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

Shiite leader endorses Al Hashemi's reform plans

Baghdad: A top Shiite politician yesterday endorsed a 25-point blueprint for reform announced by Iraq's Sunni vice-president last month to achieve national reconciliation.

"Basically, I don't find myself in disagreement with any of [the 25 points]," Vice-President Adil Abdul Mahdi said in a letter to his Sunni counterpart, Tariq Al Hashemi. Abdul Mahdi is a senior leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party.

His endorsement of Al Hashemi's proposals, entitled 'The Iraqi National Compact', were the first to be publicly announced by a top Shiite figure.

Al Hashemi's blueprint stressed basic democratic principles like respect for human rights.

Gulfnews: Shiite leader endorses Al Hashemi's reform plans

Iraqi Government Delegation visited Turkey

A senior Iraqi government delegation visited Turkey today.

The delegation which was headed by Iraqi defense Minster, Abdul Kadir Mohamed Jasim, includes Emad Ahmed, representative of PUK, Safin Dizaee, representative of KDP, and Sherwan Waely, the Iraqi National Security Minister of State.

The delegation was received by Sabah Umran, Iraqi ambassador in Turkey and several Turkish officials.

The delegation is scheduled to meet with the Foreign Ministry of Turkey and the Turkish General Staff and discuss the PKK issue and the conflicts between Iraq and Turkey.

The visit of the Iraqi government delegation was decided upon during the visit of the Turkish FM, Ali Babacan in this week.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraqi Government Delegation visited Turkey

Iraq Retorts By Warning To Cut Off Oil Supply To Turkey

Iraq retorted to Ankara's threat of imposing economic sanctions against the country on Thursday by warning to cut off oil supplies to Turkey, the AP reported.

Turkey's top leadership agreed on Wednesday to recommend the government take economic measures to force cooperation by Iraqis against Kurdish rebels who have been staging cross-border attacks against Turkish troops.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, speaker of Iraq's parliament, told reporters in the Syrian capital of Damascus that his government would cut off the flow of oil from northern Iraq if Ankara followed through on its threat to level economic sanctions against the country.

"Iraq is a rich country, and if there are economic pressures, we will cut off the Ceyhan pipeline," said Mashhadani, referring to two oil pipelines that run from northern Iraq to Turkey's Ceyhan oil terminal on the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkish troops have killed at least 64 Kurdish rebels this week after they started hunting Kurdish rebels in the northern Iraqi border in retaliation against a rebel ambush Sunday that killed 12 Turkish soldiers.

The autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq is heavily depended on Turkey for the supply of electricity, food, and construction works, including the building of roads, ho****als and infrastructure.

Al-Mashhadani, who is on a five-day visit to Syria, hinted at a possible mediation by Syrian President Bashar Assad in an effort to end the crisis between Turkey and Iraq.The Iraqi speaker held talks with Assad and his deputy, Farouk al-Sharaa.

In Ankara last week, Assad defended Turkey's legitimate right to stage a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels based in Iraq. He put the responsibility for dealing with the guerrilla problem on U.S.-led coalition forces.

"Iraq is ready to do everything that would safeguard Turkish national security," Al-Mashhadani said. He said he preferred "a political peaceful solution," hoping that Turkey would not pursue a military invasion.

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Conflict has no effect on Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline

Dubai: Oil keeps flowing from Iraq to Turkey through a pipeline skirting Iraq's Kurdish region de****e threats to infrastructure from Kurdish rebels and insurgent sabotage attacks further south, an oil shipper said yesterday.

Iraq was pumping around 400,000 barrels per day of Kirkuk crude to Turkey yesterday for the seventh consecutive day, the shipper said. "The flow is about 18,000 barrels per hour," he said. "They are having some success at keeping it going.

Concerns that the flow might be halted due to clashes between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels helped take oil futures to a record of over $90 a barrel last week.

