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

The High Committee of Article 140 Met

The high committee of article 140 chaired by Dr. Fahmi, deputy of the committee and Dr. Muhammad Ehsan KRG representative held its 22nd meeting.

Faraj Haider head of the high committee,two members of the committee and two senior officials from ministry of interior were invited to set mechanism to implement article 140.

PUKmedia :: English - The High Committee of Article 140 Met

Bakir: Kurdistan as a model for Iraq

The Council on Foreign Relations, a US independent, nonpartisan membership organisation, think tank and publisher, interviewed Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Director of the Foreign Relations Department of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq.
Interviewer: Greg Bruno, Staff Writer

Follow the link below for the interview if you wish to read it. It is quite long.

PUKmedia :: English - Bakir: Kurdistan as a model for Iraq

Saleh discusses Iraq's need for financial, technical support

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Braham Ahmed Saleh has discussed with Head of the International Bank Robert Zoulk and his two representatives at the headquarters of the bank in Washington the updated developments in the Iraqi arena on the economic level and Iraq's need for the financial and technical support from the International Bank.

A statement issued by deputy prime minister, as-Sabah received a copy of it, that Dr. Saleh had reviewed during the meeting the economic achievements realized on the national level and the new programs released by the Iraqi government in this domain, stressing on necessity of the International Bank to increase his personals in Iraq.

Saleh discusses Iraq's need for financial, technical support | Iraq Updates

Make Walls, Not War

IN a surge of realism, the Senate has voted 75-23 to acknowledge that Iraq has broken up and cannot be put back together.

The measure, co-sponsored by Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, supports a plan for Iraq to become a loose confederation of three regions — a Kurdish area in the north, a Shiite region in the south and a Sunni enclave in the center — with the national government in Baghdad having few powers other than to manage the equitable distribution of oil revenues.

While the nonbinding measure provoked strong reactions in Iraq and from the Bush administration, it actually called for exactly what Iraq’s Constitution already provides — and what is irrevocably becoming the reality on the ground.

The Kurdish-dominated provinces in the north are recognized in the Constitution as an existing federal region, while other parts of Iraq can also opt to form their own regions. Iraq’s regions are allowed their own Parliament and president, and may establish their own army. (Kurdistan’s army, the peshmerga, is nearly as large as the national army and far more capable.) While the central government has exclusive control over the national army and foreign affairs, regional law is superior to national law on almost everything else. The central government cannot even impose a tax.

Iraq’s minimalist Constitution is a reflection of a country without a common identity. The Shiites believe their majority entitles them to rule, and a vast majority of them support religious parties that would define Iraq as a Shiite state. Iraq’s Sunni Arabs cannot accept their country being defined by a rival branch of Islam and ruled by parties they see as aligned with Iran. And the Kurdish vision of Iraq is of a country that does not include them.

The absence of a shared identity is a main reason the Bush administration has failed to construct workable national institutions in Iraq. American training can make Iraq’s Shiite-dominated security forces more effective, but it cannot make them into neutral guarantors of safety that the Sunnis can trust. The Kurds ban the national army and police from their territory.
In a reflection of Iraq’s deep divisions, the country’s Shiite prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, and the main Sunni parties denounced the Senate vote as a plot to partition Iraq, while Kurdish leaders, along with a leading Shiite party, embraced the resolution precisely because they hope it will lead to the partition.

Senator Biden, probably the best-informed member of Congress on Iraq, insists that loose federalism, not partition, is his goal. He makes an analogy to Bosnia, where the 1995 Dayton agreement has kept that country together by devolving most functions to ethnically defined entities. He has a point: Iraq’s Kurdish leaders are willing to remain part of Iraq for the time being because Kurdistan already has all attributes of a state except international recognition.

But over the long term, the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union are better analogies to Iraq than Bosnia. Democracy destroyed those states because, as in Iraq, there was never a shared national identity, and a substantial part of the population did not want to be part of the country.

So we should stop arguing over whether we want “partition” or “federalism” and start thinking about how we can mitigate the consequences of Iraq’s unavoidable breakup. Referendums will need to be held, as required by Iraq’s Constitution, to determine the final borders of the three regions. There has to be a deal on sharing oil money that satisfies Shiites and Kurds but also guarantees the Sunnis a revenue stream, at least until the untapped oil resources of Sunni areas are developed. And of course a formula must be found to share or divide Baghdad.

At the regional level, Iraq’s neighbors have to be reconciled to the new political geography. The good news is that partition will have the practical effect of limiting Iran’s influence to southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad.

