the Turkish army will intervene in northern Iraq serious? In my estimation that threat was linked to internal problems within the army, the government and some political parties during the recent election. The two sides of Turkish politics are trying to take their problem outside Turkey and to make it appear that they are bargaining with each other - the army supported by some political parties on the one side and the government on the other.

The real question should be: why doesn’t the Turkish government instigate a dialogue with representatives of the Kurdish community in Turkey? The official Turkish response is that the PKK is regarded as a terrorist organisation, not only by Turkey, but by the United States and several European countries besides.

My response to this is to cite the case of Israel who, for more than half a century, considered the PLO to be a terrorist organisation but who later met with them in Oslo and Washington and are increasingly negotiating to resolve their problems.

The same thing happened in Northern Ireland, in Spain, in South Africa and in Southern Sudan. For so many years, thousands of civilians were killed in those bloody conflicts but their leaders were finally forced to sit down together and negotiate.

A resolution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey would improve and strengthen economic and commercial ties between the Turks and the Kurdistan region. It is fortunate that there are those who now speak of resolving the Kurdish issue in Turkey whereas they had previously refused even to acknowledge Kurds existence and the Kurdish language. One such is General Kenan Everin, an ex-president of the Republic who took power by coup d'etat in 1980, and who now speaks even of the de-centralisation of Turkey.

Regrettably, the attitude of all previous Turkish governments was against the recognition of the Kurdish language anywhere in the world. As far back as 1958 an hour-long, non-political program of news and songs in Kurdish broadcast by Cairo radio provoked a protest from the Turkish government of that time: the Turkish requested that the program to be withdrawn on the grounds that it threatened the security of the Turkish state. "Are there any Kurds in Turkey who make this broadcast dangerous?" Nasser asked the Turkish ambassador.

It is time to resolve the Kurdish issue in Turkey by dialogue. Such a dialogue would be in the interest of both sides and the Kurds have for long been calling for it.

The view expressed by Massignon 50 years ago that co-operation between these two nations still holds true today. Co-operative relations would increase security in the region and improve the living standards of the populations of Kurdistan and Turkey. My hope is that Turkish intellectuals will follow the example of the Director of Turkish Security who, in an interview with a Turkish journalist at the beginning of 2007, questioned why the armed Kurds in the mountains do not come down and sit at the negotiating table.

It is time to end the bloodshed and hostility which has cost the lives of so many innocent people. Resolving the Kurdish issue in Turkey would also ease Turkey's entry into the EU and we, in this part of Kurdistan, would be delighted to share a border with a member of the EU. It would encourage respect for the principles of democracy and human rights by the leaders of this part of Kurdistan and bring these two great nations closer.

Recently there has been an important development in the region. In July 2007, the Turkish General Election gave the Party of the Prime Minister, Mr Erdugan, a large majority of 47 per cent. This will allow the President of the Republic to be elected from his Party and to make important amendments to the Turkish Constitution which will ease Turkey's passage into the EU.

It will also facilitate dialogue with the Kurdish group now in parliament and help towards resolving the Kurdish issue which has now been denied for more than 80 years. It will encourage the PKK to return to Turkey and to participate in the political process.

Resolving the Turkish issue in Turkey will resolve all the other problems with the Kurdistan Regional Government and lead to closer and stronger economic and commercial ties. It will also increase security and stability in this important region of the Middle East.

Nouri Talabany is a Professor of Law and Independent MP in the Parliament of the Region of Kurdistan.

PUKmedia :: English - The Kirkuk Issue

Turkish military pounds Kurdish rebel camps

Turkish troops pounded suspected Kurdish rebel camps in northern Iraq with artillery fire, a newspaper reported yesterday, after the government announced it would seek parliament's approval for a cross-border military operation.

Turkey's government said on Tuesday it had begun preparations for its army to cross the border in pursuit of rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters yesterday that preparations for a parliamentary authorisation were under way, but did not say when the motion would reach the floor. The preparations "have started and are continuing," he said.

The measure was unlikely to reach Parliament before the end of a four-day religious holiday on Sunday, an official of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party said. He asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to reporters.

Such a large-scale military incursion could open a new front in Iraq. It would also disrupt one of the few relatively peaceful areas of Iraq and would jeopardise Turkey's ties with the United States, which has urged Ankara not to take unilateral steps.

On Turkey's side of the border, the military this week launched a major offensive backed by airpower against the rebels in Sirnak province, close to the Iraqi border. Responding to more than a week of deadly attacks in southeastern Turkey by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, Turkish troops are targeting the guerrillas' suspected escape routes in mountainous areas.

Turkish troops had 'squeezed'

Turkish military pounds Kurdish rebel camps | Iraq Updates

Displaced and barred from majority of provinces

The number of Iraqi refugees may have doubled in the last six months and the majority of provinces are barring their entry, the UN refugee agency warns.

In march the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) estimated that 50,000 Iraqis were fleeing violence every month. That figure could now be as high as 100,000 which translates into more than 3,000 daily.

Provincial authorities, unable to cope with the influx, are refusing entry to refugees fleeing violence, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.

"In many parts of the country refugees are being stopped at roadblocks and told they cannot go any further,'' Andrew Harper, the UNHCR Iraq Support Unit chief, told Gulf News.

"Apart from the violence, the cholera situation is making matters worse and a real pressure cooker is building up,'' he said. "People have no options available to them.''

Authorities in 11 of the 18 Iraqi provinces have sealed off entry to refugees and if they did manage to gain access to the province then they were denied food and other vital services, Harper said.

"Local authorities are also restricting access to food, health care and education. So not only are they being stopped but aid to them is also being halted. Iraqi authorities are simply overwhelmed.''

There could be up to 100,000 Iraqis leaving their homes every month, Harper believes. It is difficult to gauge the exact number of internal refugees but the UNHCR believes the figure is in the region of 2.2 million.
Another 2.4 million Iraqis are estimated to have fled to neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan which in turn are finding that their own social services are stretched to the limit.

The 4.4m Iraqi refugees fleeing the violence and turmoil in the country, Harper said, were the biggest challenge facing the UNHCR and the international community at the moment.

Displaced and barred from majority of provinces | Iraq Updates

Iraq signs propane deal with Iran

Iraq's Oil Ministry has secured a propane deal with Iran and is making plans to allocate workers to load and deliver the needed fuel.

The Badr Newspaper, a newspaper of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, a major political party, said Tehran and Baghdad inked a deal to supply Iraq with propane from Iran.

Nazar al-Sultan, a member of the Baghdad Council, said the city is ready to retrieve the propane from southern provinces, where it will be shipped to from Iran.

Aamr Abd al-Sattar, the general manager of the propane firm tasked with loading trucks in Babil province, said additional workers were hired to work round the clock, in three eight-hour shifts, to move the propane.

Iraq suffers from a lack of transportation, heating and cooking fuels, and is forced to import most of what it demands.

Iraq signs propane deal with Iran | Iraq Updates