Threats

A pro-rebel news agency quoted one of the leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) last week as saying the guerrillas could strike oil pipelines if Turkish troops attacked them.

"We have no specific policy on pipelines but we are now waging a defensive war... Since pipelines that cross Kurdistan provide the economic resources for the Turkish army's aggression, it is possible the guerrillas target them," the Firat news agency quoted PKK commander Murat Karayilan saying.

Gulfnews: Conflict has no effect on Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline


It's getting confusing.

Had to post this - it just made me laugh

$38m IT breakdown unnoticed for month

Washington: The United States spent at least $38 million (about Dh139 million) to give Iraq's government a computerised accounting system. No one noticed when it stopped working for a month, a report said.

It was the latest in a series of reports from the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart W. Bowen Jr, that detailed slow progress on some projects and waste and chaos in the management of another.

In the report released on Wednesday, Bowen recommended that no more money be spent on the system until someone figures out exactly what Iraq's ministries can use and sets out plans for developing such a programme.

At issue are several contracts awarded in 2003, 2004 and 2006 for a broad range of work related to economic and financial changes in Iraq.

One of the tasks was to develop and implement a computerised Iraq Financial Management System (Ifmis) to replace a computerised system in use since Saddam Hussain era.

"The ministry continues to use its legacy system ... 'nobody noticed' when Ifmis was down for a month and no one relies on Ifmis to produce reports," Bowen said.

Gulfnews: $38m IT breakdown unnoticed for month

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Had to post this - it just made me laugh

$38m IT breakdown unnoticed for month



That is funny, a humungous waste huh?

Yes - a complete waste - but it still made me chuckle when I read it - because it just wasn't a surprise - when really it should have been - lol.

Baghdad press: Options to resolve PKK crisis

Iraqi newspapers gave prominence in their Thursday issues to the Iraqi-Turkish crisis and the options available to resolve the situation, and highlighted Iraqi politicians' efforts to meet Turkish demands following diplomatic discussions with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan in Baghdad two days ago.

The government-funded al-Sabah newspaper said that Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki discussed in a closed meeting all feasible options to contain the Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) crisis by peaceful means. The meeting came a few hours after Babacan's visit to Baghdad and one day prior to the visit of a high-ranking Iraqi political and security delegation to Ankara.

In an article entitled, 'Turkish meeting and proposed solutions,' al-Sabah's Editor-in-Chief Falah Mashaal said that while the Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments expressed their rejection of the military option, PKK separatists threatened to move to the Turkish capital and blow up oil pipelines transporting oil to Turkey.

"A major aspect of the crisis is the Iraqi army's inability to react decisively and put an end to the PKK's presence in Iraqi territories, which prompted the governments of Iraq and Kurdistan region to redouble political efforts and the Multi-National Force (MNF) to play more prominent role," Mashaal said.

Dar al-Salam, a daily newspaper issued by the Iraqi Islamic Party, led by Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, highlighted on its front page al-Hashemi's statements in which he said that PKK's activities "do not only harm Turkish security, but Iraqi security as well."

Al-Daawa, a daily newspaper issued by the Islamic Daawa Party-Iraq Organization, quoted the party's bloc leader in parliament Qasim al-Sahlani as stressing Iraqi parliamentarians' support of al-Maliki in his endeavors to contain the PKK's crisis by means of dialogue and reconciliation.

"It is necessary to back the Iraqi government's efforts. The parliament has to provide all sorts of support and open new possibilities to resolve the problem," al-Sahlani indicated.

In another article, the newspaper quoted Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as saying that his decision to freeze the Mahdi Army is "extendable." The newspaper also highlighted al-Sadr's political office's calls on the Iraqi government to "adhere to its commitment," in reference to bloody incidents that took place in the holy Shiite city of Karbala two months ago between security personnel and gunmen. "Some hostile bodies are propagating falsehoods that the freezing decision has been lifted to tarnish the army's reputation," read a statement released by the office.

