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

Ahhh.. That thread was getting kinda long anyways....LOL.

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Thank you.

Foreign investments broadcast activity in the stock market in Iraq

Source : Qabas Kuwaiti-16/08/2007

Tens intermediaries registered stock prices of various blackboards inside Hall Iraq circulation in the market for securities, while gathered some 100 dealers and investors behind the bench long, mentors instructed the brokers for two hours during the three days each week.

The subject of Iraq headquarters market for securities in the Karadah capital Baghdad heavily guarded and surrounded by concrete walls and protective of bomb explosions.

In contrast to the decline in other stock exchanges in the world in the past few days has bourse Iraqi large volumes of transactions worth billions of Iraqi dinars.

She Shenaz Ahmed intermediary company Kidwa 'for the volume of transactions, such as what was clear to the brothers, the circulation was Kalash (very) strong, especially companies and banks. I mean the circulation by the strong points and the amounts spent here mo (is not) a few '.

She added 'means billions of Iraqi dinars. All that is the foreign investor for Arab and foreign saw (see) the circulation becomes stronger and stronger '.
The Taha Abdel Salam Executive Director of the Iraq market for securities that the future of the Iraqi Stock Exchange looks much brighter with the increasing foreign investment.

He said Abdel Salam 'capital non-Iraqi Arab, especially so far only Arab begun to enter the Iraqi market for securities in circulation 2007/8/7 been five decades to investors-Iraqi Arabs'.

Iraqi Stock Exchange and began work in 1992 and was owned by the government and subject to tight restrictions. Then closed down just before the invasion led by the United States in 2003 to be returned to its activities in the wake of the fall of former President Saddam Hussein.

No Iraqi witness Stock Exchange since it opened 15 years ago to develop any organs still function without computers and information devices and other modern communications.

But Abdel Salam said that the Stock Exchange had recently signed a contract with a Swedish company to be in charge of processing equipment and modern technical equipment.

The Executive Director of Iraqi Stock Exchange 'Thank God .. Equipment processed in the Iraqi market for securities accounts and servers (the maid), and others. Regulations filled organized in the Iraqi market for securities'.
The Stock Exchange is expected to move to electronic dealing system by the end of this year, after completing training of staff and customers to use its modern.

Iraq was having the third largest known reserves of oil in the world expected flow of billions of dollars of foreign investments after the invasion that overthrew led by the United States with the former regime. But many foreign companies preferred to stay away from Iraq due to deteriorating security conditions and the continued acts of violence afflicting the country.

The lost millions of dollars seized by corrupt officials or disappeared from the accounting records during the chaos that followed the invasion, where large amounts of American currency category spends $ 100 without accounting recalls.

Army Assists in Reinvigorating Iraq's Economy

Army News - [8/16/2007]

Fagah Al Dhahab needs money -- about $4 million, to hear him tell it.

Mr. Dhahab is the director general of the Hillah textiles company. His cluster of factories in the capital of Iraq's Babil province represents one piece of a network of state-run industries that dotted Iraq under Saddam Hussein, providing jobs and consumer goods, but also impeding competitive growth as lynchpins of Iraq's controlled economy.

Mr. Dhahab's operations are ongoing but suffering, victims of inadequate funding, supply shortages, understaffing and a paucity of electricity. In July, the factory's output was 450,000 meters of fabric. Before that, Mr. Dhahab said, he was forced to halt production for prolonged stretches.

Now, a Defense Department task force working to reinvigorate Iraq's economic landscape sees potential in the deteriorated plant. Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, recently visited the site to award funding for improvements.

"We gave a grant in the amount of $2 million to support the purchase of machinery, maintenance and equipment, to help facilitate getting this factory restored to full production, so that its products can begin to be shipped, and they can begin to compete in the market," Sec. Brinkley said.

His organization, the Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations in Iraq, is investing millions in restoring and reequipping factories throughout Iraq, with a heavy concentration in Baghdad.

