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

Originally Posted by Seaview

Exploring for oil spoils in Iraq

The quickening pace of oil deals between Kurdish regional leaders and foreign companies is another sign that Iraq is spinning out of control and the Bush administration has no idea how to stop it.

President George W. Bush set enactment of a national oil law that centralizes development and ensures an equitable division of the profits as a key benchmark of progress. Iraq's leaders, who have little interest in equity or reconciliation, have blithely ignored it. So the Kurds have taken matters into their own hands, signing nine legally questionable exploration deals with foreign companies.

The administration has complained that the deals "needlessly elevated tensions" between the Kurds and the central government. But it apparently hasn't leaned very hard on the one American oil company involved, Hunt Oil of Dallas, which has close ties to the White House.
Iraq's oil ministry, meanwhile, has warned that the contracts will be either ignored or considered illegal.

We cannot blame the Kurds for wanting to get on with exploiting their region's lucrative oil deposits for energy and for profit. While the rest of Iraq is convulsed in violence and politically paralyzed, the Kurdish-administered northeast is the one relatively peaceful region, with functioning schools and government, a separate army and booming business.

The oil contracts, however, are a dangerous attempt to establish facts on the ground, fanning even more distrust and resentment. The Sunnis, many of whom live in areas without any oil resources, fear they will get shut out completely from the country's oil wealth. The Shiite-dominated government suspects that the Kurds are looking for the resources to secede from Iraq. Any sign that Iraq is about to break up will encourage even more dangerous meddling by neighboring Turkey and Iran.

The Kurds agreed to a carefully constructed compromise national draft oil law last February and insist they remain committed to sharing oil revenues with the rest of the country. But as The New York Times' James Glanz reported last month, the compromise appears to have collapsed in an ever more bitter struggle among the Shiite-led government in Baghdad and the Sunnis - who both insist on a strong central government role in letting contracts and running the oil fields - and the Kurds, who demand more regional control.

Foreign oil companies are so eager for profits that they don't seem worried about whether the deals are legally binding or how they may contribute to Iraq's chaos.

The White House needs to send a clearer warning to these companies - American and foreign - about the dangers of their course. It should also urge the companies to bring their own pressure on Iraqi officials to adopt a law that ensures that whatever system emerges is transparent, accountable and profitable for all Iraqis. Ignoring that is a recipe for continued chaos.

Exploring for oil spoils in Iraq - International Herald Tribune

Bump

Oil, the Kurds and the Rebuilding of Iraq

To the Editor:

Having lived in and just returned from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, I find your Oct. 15 editorial “Iraqi Oil Spoils” unfortunate. It miscasts the constructive initiatives by Kurdish officials to enter into oil exploration contracts as an attempt to hoard oil revenues for the Kurdish region at the expense of Iraq as a whole.

The complete opposite is true: this oil exploration is part of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s consistent support for national unity, and provides for vital infrastructure that doesn’t exist yet in the region.

Kurdish leaders fully support Iraq’s pending hydrocarbon framework law and revenue-sharing provisions — to which the Kurds have underscored their commitment to all citizens of Iraq by pledging 83 percent of all regional oil revenues to the national treasury.

Furthermore, our Kurdish allies are doing all they can to bring foreign investors into the critical development projects Iraq needs to move its economy forward. As such the regional government’s initiatives will greatly augment Iraq’s national budget.

Moreover, all Kurdish oil exploration contracts comply with the Iraqi Constitution and pending national revenue-sharing laws. The Iraqi Constitution grants regional governments like the Kurdish government substantial control to manage natural resources present in their region.

The Kurdish government, and all Iraqis, recognize the urgent need for oil revenue to be distributed equitably if Iraq is to successfully rebuild as a federal republic. Jay Garner

New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Oct. 17, 2007
The writer, a retired Army lieutenant general, was the first civilian administrator in Iraq after the invasion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/op...on&oref=slogin

KRG PM and Iraqi Deputy PM visit Mr. Kosrat Rasul in US

Today the KRG PM. Mr. Nechirvan Barzani, and Iraqi Deputy PM, Mr. Barham Ahmed Salih visited Mr. Kosrat Rasul Ali, the Vice President of the Kurdistan region in US.

Iraqi Deputy PM expressed his gladness for the successful surgery to Mr. Kosrat Rasul Ali hoping that he will return home soon with a good health.In addition to discussing the current issues of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan region booth sides reassured on the protest of both Iraqi federal government and the KRG regarding the decision of the Turkish parliament to authorize Turkish army to conduct a cross-border operation into Kurdistan region territories on pretext of pursuing PKK elements.

KRG PM in attendance of Qubad Talabani, representative of KRG in US, visited Mr. Kosrat Rasul Ali as well as yesterday for reassuring on his health condition.