Turkey, understandably angry over terrorist attacks by a Turkish Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, has in recent days threatened to strike at the group’s sanctuaries on the Iraqi side of the mountainous border. In general, however, Turkey has adopted a pragmatic attitude toward the emergence of a de facto independent Kurdistan, in part by supporting the Turkish companies that now provide 80 percent of the foreign investment in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Those who still favor a centralized state like to insist that partition would further destabilize the country. But current events suggest otherwise. Iraq’s most stable and democratic region is Kurdistan. In Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, the Americans abandoned a military strategy that entailed working with the Shiite-dominated Iraqi Army and instead moved to set up a Sunni militia. The result has been gains against Al Qaeda and a substantial improvement in local security.

Let’s face it: partition is a better outcome than a Sunni-Shiite civil war. There is, in any event, little alternative to partition. Iraq cannot be reconstructed as a unitary state, and the sooner we face up to this reality, the better.

Peter W. Galbraith, a former United States ambassador to Croatia and the author of “The End of Iraq,” is a principal in a company that does consulting in Iraq and elsewhere.

PUKmedia :: English - Make Walls, Not War

US missing billion-dollar Iraq contract

The State Department is unable to account for the $1.2 billion it gave to security firm DynCorp International to train Iraqi police, according to a government report on Tuesday.

"The bottom line is that State can't account for where it went," said Glenn Furbish, who contributed to the 20-page report for the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

The report said that Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforment Affairs (INL) "had not validated the accuracy" of invoices received prior to last October, and that the lack of controls "created an environment vulnerable to waste and fraud".

"Bills came in; they paid the bills, but they don't know what they paid for and they don't know what they've gotten," said Furbish, an accountant by training who spent two years in Iraq.

"It's like so much else that happened in Baghdad ... there was just a massive quantity of work and too few people in place to do it. They just essentially did not have the staff to monitor what was going on,” he said.

As a result, the audit agency announced it has suspended its oversight of the agency's project until the INL gathers the information.

The report coincides with a controversy over the use of private security firms in Iraq, particularly Blackwater USA, which is under scrutiny over a September 16 shooting incident in Baghdad in which 17 people were killed.

The Pentagon and the State Department are employing more than 7,000 security contractors in Iraq. US officials say they are needed to free up soldiers for other tasks.

US missing billion-dollar Iraq contract | Iraq Updates

President Talabani discusses with Turkish FM the PKK Issue

President Talabani received in his in office in Baghdad today the Turkish Foreign Minister Ail Babacan.

After the meeting, President Talabani and his deputy, Tariq al-Hashimi held a press conference with the Turkish minister, and President Talabani said: “We discussed during the meeting ways to strengthen the Turkish-Iraqi relations at all levels, particularly the joint fight against terrorism, and showed him that we do not accept the existence of PKK on Iraqi territory, Our Constitution prohibits the presence of any armed force in Iraq.

We asked PKK either to leave or end armed action, and we can not accept any other alternative. As you know, the Iraqi Minister of Interior signed an agreement with the Turkish government that includes joint action against terrorist organizations like Ansar al-Islam, PKK, Al- Qaeda and others. We are carrying very much to our relations with Turkey, and we consider our meeting with Mr. Ali Babacan is a historic opportunity, and we welcome him to Baghdad and send greetings to His Excellency President Abdullah Gul, and His Excellency Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

“As we expressed our deep concern for the blood spilled by the violence acts, we are sorry for every drop of Turkish blood as we are keen to every drop of blood Iraqi, and we hope bilateral relations to progress .this visit, opens a new phase between the two fraternal countries whose relationship goes back for hundreds of years, and we will continue to co-exist in a stable, democratic Middle East.” president Talabani also said.

For his part, Ali Babacan said: “We visited His Excellency President Jalal Talabani, today and discussed the issue with him and Vice President, Tariq Hashimi, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, in addition to a number of ministers and Iraqi officials, on topics concerning the two countries. Turkey hopes Iraq to be stable; Turkey takes into consideration Iraq’s political situation and territorial integrity.”

"We talked about the attacks of PKK, and their bases in Iraqi territory and the issue of targeting Turkish citizens. The case is very serious and urgent, the Turkish people is disturbed very much and has lost patience. We expect all States to cooperate with each another to fight the terrorist organizations, we can not differentiate between a good terrorist and a bad one, and therefore the international community must be one body against terrorism.” Babacan added.