A daytrip to the Hillah factory, nestled off a major street in the town, highlighted both the progress and challenges of Sec. Brinkley's team's efforts.

Hillah is about 60 miles due south of Baghdad, not far from the ancient city of Babylon. During a short helicopter ride in from the Iraqi capital, the heavily agricultural region emerges in a quick transition from the urban sprawl to the north.

Babil's patchwork of fields is broken only by a network of canals and a main highway running north to south. The province lies in the traditional breadbasket of Iraq. The U.S. Regional Embassy Office at Hillah is situated alongside the Euphrates River, the source of irrigation water for much of the region.

It's from here that U.S. rebuilding efforts for the area are directed. State Department-led provincial reconstruction teams -- joint civilian-military units tasked with strengthening local governments, addressing basic infrastructure needs, and encouraging small-business development -- work with regional leaders to drive progress through Iraq's web of relationships.

If the PRTs work at the micro-level, Sec. Brinkley's team operates in the macro world, building regional economic hubs from its revitalized factories to support the re-opening of smaller businesses nearby.

On the drive to the factory, it's clear that small business is already thriving in Hillah. Goats, donkeys and tractors compete with more traditional vehicles in streets lined by home furnishing shops, butchers, and even a plant nursery. One sidewalk is lined with tricycles for sale. Children wave from the medians, while overhead a billboard shows a 1985-era Arnold Schwarzenegger smiling down on the scene.

But the city is rich with contrast. Down the street from a new construction site, the remnants of a small amusement park sit overgrown with weeds; the rusting Ferris wheel standing sentinel over the park's locked gate. Outside and throughout the town, piles of cement and rubbish line the roads.

Still, Hillah has benefited from a relatively stable security situation. Its majority Shiia population allows residents to enjoy an uninhibited relationship with the Iraqi police force. Patrol officers are a frequent sight on the city's street corners.

A U.S. military officer with oversight of Babil province explained that Hillah is poised to benefit from its stability.

"Everything here in Iraq is local," said Army Brig. Gen. Ed Cardon, deputy commander of Task Force Marne. "Here in Babil, as you can see, it's pretty secure, and there's a lot of business down here that you saw just as you drive down."

Brig. Gen. Cardon oversees the political and economic support elements of a tripartite strategy to stabilize Task Force Marne's area of responsibility: Najaf, Karbala, Babil and Wasit provinces. His team's efforts complement ongoing security operations in the region.

Babil, and Hillah in particular, have been spared much of the fighting that has plagued other parts of Iraq. As a result, Brig. Gen. Cardon, Sec. Brinkley and the PRT leaders are able to move forward on their plans without some of the security concerns they might otherwise face.

"This is all about generating economic capacity," Brig. Gen. Cardon said.

However, security is far from the only obstacle facing these projects. During a conversation with Sec. Brinkley, Mr. Dhahab said he needs money for new equipment, repairs, and supplies. Most importantly, he said, he needs power.

The lights in the factory's conference room gave out twice during two hours of talks. Mr. Dhahab was midway through explaining how even a five-second blackout sets his production back by an hour.

According to a letter Sec. Brinkley presented to Mr. Dhahab, the $2 million the task force awarded Hillah Textiles is for purchasing new weaving, winding and dyeing machines; restoring the factory's existing jacquard machines; and purchasing raw materials.

The government of Iraq already has provided the textile factory at least $1.8 million in loans through the Ministry of Industry. Sec. Brinkley's money comes as a grant, part of DoD funds set aside for the stabilization effort.

During the meeting, Mr. Dhahab said he needs more money to purchase generators and fuel. Sec. Brinkley countered that if the director was a "good steward" of the current allotment, additional sources of funding would be opened to him. "There are no strings attached other than a process and paperwork" to ensure financial transparency, Sec. Brinkley explained.

The biggest concerns are employment and output, U.S. officials say. They made it clear there are large stakes for Hillah. "The long-term function is to make sure it's economically viable," Brig. Gen. Cardon said.

