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

N.Iraq's economic reliance on Turkey under threat
Turkish trucks stretch as far as the eye can see at the border with northern Iraq.

The crossing outside the town of Zakhu is an economic artery for Iraq because it is the safest route for imports and it is just as vital for thousands of Turkish truck drivers, who ply the route each week.

The drivers are concerned by the growing possibility of an attack by Turkish forces against Kurdish guerrillas based just over the Iraqi border.
"This is Turkey's throat," said one Turkish truck driver, waiting to return to his country.

"Thousands of businesses send products from factories to Iraq. If the border closes, the factories will close too and we will lose our jobs."
Turkish exports to Iraq were worth $2.6 billion in 2006 and the Turkish influence in northern Iraq, where the economy is booming, is plain.

Trucks grinding south into the city of Dahuk are laden with cement, steel, cars, pick-up trucks, pipes, aluminum, and fuel.

The signs for roadside restaurants are in Turkish. In a vast supermarket in Dahuk, the butter, cigarettes, cheese, and sweets are all produced in Turkey.

Turkey's government is under pressure at home to strike at separatist guerrillas hiding in the northern Iraqi mountains who have ramped up attacks on Turkish soldiers this year.

The Turkish army has been massing on the border and now has the all-clear from the government to cross into Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) rebels.

But there is an international push to stave off a conflict that Washington fears could throw the region into chaos, threaten oil supplies and set back stabilization attempts in Iraq after the U.S invasion in 2003.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has threatened sanctions on exports to Iraq to increase the pressure on Baghdad. The truck drivers say this could hurt Turks as much as the Iraqi government.

"This road is our bread," said Hassan, waiting to return to Turkey after delivering fuel to Kirkuk.

"If it's closed, we will suffer."

TURKISH INFLUENCE

On the northern outskirts of Dahuk, there is a building frenzy. Apartment blocks, residential estates, hotels and office blocks are shooting up and signs of the region's growing wealth are everywhere.

In the supermarket, consumer goods such as 46-inch flat-screen TVs, Monte Cristo cigars, fridges, exercise bikes, designer clothes, a home gymnasium and grandfather clocks are on sale. And all have come through the funnel north of Zakhu.

"There's nothing you can think of that we don't bring in," said another Turkish driver, who declined to give his name.

"This border is important for the Turkish economy, people would lose jobs there. They should solve the problem with diplomacy and meetings.

"If there's a war, both sides will lose and people will die," said the driver, who makes the trip to Iraq at least twice a month.

Standing on the bridge that separates the two countries, there is a never-ending stream of trucks.

According to a senior customs official, about 700 cross into Iraq each day but they could take far more. In 1998, about 3,000 crossed daily, he said, but Turkish officials are trying to stem the flow.

"It's a political issue. The Turkish don't want the Kurdish area to thrive and develop," said the official, who declined to be named, in his office at the Ibraheem Khaleel border complex.

Analysts say Turkey is wary of the largely autonomous northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan because if it does become an enduring success it may spur calls by Kurds in southeastern Turkey for their own autonomous region.

"They'll do anything to destroy us," the senior customs official said. "It's not because of the PKK -- the PKK is nothing, a few hundred fighters, so why do they need 60,000 troops? They want to destroy the progress of Kurdistan.

"This door is not only for the Kurdish region, it's for all of Iraq. And most of the goods that come from Turkey are made by Turkish companies.

"So the big loser will be the Turkish."

N.Iraq's economic reliance on Turkey under threat | Iraq Updates

Iraq gov't has two months, spokesman says

Iraq’s government has two months before facing a major crisis as it struggles to pass an oil law and other legislation, the top spokesman said.

Ali al-Dabbagh, speaking this week at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the Turkish crisis, Iranian influence, and militia and insurgent activity are the major focus of the Iraq struggle.

But the fragile coalition government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been unable to make progress on other issues detailed in the so-called benchmarks set out by the Bush administration.

Included in that is a law easing restrictions on lower-level members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party re-entering government, setting up local elections and approving a law governing Iraq’s oil resources.

“I don’t deny we have a problem … a political problem,” Dabbagh responded to a dual question about the lack of progress on the oil law and other benchmarks and the fact there is little political cohesion in the government. He called it the “responsibility of all the parties which participate in the government” to reach a deal on reform.

“This reform, unless it happens with in the coming two months, I think the situation will be fragile. We might face a problem because the situation cannot continue with what we have right now.”