Babacan said: “We took a promise in our meeting with President Talabani today, that Iraq will support Turkey in the fight against terrorism. A terrorist organization should not affect the long-term, history-based and friendly relations between the two countries. Today there is a meeting of Iraq's neighbors Interior Ministers in Kuwait. In 2-3 of November the Foreign Ministers of Iraq's neighbors will meet in Istanbul, in this regard Turkey will seek, and will continue its support for unity, integrity and the welfare of the Iraqi people.”

PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani discusses with Turkish FM the PKK Issue

Work in Arbeel, Sulaymania refineries goes on

A source at industry and minerals ministry emphasized that the general company for designing and industrial consolations continuing in it's work of carrying out the project of establishing the 4 small refineries in Arbeel and Sulaymania provinces in Kurdistan region for the benefit of oil ministry and the government of Kurdistan region.

He added that they faced some cripples in the work as non paying the payments to the company which led to delaying and stooping the work.

He concluded that the company finished lately from carrying out the project of the electric station Hureia diesels in Baghdad city for the benefit of the general company for producing electric energy projects, within a cost of 2,400 billion dinar.

Work in Arbeel, Sulaymania refineries goes on | Iraq Updates

KRG supports the Decision of PKK to Cease-Fire

KRG today announced its support for the decision of PKK to cease-fire and move toward political working to resolve problems through diplomatic channels.

The decision came in response to the plea of Mr. Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic of Iraq, and Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan region.

“Our policy is clear, we are against military option to deal with PKK issue and we support the decision of PKK to cease-fire” Jamal Abdullah, formal spokesman of KRG told PUKmedia today.

PUKmedia :: English - KRG supports the Decision of PKK to Cease-Fire

Iraqi oil exports via Turkey will continue in case military operations started

A high-level Iraqi oil source said on Friday that Iraqi crude oil will continue to flow to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, in case Turkish military operations started targeting northern Iraq.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, added that "the oil pumping is done through pipelines, not bound to boarders or to tankers and they are not affected by the military operations in case they occurred. We are continuing the pumping operations de****e media escalation between the Turkish and Iraqi sides."

The Turkish parliament's approval on the principle of launching an attack on the Kurdish rebels located in northern Iraq increased oil prices in the world markets.

The Iraqi official said that "Iraq exports oil to the world markets and not to a specific State."

International crises generally, the declining stocks of fuel, the concern about the interruption of Iraqi oil supplies to the world markets and the decline of the dollar's value are the main reasons behind the continued escalation of oil prices that exceeded today $ 90 per barrel, according to some media information.

Iraqi oil exports via Turkey will continue in case military operations started | Iraq Updates

President Talabani receives Message from Putin and calls Russian Companies to Invest in Iraq

President Talabani today met with Russian Ambassador in Iraq, Mr. Vladimir Jamov , at his office in Baghdad ,and received from him a personal letter from the President of the Russian, Mr. Vladimir Putin, in response to a letter sent by His Excellency earlier on the need to strengthen bilateral relations and the consolidation of the historic friendly between Iraq and Russia.

President Talabani, during the meeting stressed on strengthening bilateral relations between Iraq and Russia in the political, economic and cultural fields, stressing the need to implement the agreements reached between the two sides on economic and commercial cooperation in service of common interests.

President Talabani said in this regard: “The Iraqi leadership is consistent to consolidate friendly relations with Russia, especially as these relations are beneficial to both sides, for the region and world peace.”

”We thank His Excellency ,President Putin about the good and sincere feelings towards the new Iraq and his emphasis on providing support for the political process in Iraq, helping its people in overcoming difficulties and ordeals and we highly appreciate Russia's friendship with the new Iraq.” President Talabani Added.

His Excellency also pointed out that Iraq encourages Russian companies to come to Iraq and participate in the process of reconstruction and investment in the safe areas, particularly in Kurdistan region and the south of Iraq, as a first stage and then moving to other areas in the future.

For his part, Russian Ambassador reassured his country's support for the political and democracy processes in Iraq, pointing out that Russia will open in the coming weeks its consulate in Erbil and Basra in a strong indication to deepen bilateral relations between the two countries in all areas.

” We also wait the arrival of the Iraqi experts delegation to activate the Joint Commission in the economic field .We are ready to exchange political and economic experience and expertise cooperation between the two sides.” He added.

Finally, the Russian ambassador thanked His Excellency about the good reception and his support to strengthen bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.

PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani receives Message from Putin and calls Russian Companies to Invest in Iraq