Success in the case of the textile factory would equate to a two thirds boost in its workforce, from 2,400 employees up to 4,000, the general explained.

A tour of the facilities showed plenty of spare capacity. De****e the power outage, it was clear some machines have sat idle for a long time, with threads tangled across the looms. But back in the conference room, the factory's output was on display. Richly colored striped and floral prints clashed against swathes of heavily patterned fabrics hanging in bundles from the ceiling. A children's print of bears and tigers broke up the room's round walls.

The relaxed atmosphere of the meeting was momentarily interrupted by the arrival of the Babil provincial governor, Salem Salah. With an entourage of staff, guards and reporters in tow, Gov. Salah greeted the American party, thanking them for their interest in the factory and explaining that regular employment is a critical factor for preventing violence.

Before leaving, he took the time to address members of the Iraqi press. As a member of the task force staff noted, just as in the United States, it's important for Iraqi officials to demonstrate action on behalf of their constituents.

Meanwhile, as Mr. Dhahab and his staff work to improve and grow operations at the textile factory, Sec. Brinkley, Brig. Gen. Cardon and their teams are working to line up buyers for the finished products.

"These were state-owned enterprises, so they did not have to compete on the open market," Brig. Gen. Cardon said. "Unless you can generate markets, you really don't have a factory."

The same process is taking place further north in Babil province, where Sec. Brinkley team members recently brought U.S. and foreign executives on a tour of automotive and heavy machinery factories in the town of Iskandariyah. U.S. officials presented the Iraqi leadership there with a $1.5 million grant to improve their operations.

All around Iraq, the focus is on "putting that skilled workforce back to work and creating economic opportunity and prosperity," Sec. Brinkley said.

The immediate and second-tier effects of these factories serve to improve security in the regions in which they're located by increasing prosperity and returning Iraqis to work, Brig. Gen. Cardon said.

"This is about getting these factories up and working, which gives you employment, which helps you with security," the general said.

Iraqi Clothing Factories Eyeing U.S. Holiday Market

Santa might be visiting Iraq this year to fill his holiday wish list, as Iraq's once-sagging textile industry gears up to export Iraqi-made clothing to the United States, a senior Iraqi government official said yesterday in Baghdad.

Deputy Industry Minister Sami al-Araji joined Sec. Brinkley and Iraqi Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr at a joint news conference to discuss plans to get Iraq's factories up and running. Many of the 200-plus state-run factories have been idle more than four years, resulting in mass unemployment that officials say creates a breeding ground for insurgents.

Sec. Brinkley reported "significant progress" in getting Iraq's industrial base back on track. Initially, that's been accomplished through small, incremental capital investments in equipment, maintenance, raw materials and training to reopen factories. The goal, he said, is to restore "sustained employment to the most skilled workforce in the Middle East," he said.

Congress authorized $50 million through the fiscal 2007 budget supplemental to accelerate this effort, he said.

One of the biggest success stories to date is the Iraqi textile industry, which hopes to export Iraqi-made clothing to the U.S. market in time for the holidays, Minister Araji reported. The Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations (in) Iraq, which Sec. Brinkley heads, is negotiating with several U.S. retailers to work out arrangements.

If all goes as hoped, a factory in Mosul could be exporting teenage clothing, a factory in Najaf, ready-made suits, and other factories, leather jackets.

Minister Araji said they'll likely be sold in small numbers and in limited markets, possibly Washington, New York, Chicago and Detroit. "It is a modest beginning of capturing of a market," he said.

But Sec. Brinkley said these sales will send "a powerful symbolism" that goes beyond sales figures. In addition to educating the U.S. and global market about Iraq's capabilities, he said they'll help restore the Iraqi people's faith in their own products.

Before 2003, most Iraqis had little choice but to buy from Iraqi factories, because U.N. sanctions limited Iraq's ability to import goods, Sec. Brinkley said. When those sanctions were lifted in 2003, imports began flooding the Iraqi market, filling the void left as its own factories went dormant.

