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

Mr. Falah Mustafa Meets UN Deputy-Secretaries General

During his visit to participate in the UN meetings, Falah Mustafa, head of KRG foreign relations, met Mr. Lynn Pasco, UN Deputy-Secretary General who is in charge of political affairs.

In the meeting, he shed light on Kurdistan regions’ viewpoint on federalism, national reconciliation in Iraq and UN role after issuing resolution 1770 as well as implementing article 140 in Kirkuk.

On the other hand, head of KRG foreign relations met Mr. Ibrahim Gambary, Deputy-Secretary General, special advisor, Head of international convention programme.

They discussed the role of UN in Iraq after its liberationAlso he met with Zalmay Khalil Zad US Ambassador at UN; they discussed the political process, national reconciliation in Iraq and Kurdistan region situation.

PUKmedia :: English - Mr. Falah Mustafa Meets UN Deputy-Secretaries General

Iraq, Turkey look long-term

Iraq and Turkey are discussing a long-term oil supply contract as the pipeline from the former's Kirkuk fields becomes more reliable and less prone to sabotage, reported Reuters. The pipeline has managed to provide supplies over a two month period without any major hiccups. Meanwhile, Iraq issued a tender for 6m barrels of crude for early November loading on Sunday.

Iraq, Turkey look long-term | Energy, Oil and Gas

Turkey PM Hopes Invasion of North Iraq will be Unnecessary

ANKARA, (RIA Novosti) - Turkey's prime minister said on Tuesday he hoped a cross-border military operation against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq would not be necessary.

The Turkish government asked parliament Monday to authorize military operations against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has stepped up attacks on Turkey from the north of Iraq. Lawmakers plan to debate the issue on Wednesday.

Speaking on television on Tuesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he "sincerely hopes that the motion will not be applied. Passage of this motion does not mean an immediate invasion. The operation will be conducted in the right time."

The premier said earlier the government wanted parliamentary approval for the operation to remain in force for a year, so the army could "tackle problems as they arise."

Turkey has been amassing troops near Iraq, and shelling suspected rebel positions along the border. Erdogan said on television earlier that the proposed operation would aim to clear the region of PKK fighters, who currently number about 3,500.

The party has been fighting for autonomy status in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years. The conflict has claimed about 40,000 lives.

Erdogan said cross-border operations would not be aimed against civilians or Iraqi authorities.

Iraq has protested against Turkish military actions on its territory, calling them "aggression.”.

Iraqi Deputy President Tareq al-Hashemi arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for talks.

Washington has urged Turkey, a major NATO member, whose logistical support is crucial for the U.S. in its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, against the military invasion.

Russian lawmakers passed an appeal to the Turkish parliament on Tuesday calling on it to show "wisdom and restraint”, and warning about possible negative consequences of a trans-border military campaign.

The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said an incursion into northern Iraq would further destabilize the war-torn region, and added that terrorist threats should be tackled by the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition in the Middle East nation.

PUKmedia :: English - Turkey PM Hopes Invasion of North Iraq will be Unnecessary

Iraq calls for Urgent Negotiations with Turkey

The Iraqi government called on Tuesday for urgent negotiations with Ankara after Turkish threats to launch an incursion into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels.

The call came in a conciliatory statement from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, in which he urged the Turks to adopt a diplomatic rather than a military way forward.

The Iraqi government calls on the Turkish government to hold urgent talks," said the statement, which was issued before an expected emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the Turkish threats.

Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan challenged the Iraqi government and Iraqi Kurds to take a stand against Kurdish rebels on their territory or face the consequences.

Ankara is seeking parliamentary approval for military action in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region against bases of rebels of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Maliki's office said in a statement that an emergency cabinet meeting would be held on Tuesday to discuss "the development on the Iraqi-Turkish border."

Maliki, it said, "will not accept military solutions as a way of dealing (with issues) between the two countries even though we realise and understand the worries of our Turkish friends."

In Ankara, Erdogan's tone was more strident.

"The central government in Iraq and the regional government in northern Iraq must put a thick wall between themselves and the terrorist organisation," Erdogan said, referring to the PKK.

"Those who are unable to distance themselves from terrorism cannot avoid being adversely affected by the struggle against terrorism," Erdogan told the parliamentary group of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Maliki's office said the prime minister had stressed the importance of implementing an agreement between the Iraqi and Turkish governments signed last month to combat the PKK.