On the oil law, he said there are a number of technical points to be ironed out, but there’s a somewhat limited agreement on a February version of the draft law.

“There’s an amendment and there’s editing in the draft, and this makes the Kurds object,” he said regarding the back-and-forth over the law’s wording. “Finally they agreed to go back to that draft.”

The Kurds maintain there is no deal yet because the February version was incomplete.

Dabbagh blamed the Iraqi Accord Front, or Tawafuq, the large Sunni bloc in Parliament, for using the law in its political dispute against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government.

“Not because they are refusing this oil law but because they have a problem with the prime minister and they want to block this oil law,” he said. “They know very well how important is this oil law for Iraq and is a sort of putting and applying pressure on the prime minister and on the government.” Dabbagh added the government is looking to other Iraqi Sunnis to take Tawafuq’s place.

United Press International - International Security - Energy - Briefing




Here is an audio link of the interview which I found yesterday :-

Iraq Through Iraqi Eyes: Events: U.S. Institute of Peace

A Japanese loan for rebuilding infrastructure
The telecommunication sector in Iraq needs $ 1 billion annually

Iraqi Communications Minister, Mohammad Tawfeeq Allawi, confirmed that Iraq needs $ 1 billion annually to repair 150 buildings in the sector damaged by past wars, and the rehabilitation of the telephone system and the development of postal services and Internet. He attributed the current slowdown in the development process to a lack of financial allocations.

He explained that the number of telephone subscribers currently ranges between one million and one and a half million, and that the ministry signed two contracts for the development of phone exchanges and secure more than 860 thousand telephone lines during the next six months. The third contract, related to rebuilding the infrastructure of the sector, will be financed by a Japanese loan worth $ 595 million and it is expected to secure two to three million lines in the next two years.

He added that Japan also granted Iraq 80 million dollars for the purchase of equipments for the sector, in addition to an Iranian loan worth 180 million dollars for the renewal of fixed telephone network.

He also revealed a grant from the World Bank to implement the three lines: first, from Baghdad to Mosul across Kirkuk in the north, the second from Baghdad to Basrah across Kut in the south and the third from Baghdad to Jordan, as well as establishing a number of phone exchanges. He pointed out to the allocation of $ 36 million for the completion of marine cable (implemented by the company «Filak»), explaining that the project linking Iraq to China, Japan, the United States and Europe.

A Japanese loan for rebuilding infrastructure | Iraq Updates

Lower demand for dollar in daily auction

Baghdad, Oct 25, (VOI)- Demand for the dollar was lower in the Iraqi Central Bank’s auction on Thursday, reaching $40.405 million compared to $82.860 million on Wednesday.

In its daily statement, the bank said it had covered all bids, including $10.055 million in cash and $30.350 in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,232 dinars per dollar, unchanged for the 11th session in a row.
The 14 banks that participated in Thursday's session offered to sell $4 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 the governmental transfers were lower, causing a decrease in the overall demand for the dollar.

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

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle =58574&NrIssue=2&NrSection=2

Two trucks for smuggling oil seized in Diwaniya

Two trucks used to smuggle oil derivatives through Diwaniya's western highway were seized while they were en-route out of the province, a local police source said on Wednesday.

"A security force seized two oil trucks loaded with gas and kerosene on a highway in western Diwaniya while they were on their way to Baghdad to be sold in markets," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"The trucks were loaded with fuel from local gas stations in Diwaniya and the driver is currently under interrogation for details," the source added.

The Shiite province of Diwaniya lies 180 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Two trucks for smuggling oil seized in Diwaniya | Iraq Updates

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

Turkey may impose trade sanctions on Iraq: Erdogan

Turkey will consider imposing selective trade sanctions on Iraq in response to incursions by Kurdish PKK fighters from across the border, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

"We may impose some sanctions with respect to some goods we export to Iraq," Erdogan told an investors' conference in London. He gave no further details.

"I believe the countries who believe in fighting jointly against terrorism will understand this response, if we choose to display it, because terrorism is a scourge for mankind," he added.

Erdogan said Turkey had been helping Iraq with water, fuel and food and did not deserve the cross-border raids by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), founded in Turkey some 30 years ago by Kurdish separatists.

"To have this organization based in the northern part of that country which we help is something that we must consider," he added.

Turkey has deployed as many as 100,000 troops, backed by tanks, fighters and attack helicopters, along its border with Iraq in anticipation of a possible incursion.