Baghdad press: Options to resolve PKK crisis | Iraq Updates

Lawmakers skewer Rice on Iraqi corruption
Iraqi PM accused of blocking corruption charges against ministers without his prior approval

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fought off an inquisition by lawmakers Thursday over claims that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was shielding top ministers from corruption probes.

Democratic lawmaker Henry Waxman, who has demanded answers from Rice on various aspects of the US operation in Iraq for months, got his chance at a hearing of a key House of Representatives committee.

He raised claims that Maliki had issued a decree requiring his approval before any minister or official in the presidential office was brought before a court on corruption charges.

Rice refused to respond directly but said US officials took all allegations of corruption in Iraq seriously and pledged to review the case.

"To assault the prime minister in Iraq, with to date heretofore unsubstantiated allegations or uncorroborated allegations in a setting that would simply fuel those allegations ... would be deeply wrong," Rice said.

"Not only is it potentially damaging to relationships that we are very dependent on ... it is wrong."

Rice argued that publicly talking about specific corruption cases risked exposing intelligence sources in Iraq, but said any official or document was available to the committee in closed session.

Democrats say such discussions must be in public, including documents which could damage the administration's claims of success in Iraq.

The hearing represented the latest sharp confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration, three days after the White House asked lawmakers for another 196 billion dollars in funding for the Iraq and Afghan wars.

On Wednesday, anger mounted after the Congressional Budget Office said the cost of the "war on terror" could hit 2.4 trillion dollars by 2017.

As tempers flared in the hearing of the House Oversight and Government reform committee, Waxman confronted Rice with a document purportedly from the Iraqi Prime Minister's office signed by its manager, Tariq Najim Abdullah.

The order said no official from the presidential office, council of ministers or current or previous ministers should be sent to court with Maliki's express approval.

The document, dated 04/01/2007, was handed to the committee Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity who has fled to the United States.

"Is the prime minister one of the people that cares about fighting corruption in Iraq?" Waxman asked.

Rice replied that the United States did not accept "any policy that would make immune from investigation or prosecution any member of the Iraqi government, no matter how high."

"If there is corruption, the United States wants to root it out."

Earlier this month, the Iraqi government said it would take legal action against the judge, accusing him of smuggling official documents and defaming the prime minister.

Radhi and a group of colleagues headed to Washington in August to undergo training with the US Justice Department.

Maliki at the time accused him of fleeing the country to avoid being tried on graft charges and replaced him as head of the Commission.

Radhi denies the graft allegations and told Waxman's committee earlier this month corruption was affecting virtually every government ministry and that some of the most powerful officials in Iraq are implicated.

As tensions rose in the hearing, Democrats lined up to hammer the Bush administration on Iraq, and Republicans attempted to defend Rice, and argue that the current US troop "surge strategy" had improved security there.

"May I have an opportunity though to finish my answers?" Rice asked Waxman at one stage, while Republican member Dan Burton felt obliged to apologize for the harsh questioning of Democrats on the committee.

"You are not being prosecuted, and we are not prosecutors," Burton said.

But Democratic member Stephen Lynch warned Rice "our kids are on the ground now in that country fighting and dying. We can't wait a moment longer before we talk about this."

Waxman earlier warned Rice's personal reputation was on the line, as she faced questions about her department's oversight of the Blackwater private security firm, accused of killing as many as 17 Iraqi civilians on September 16.

Lawmakers skewer Rice on Iraqi corruption | Iraq Updates

Barham Salih Meets the American Deputy Secretary of Defense

Iraqi deputy PM Dr. Barham Salih met the American Secretary of Energy and deputy Secretary of Defense through his recent visit to the United States.

In his meeting with the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Barham explained the situation and latest developments in Iraq in all aspects, and he requested support from U.S. in the energy field.

Dr. Barham discussed in his meeting with the deputy Secretary of Defense the latest events in Iraq in the political and security aspects.

PUKmedia :: English - Barham Salih Meets the American Deputy Secretary of Defense