While the two countries agreed last month to cooperate in the fight against some 3,500 PKK rebels based in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, they failed to agree on a clause allowing Turkish troops to engage in "hot pursuit" -- as they did regularly in the 1990s -- against rebels fleeing into Iraqi territory.

"The Iraqi government will try by all means to defuse the crisis with its neighbour Turkey and is concerned to maintain security and stability," the statement said.

"We are ready to hold emergency talks with senior (Turkish) officials to solve all remaining problems and give assurances that will help regulate relations between the two neighbouring states," it said.

Tuesday's meeting coincides with a one-day visit to Ankara by Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who will discuss "all aspects of bilateral ties" with Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, a Turkish diplomat said.

The Turkish government on Monday formally submitted a motion to parliament seeking a one-year authorisation for a military operation in northern Iraq.

The government plans to put the motion to a vote on Wednesday and could opt to hold a closed-door debate, said Sadullah Ergin, the AKP's parliamentary group chairman.

At the weekend, Turkish troops shelled several villages in northern Iraq, causing damage to houses but no casualties.

The Muslim Scholars' Association, one of Iraq's main Sunni clerics' organisations, called for restraint.

"While we understand the need for Turkish national security, we ask that Turkish politicians, known to be long-sighted and not given to hasty decisions, consider other options... and spare the region these calamities," it said in a statement.

"Turkish politicians can find alternatives... without getting involved in a war that Iraqis would only understand as a new invasion of their country to be added to the declared US invasion and an undeclared Iranian one," it said.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq calls for Urgent Negotiations with Turkey

Crude Oil Rises to Record on Concern Turkey May Attack Iraq

Crude oil rose to a record $87.97 a barrel in New York on concern Turkey may attack Kurdish militants in Iraq and disrupt oil shipments.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he expects the country's parliament will tomorrow approve a possible military incursion into Iraq, which holds the world's third- largest reserves. Shipments of oil from northern Iraq to Turkey's Mediterranean Sea have been cut for most of the time since the U.S. invasion in 2003 because of attacks on pipelines.

``This is the knee-jerk reaction to the threat of a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq,'' said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. ``Whenever you see the threat of an outbreak of violence within 300 miles of a Middle East oil field, prices are going to surge.''

Crude oil for November delivery rose 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $86.35 a barrel at 9:21 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures reached $87.97, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1983. This is the sixth straight daily increase. Prices are 45 percent higher than a year ago.

``Once the invasion occurs prices will probably fall because the oil fields are well south of the mountains on the Turkish border,'' said Lynch.

Yesterday, prices passed the previous all-time inflation- adjusted record reached in 1981 when Iran cut oil exports. The cost of oil used by U.S. refiners averaged $37.48 a barrel in March 1981, according to the Energy Department, or $84.73 in today's dollars.

Brent crude oil for November settlement rose 21 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $82.96 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent reached $84.31, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1988.

``It's pretty clear that the contract has another upward leg to it,'' said Eric Wittenauer, an energy analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis. ``There's a lot of commodity-fund buying unrelated to the fundamentals of the market. The high prices are more and more difficult to justify, so at some point the tide will turn.''

Bloomberg.com: Latin America

Shi'ite tribal leaders in Iraq say Islamism on rise

Shi'ite Islamist political parties are imposing strict Islamic rules in the oil-producing southern provinces of Iraq and using their armed wings to create a state of fear, a group of tribal Shi'ite leaders said.

The four tribal leaders approached Reuters on condition of anonymity, fearing assassination if their names or even their home provinces were made public.

"Fear rules the streets now," said one of the sheikhs. "We cannot speak our minds, people are not allowed to oppose them. They would immediately disappear or get killed. The evidence of that is I am talking about it but cannot use my name."

The fear is not unfounded -- two provincial governors and a police chief were blown up by roadside bombs in August, apparent victims of infighting between the Shi'ite parties for political dominance in the region, source of most of Iraq's oil wealth.

Aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the reclusive religious leader of Iraq's Shi'ites, have also been killed.

The sheikhs said the conservative religious attitudes meant only religious music was now allowed to be played in public places and dancing was forbidden, as was drinking alcohol. Women were also harassed for wearing clothing deemed inappropriate.

Photographs of secular political leaders like former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi could not be displayed in shops and other public areas.

Street committees that were set up to protect neighborhoods from al Qaeda attacks were being misused to spy on residents and report infractions to the militias and the police, they said.

"The people of the south are religious, we are believers, but at the same time we like to live our lives and we like freedom," said one sheikh.