Iraq pledged on Tuesday to rein in the PKK after Ankara threatened to send forces into Iraqi territory to confront them.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4798

Iran wins major infrastructure contract in Iraq

Iraq has awarded a vital infrastructure contract to Iran that could facilitate its military presence in a developoment that has alarmed the U.S.

The Iraqi Electricity Ministry has selected companies from China and Iran to construct two power plants. The ministry said the awards totaled $1.1 billion and would reduce the constant power outages in Baghdad.

The award to Iran for the construction of a 160-megawatt power plant in Baghdad's Sadr City has alarmed the U.S. military in Iraq. Military sources said the U.S.-led coalition was concerned that Iran could use the $150 million project to significantly expand its intelligence and military presence in Iraq.

Iran has sought to dominate Iraq's Shi'ite sector. Teheran has agreed to provide cheap electricity from its own grid to Shi'ite areas of southern Iraq. Iran has also offered to build a large power plant without cost to the Baghdad government between the Shi'ite cities of Karbala and Najaf.

The Chinese power plant would be located in the Iraqi province of Wasit. Officials said the 1,300 megawatt facility, awarded to China's Shanghai Heavy Industry, would cost $940 million.

Iran wins major infrastructure contract in Iraq | Iraq Updates

US diplomatic security chief resigns after Blackwater row
US Secretary of State accepts resignation of Richard Griffin who wants to ‘move on to new challenges’.

The State Department's security chief resigned Wednesday amid criticism over his office's poor supervision of private security firms in Iraq, after Blackwater guards shot dead several civilians.

A department spokeswoman said Richard Griffin did not give a reason for quitting his post as assistant secretary for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, but simply stated that he wanted to "move on to new challenges."

"He submitted his letter of resignation dated today," Julie Reside said, adding that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had accepted his resignation.

Rice was asked about Griffin's departure as she met with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, but said only that she thanked him "very much for his exemplary service."

The official's resignation came a day after the release of an internal State Department report calling for much tighter control over private security firms following a series of deadly incidents in Iraq.

In the most infamous case, Blackwater guards protecting a State Department convoy opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square on September 16, killing as many as 17 civilians.

Blackwater boss Erik Prince has rejected an official Iraqi report that said the killings were unprovoked, insisting his men were fired upon.

In an implicit admonishment, the report by a State Department panel stressed that private contractors should open fire only with "due regard for the safety of innocent bystanders."

The shootings laid bare a lack of accountability for US contractors working for the State Department rather than the Pentagon, whose private employees are covered by US military law.

The panel's report said the department should "urgently engage" with the Department of Justice and Congress "to establish a legal basis for holding contractors accountable under US law."

But it concluded that the State Department could not do without the contractors, as it has less than 1,500 of its own security agents around the world and the US military is too stretched to provide diplomatic protection.

Rice was due to undergo a grilling over the contractors' conduct at a hearing of the government oversight committee in the House of Representatives Thursday.

For months, committee chairman Henry Waxman has been demanding thousands of pages of documents from Rice's office over the State Department's dealings with security companies such as Blackwater and DynCorp International.

The New York Times said Tuesday that an audit by the US government's Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction had focused on 1.2 billion dollars in contracts given by the State Department to DynCorp.

Financial records were in such disarray that the department cannot say "specifically what it received" for most of the money it has paid the company since 2004 to train Iraqi police officers, the report said.

Spokesman Sean McCormack said the department had already recouped "well over 100 million dollars in the costs of the contract, and we are on a pathway to attain 100 percent reconciliation of all these accounts."

"This is an example of the State Department policing itself," McCormack said, while declining to say how much of the money recouped might have been due to DynCorp overcharging or defrauding the US taxpayer.

US diplomatic security chief resigns after Blackwater row | Iraq Updates

Dr. Barham Salih Meets Condoleezza Rice

Iraqi Deputy PM Dr. Barham Salih met the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday. They discussed the possibility of a Turkish military campaign against Kurdistan Region, and stressed on the necessity of solving this issue through talks.

They stressed on the necessity of activating the Triple Iraqi-American-Turkey Committee to solve problems which became a reason for Turkey to launch a military operation.

They also discussed the situation of Kirkuk city and the necessity of implementing the Article 140 from the Iraqi Constitution.

Dr. Barham referred to the latest developments in the political and economical fields in Iraq.

PUKmedia :: English - Dr. Barham Salih Meets Condoleezza Rice