Mr. Nechirvan Barzani expressed his gladness about the improvement health situation of Mr. Kosrat Rasul Ali .In the same time both KRG PM and the Vice President of the Kurdistan region stressed on concern of KRG about the Turkish threats.

PUKmedia :: English - KRG PM and Iraqi Deputy PM visit Mr. Kosrat Rasul in US

Hoshiyar Zebari see Turkish Military Operation into Kurdistan Region Territory is not Possible

The Iraqi Foreign Minister , Hoshiyar Zebari, in an exclusive interview with the Arabia satellite channel said that he thought that any Turkish military operation into the territories of Kurdistan region of Iraq is not possible , adding at the same time that the presence of PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan region is unacceptable by the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi constitution rejects any military action against neighboring countries from Iraqi territories.

Zebari said that any Turkish invasion of northern Iraq's borders would lead to grave consequences on the entire region, and even within Turkey itself.

PUKmedia :: English - Hoshiyar Zebari see Turkish Military Operation into Kurdistan Region Territory is not Possible

Ankara responds the Proposal of the Supreme Council of Kurdistan Parties

Our website (PUK media) has learned from well-informed sources in the Turkish capital of Ankara that the Turkish government responded positively to the proposal of the Supreme Council of Kurdistan parties about sending a high-level delegation from the Council to Ankara in order to deal with the crisis which exploded by the Turkish Parliament's decision to authorize the Turkish army to cross northern Iraq (the Kurdistan region ) borders to chase elements of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

PUKmedia :: English - Ankara responds the Proposal of the Supreme Council of Kurdistan Parties

Turkish PM urges Iraq to shut PKK camps

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Baghdad on Friday to shut down camps run by separatist Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and to hand over guerrilla leaders.

His comments came two days after the Ankara parliament defied Washington and authorised Turkish troops to cross the mountainous border into northern Iraq to track down the rebels, who use the region as a base from which to attack Turkey.

Baghdad, backed by Washington, has urged Turkey to refrain from military action, saying this could destabilise the wider region, but has also told the rebel fighters to leave Iraq.

"What will satisfy us is the closure of all PKK (rebel) camps, including their training facilities, and the handover of the terrorist leaders to us," Erdogan told reporters after attending Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque.

Some 3,000 rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), including its leaders, are believed to be hiding in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.

Erdogan is under heavy public pressure to act against the PKK after a series of deadly attacks on Turkish troops.

The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency quoted one of Turkey's most wanted rebel commanders on Friday as saying the PKK could target oil pipelines if Turkish forces attacked them in Iraq.

"Since pipelines that cross Kurdistan provide the economic resources for the Turkish army's aggression, it is possible the guerrillas target them," Firat quoted Murat Karayilan saying.

Turkey's tough stance has helped propel global oil prices to record highs and put fresh strain on already difficult relations between Ankara and Washington, which are NATO allies.

RISKS

Turkish Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek played down the economic risks connected to the Iraq crisis.

"Of course we will take further steps and respond to any pressure if needed, but I do believe Turkey's economy can withstand current pressures," he told a meeting with investors and bank analysts during a trip to Washington.

The Pentagon annoyed Turkey after Wednesday's parliamentary vote by suggesting it did not think Ankara had much appetite for a cross-border incursion.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek was quoted on Friday as saying Turkey was serious about sending troops into Iraq.

"We have made the decision and we will do what is necessary. We are not reluctant. There is no going back on this," Today's Zaman newspaper quoted Cicek as saying in an interview.

Parliament's authorisation is valid for one year. Erdogan has signalled that military operations are not imminent.

Thousands of Iraqi Kurds marched on Thursday in Arbil, capital of their autonomous region, to protest against Turkey's moves and to call for peaceful dialogue. But Cicek repeated Ankara's refusal to deal directly with the Iraqi Kurds.

"We don't talk with Iraqi Kurdish groups. Our interlocutor is the Iraqi government in Baghdad ... Northern Iraq is a part of Iraq," said Cicek.

Ankara has accused Iraqi Kurdish leaders of sheltering and even actively supporting the PKK, a group it blames for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since it launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Turkey also suspects the Iraqi Kurds of plotting to build an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq, a move it fears could fan separatism among its own large ethnic Kurdish population and destabilise the whole region.

Turkish PM urges Iraq to shut PKK camps - Yahoo! News UK

Iraq ranked 157th on International Press Freedom list

Baghdad, Oct 19, (VOI) – An international NGO ranked Iraq 157th on a list of press freedom ********* for this year, retreating three positions to come only one point ahead of Palestine, the last on the list among Arab countries.

"In Iraq, what journalists fear most are the armed groups that target them without the authorities ever finding a way to put an end to the litany of violence. More than 200 journalists and media assistants have been killed since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003," according to a report by Reporters without Borders.