The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and the movement of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are the dominant political forces in the Shi'ite provinces. Both have links to neighboring Iran and believe Iraq should be governed according to Islamic principles.

SIIC controls most of the governors in the south, and its armed wing, the Badr Organization, has many members in the police force. Sadr's powerful Mehdi Army militia has fought fierce battles with police loyal to the Badr Organization.

SIIC and the Sadrists saw their rise to power cemented by the December 2005 elections which brought the Islamist Shi'ite Alliance to power. The Sadrists have since pulled out of the Alliance and the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, leader of the smaller Islamist Dawa party.

WASHINGTON BLAMED

The growing strength of the parties in the south has weakened some secular tribal leaders and excluded them from power structures, a source of patronage and revenues.

"Some say the Shi'ites are lucky because they are now ruling Iraq, but that is wrong. It is the Islamist Shi'ites who are ruling Iraq. Their victory was a curse for us," said one sheikh.

The sheikhs blamed Washington for giving Shi'ite Islamists a free hand in the south. U.S. forces are concentrated to the north, focused mainly on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants and so-called rogue Mehdi Army groups.

Washington has thrown its weight behind Baghdad's Islamist- led government de****e misgivings about its failure to push ahead with national reconciliation and the close ties between some parties and Iran, the United States' long-time foe.


SIIC and the Sadrists are seen by the sheikhs as importing a conservative brand of Shi'ism from neighboring Iran, which U.S. officials accuse of arming Shi'ite militias to use as proxies to enforce their influence in the south.

"We are suffering from two occupations -- America and Iran. We have told American officials this and we have met some of them, but they are not listening to us," one sheikh complained.

Some tribes were talking about taking up arms against the Islamist parties, but the tribal leaders said they feared this would unleash a bloodbath that would destabilize the south.

"The tribes do not want violence ... but at the same time we want to see a change that preserves the rights of all Iraqis, so that we are really free," said one sheikh.

Shi'ite tribal leaders in Iraq say Islamism on rise - Yahoo! News

Kurdish MP urges Government to adopt Official Position on Turkish Shelling

Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman on Monday urged the Iraqi central government to adopt an official position regarding the continued Turkish shelling of Iraq's Kurdistan region, calling on the government to defend northern Iraq in case of any possible Turkish attack.

"The Iraqi government has to adopt an official position regarding the Turkish shelling," Othman told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The northern Iraqi borders have been a scene of tension and repeated Turkish artillery shelling under the pretext of fighting members of imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Kurdish sources said the shelling caused damage in property and fires in Kurdish forests.

Kurdistan borders forces said on Sunday Turkish troops fired over 250 artillery shells into areas inside Iraqi northern territories, inflicting material losses.

Turkey claims 3,000 fighters from the Turkish banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are using the mountainous areas of northern Iraq as base to launch attacks on Turkish targets.

A total of 13 Turkish soldiers were killed last week in a raid by gunmen, believed to be members of the PKK on a military site near Shernak city, southeast of Turkey. The Turkish army responded by launching wide scale crackdown operation to hunt down the perpetrators.

"The Kurdistan Coalition is waiting for final decision of the Turkish government and parliament, concerning giving the Turkish army the green light to plunge into northern Iraq territories," Othman explained.

"If the Turkish parliament approved the decision, it will be its biggest mistake as it made another mistake, four years ago, when it rejected U.S. forces' demand to use its territories in the war to topple Saddam's regime," he said.

Mahmoud Othman on Saturday also criticized the recent threats by the Turkish government to send troops into northern Iraq, urging Baghdad to cancel the security agreement signed last month with Ankara.

"The security agreement has encouraged Turkey to increase threats of incursion into northern Iraq," MP Mahmoud Othman told the VOI over the phone.

The Turkish cabinet held a session on Monday led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The session is to tackle the memorandum to be presented by the government to the Parliament on striking sites of the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

The government is to present its memo to the Parliament Monday for voting Tuesday.

MP Othman also called upon the U.S. side to bear responsibility by preventing Turkey form sending troops into northern Iraq.

For its part, the U.S. warned Turkey against making an incursion into northern Iraq.

PUKmedia :: English - Kurdish MP urges Government to adopt Official Position on Turkish Shelling

Iraq Tells Turkish Military Not To Cross Border

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Iraq urged Turkey not to send troops across the border to fight rebel Kurds, dispatching the vice president to Ankara on Tuesday and calling for "a diplomatic solution" to tensions that have sent oil prices soaring.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials. The Turkish Parliament was expected to approve a motion Wednesday allowing the government to order a cross-border attack over the next year.

"The passage of the motion in Parliament does not mean that an operation will be carried out at once," Erdogan said Tuesday. "Turkey would act with common sense and determination when necessary and when the time is ripe."

Oil prices surged more than $1 a barrel to new industry highs on Tuesday amid the tensions that also threaten the flow of fuel and other supplies to American forces in Iraq.

"Whenever there is any escalation in political tensions in the Middle East, oil markets become concerned," said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. "There is production and there are pipelines that people worry may be affected if there are any issues in Iraq."

Erdogan called on Iraq and Iraqi Kurds to crack down on separatist rebels. He said the regional administration in northern Iraq should "build a thick wall between itself and terrorist organizations."

Erdogan said any action would only target the rebels and Turkey would respect Iraq's territorial integrity.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said the government would not tolerate violence from the separatist rebels but he urged the Turks to "seek a diplomatic solution and not a military one in dealing with the terrorist threats that target it."

Washington has urged NATO-ally Turkey not to enter Iraq, fearing that unilateral Turkish military action could destabilize the autonomous Kurdish region in the north which is one of the country's few relatively stable areas. The Kurds are a longtime U.S. ally.

An offensive could also undermine Turkey's relations with the European Union, which has pushed Turkey to treat its minority Kurds better.

But Turkey says some European countries tolerate the activities of PKK sympathizers and is frustrated with the perceived lack of U.S. support in the fight against the PKK.

"We have serious expectations from the U.S. administration on the issue," Egemen Bagis, a foreign policy adviser to Erdogan said Tuesday.

Turkey's frustration with the perceived lack of U.S. support in the fight against the PKK, branded as terrorists by Washington, has intensified because of another sensitive issue: the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

A U.S. House panel approved a resolution last week labeling the killings as genocide, an affront to Turks who deny any systematic campaign to eliminate Armenians at that time. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will schedule a vote soon on the resolution.

On Tuesday, however, a top Turkish official said the country should not punish the U.S. administration over the resolution, but instead should impose sanctions against Armenia for supporting the measure.

"Bush and his team should not be punished," Egemen Bagis, a foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on CNN-Turk television. "The reaction should be against Pelosi and her team."

Bagis noted that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates had lobbied against the measure.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, Erdogan compared the resolution to a "summary execution."

"Nobody has the right to judge Turkey like this," Erdogan said. "Those who dare confront an important country like Turkey will pay the price."

Turkey staged several incursions in the 1990s but they failed to stamp out rebel hideouts.

A Turkish soldier was killed Tuesday when he stepped on a mine, believed to have been planted by Kurdish rebels, near the southeastern city of Bingol, local authorities said.

PKK rebels have demanded autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/world/us_wo...storyid=131844

PM: Official delegation to head for Turkey to discuss recent security developments

Baghdad, Oct 16, (VOI) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that his government will send a high-ranking political delegation to Turkey to discuss borders and recent security developments.

Highlighting the importance of mutual cooperation against "terrorism and banned terrorist organizations," the prime minister reiterated his government's commitment "to clamp down on terrorist activities by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) against Turkey."

The Iraqi government is keen to establish the best relations with the neighboring country, al-Maliki said in a press release received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

The statement did not provide any information about the scheduled date of the visit.

Earlier today, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, Ali al-Dabbagh called on the Turkish government to begin a prompt dialogue between the two countries and not be drifted with what he described as the PKK's "evil intentions."

"A prompt dialogue between Baghdad and Ankara is necessary," al-Dabbagh said in a statement that was also received by VOI.

"The government is making every effort to bar activities, organizations and groups threatening the region's security and stability," read the statement.

Al-Dabbagh also urged the Turkish government to seek diplomatic solutions and abandon the military approach when facing terrorist threats, and to activate the signed security agreements between the two countries.

The Turkish parliament will vote on Tuesday on a memo by the Turkish government for authorization to the army to hunt down Kurdish PKK separatists in northern Iraq.

Aswat Aliraq

Baghdad announces plan of reconstruction

Head of Baghdad Council Mouin Al Kazemi announced a quintet plan to reconstruct Baghdad. $ 13 billion were allocated to build roads, bridges, parks, schools, universities and ho****als as well as services departments. The budget is allocated as well to reconstruct infrastructure and maintain environment, water and solar energy as well as electricity power.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4735