Meanwhile, UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura condemned the continued killing of journalists in Iraq, noting five Iraqi journalists were killed only this month.

"The targeting of journalists in Iraq indicates the fears of those who stand behind the war from having their crimes disclosed and underlines the importance of fair and free press as a means to restore peace and democracy in Iraq," Matsuura said in a press release by the UNESCO as received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Aswat Aliraq

Iraqi Oil output likely to drop, Expert says

Iraq’s oil production is not stable and all indications are that it is going to fall in the absence of new investments and overhaul of present producing fields, according to Mohammed al-Zaini.

Zaini is one of Iraq’s most known oil experts and his predictions have proved correct in the past. His criticisms of the draft Oil and Gas Law are now taken up by Iraqi groups opposing the legislation.

Zaini said it was extremely difficult for the country to maintain its current oil output of nearly 2 million barrels a day.

“There is an urgent need for maintenance. Lack of security is another reason. Corruption and, chaotic policies and lack of enthusiasm are other factors,” he said in an interview.

He said de****e the infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars into the oil sector, the country has all but failed to meet the pre-war level of 2.8 million barrels a day.

Under the former regime, which U.S.-led invasion troops toppled in 2003, the country’s exports average 2.3 million barrels a day and Iraq was almost self sufficient in fuel and by products de****e punitive U.N. trade sanctions.

Currently, Iraqi exports barely 1.5 million barrels a day while the country imports most of its fuel needs from abroad.

The parliament is set to debate the oil law once again, but Zaini advised the legislators against turning it into law, saying it is a recipe to benefit foreign oil giants and factions bent on dividing the country.

He said the oil ministry was in turmoil as it could not carry out any of its plans in the years since the U.S. invasion.

Producing oil fields were aging and no measures were being taken to revitalize them while production in many fields was falling, he said.

“The ministry planned to restore the previous output capacity of 2.8 million barrels in 2004 and then boost production to more than five million barrels three years later,” Zaini said.

But, he added, all those plans have failed to materialize.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-10-19\kurd.htm

Iraqi Contracts With Iran and China Concern U.S.

Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants, the Iraqi electricity minister said Tuesday. Word of the project prompted serious concerns among American military officials, who fear that Iranian commercial investments can mask military activities at a time of heightened tension with Iran.

The Iraqi electricity minister, Karim Wahid, said that the Iranian project would be built in Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in Baghdad that is controlled by followers of the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr. He added that Iran had also agreed to provide cheap electricity from its own grid to southern Iraq, and to build a large power plant essentially free of charge in an area between the two southern Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.

The expansion of ties between Iraq and Iran comes as the United States and Iran clash on nuclear issues and about what American officials have repeatedly said is Iranian support for armed groups in Iraq. American officials have charged that Iranians, through the international military wing known as the Quds Force, are particularly active in support of elite elements of the Mahdi Army, a militia largely controlled by Mr. Sadr.

An American military official in Baghdad said that while he had no specific knowledge of the power plant contracts, any expansion of Iranian interests was a concern for the military here.

“We are of course carefully watching Iran’s overall presence here in Iraq,” the military official said. “As you know, it’s not always as it appears. Their Quds Force routinely uses the cover of a business to mask their real purpose as an intelligence operative.”

“This is a free marketplace, so there’s not much we can do about it,” the official said.

At the same time, it is possible to view Iranian and Chinese investment as giving those countries a stake in Iraqi stability. The power plants could also boost a troubled reconstruction effort in Iraq. An American Embassy spokesman said, “We welcome any efforts to help develop Iraq’s energy infrastructure.”

“These proposals reflect the ongoing business opportunities that are arising in Iraq that American firms should be competing for,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be named because of standard protocol at the embassy.

It was unclear whether any American firms had tried to win the work, although Mr. Wahid said the projects had been submitted for bids. The embassy spokesman said, “We are unaware of any violations of principles of open and fair bidding.”

The agreements between Iraq and Iran come after the American-led reconstruction effort, which relied heavily on large American contractors, has spent nearly $5 billion of United States taxpayer money on Iraq’s electricity grid. Aside from a few isolated bright spots, there was little clear impact in a nation where in many places electricity is still available only for a few hours each day. Because the power plants are in largely Shiite-controlled areas, it is possible they may not face the same sectarian violence that crippled so many American rebuilding projects.

Mr. Wahid did not say how much the plant between Karbala and Najaf would cost, but at standard international prices a plant of the scale he described would be worth roughly $200 million to $300 million.

The outlines of all three agreements were confirmed by Thamir Ghadban, an expert on energy who is also director of the committee of advisers to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. But Mr. Ghadban said that the granting of the huge projects to rivals of the United States was not an indication that American companies were being excluded from consideration now that Iraqi oil revenues, which provide the basis for the Iraqi government’s budget, are largely paying for the reconstruction of the grid.

“There is no preference to the Iranians,” Mr. Ghadban said, citing the most obvious potential point of sensitivity for the United States. “There is no opposition or stance from the Iraqi government to bar American or Western companies. It is the other way around,” Mr. Ghadban said, indicating that he urged American contractors to bid for work in Iraq.

Of the two new projects Iraq has agreed to finance, Mr. Wahid said, the largest is a $940 million power plant in Wasit to be built by a Chinese company, which he said was named Shanghai Heavy Industry. That project would pump some 1,300 megawatts of electricity into the Iraqi grid. For comparison, all of the plants currently connected to Iraq’s grid produce a total of roughly 5,000 megawatts.

He said that Iraq had already spent $12 million leveling the ground in preparation for the Chinese plant. The Sadr City project, which will include a small refinery, will cost $150 million and be built by an Iranian company, Sunir, Mr. Wahid said. That plant is expected to produce about 160 megawatts of electricity.

The Iraqi Electricity Ministry, which Mr. Wahid heads, is one of the few in the central government that has received praise for successfully spending much of the money allocated to it in the Iraqi budget for reconstruction projects. Because of security problems, a shortage of officials who are skilled at writing and executing contracts, and endemic corruption, many of the ministries have either left their rebuilding money unspent or poured it into projects that have had a marginal impact on the quality of life for Iraqi citizens.

Asked how he had managed to make progress within the bureaucratic morass of much of the Iraqi government, Mr. Wahid said he had simply learned to go it alone. Aside from financing, his main need from the central government was guarantees that Iraqi security forces would protect his workers and the electricity infrastructure.

“Do not annoy me,” Mr. Wahid said was his main message to the government. “Let me do my work.”

Whether officials outside his government will be entirely pleased with the deals is a separate question. An international energy expert involved in Iraq’s electricity sector said he understood that the Sadr City project had originally been an Iranian initiative and that the Electricity Ministry had shown little interest at first.

The expert also said that the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, which investigates corruption, had already signaled that it would be investigating the project. Officials at the commission could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening.

Mr. Wahid said the new power plants were part of a sweeping plan to increase electricity production on the grid, whose output has been creeping upward in recent weeks. He said that the ministry was in discussions on building another large power plant, one that would produce 600 megawatts, within the city of Karbala.

And the minister said that the first installment of another initiative he had long discussed, bringing diesel-powered generators into selected Baghdad neighborhoods, was close to having an impact.

Some 14 of the generators, each expected to produce 1.75 megawatts, should be arriving in the capital within weeks, Mr. Wahid said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/wo...gewanted=print

Iraqi Security Forces, USSF detain EJK Leader, IED facilitators

BALAD, Iraq - Iraqi Security Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces,detained two improvised explosive device makers and facilitators Oct. 18 in al Anbar and New Baghdad.

Iraqi Special Forces detained a known IED maker and facilitator in the al Furat area who is allegedly an extremist company commander directly responsible for a July 7 explosive-formed penetrator attack on Coalition Forces.

He is also thought to be involved in a Jan. 11 kidnapping and torture of more than 15 Iraqi Sunni citizens in New Baghdad. This facilitator is further alleged to be a leader of an extra-judicial killing cell that participates in weapons trafficking and poses as Iraqi Police officers at false checkpoints.

In Hit, Iraqi Security Forces detained another IED maker and facilitator allegedly responsible for a vehicle-born IED attack on an Iraqi Police officer and set-up several IEDs during Ramadan on a route routinely used by Coalition Forces. Two other suspected insurgents, one identified as the facilitator's brother, were detained during the raid.

No Iraqi or U.S. Forces were injured during these operations.

Iraqi Security Forces, USSF detain EJK Leader, IED facilitators

I posted this because of the reference to 'New Baghdad' - does anyone know if there is anything in this? - I haven't read of it being referenced to in this way before.

Iraqi FM meets U.S., British ambassadors on border crisis

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari discussed with U.S. and British ambassadors in Baghdad the recent crisis on the Iraqi-Turkish borders, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

"Zibari met on Thursday with U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad Ryan Crocker, during which they discussed the tensions along the Iraqi-Turkish border," the foreign ministry said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The minister stressed the Iraqi government's readiness to negotiate and talk with Turkey in this regard," the statement also said.

"The meeting also tackled the latest developments in the region and preparations for holding the upcoming Iraq's neighboring countries conference in Ankara," it added.

Meanwhile, the minister held a meeting also with British Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Prentice on the Iraqi-Turkish crisis and means to solve it peacefully.

Iraqi FM meets U.S., British ambassadors on border crisis | Iraq Updates