Sec. Brinkley called getting those factories humming once again and Iraqis back to work keys to Iraq's future as a stable, secure and prosperous country. He expressed hope that success being seen in Iraq's textile sector soon will be duplicated in scores of other industries throughout the country.

Revitalizing Iraq's economy is a critical part of Multinational Force Iraq Commander Gen. David H. Petraeus' counterinsurgency plan in Iraq. "Economic development is at the core of his vision of how we bring political, economic and security restoration as a three-pronged effort here," Sec. Brinkley said.

This, in turn, will "create stability and enable the eventual drawdown of our presence here and the establishment of a stable government," he said.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4344

Clothing Made in Iraq Could Be in US Stores by Holidays

AC - [8/16/2007]

If things go according to plan, we will be seeing items made in Iraq in stores in the US by this holiday season. The items will all be in the clothing line, but are only a beginning to what is hoped a restart of the economy in Iraq.

Officials in Iraq, Deputy Industry Minister Sami al-Araji Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, and Iraqi Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr held a joint news conference today to put forth plans to get the factories in Iraq back in business. There are more than 200 factories that have been idle since the start of the war, leaving many Iraqis unemployed.

Work is already underway to get the industry in Iraq back on track. So far they have been accomplishing this by small investments in equipment, materials, maintenance and the re training of the work force.

There has been $50 million that has been budgeted by Congress for the fiscal year 2007.

The textile industry is already starting to bounce back and the goal is to be able to ship merchandise to the US in time for this holiday season. Negotiations are already underway with several US retailers.

The current plans are for one factory located in Mosul exporting teen clothing. One in Narif produces ready-made suits and other factories will be geared for leather jackets.

They are not planing anything big to start with, with the aim being to get a small number of articles in limited markets, in all probability Washington, New York, Chicago and Detroit.

It is the hope that even a small start will give the Iraqi's spirit a boost as well as the economic one. And also they hope that the foreign markets will get a good impression of the Iraqi workmanship.

This is only meant as a starting point to getting Iraqis back to work and the rest of the country's industry back and working.

They view success in Iraq as taking three separate roads, political, economic and security all leading to an independent, stable and productive country

It is an ambitious project for a country in the middle of a civil war. One that will take years to complete, that is if there are no setbacks along the way. All Iraqis are not going to like the idea, but there is hope that they will want to build a country instead of tare it apart.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4343

Oil majors to meet with the Iraq Government at the world's leading energy summit for Iraq

AME Info - [8/16/2007]

The world's pre-eminent operators within the global oil, petrochemical, electricity and security sectors will descend on Dubai early next month for the forthcoming Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical & Electricity Summit, the world's first event organised to consider the future of Iraq's abundant energy resources through direct consultation with the international private sector.
The summit, which will take place in Dubai on 2-4 September, will welcome a delegation of Ministers and Director Generals from the Iraq Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). These will include representatives from the Ministries of Oil, Industry, Electricity and National Security Affairs.

These key decision makers will be participating at the landmark summit, the first of its kind to bring ministers and other officials to establish relationships and enter into contractual negotiations with international energy operators.

The official Iraqi delegation will include some of the most important figures from Iraq's energy sector, including Minister of Industry & Minerals H.E. Fawzi Al-Hariri, Minister of Electricity H.E. Kareem Wahid and KRG Minister of Oil H.E. Ashti Hawrami. It will also include Thamer Ghadbhan, a former oil minister and Chairman of the Iraq Oil Commission, Bahr Alolom, former oil minister and Chairman of the Official Summit Steering Committee, Mohamed Al-Waili, Governor of Basra and Abdulrahman Mustafa, Governor of Kirkuk, who will be headlining a special session on Iraq's oil strategy and the key requirements for the sector.

H.E. Fawzi Al-Hariri will be leading a strong delegation from the Ministry of Industry & Minerals including the Director General for Petrochemicals, the Director General for Petrochemical Industries and the Director General for Petrochemical Investments, all of whom will be outlining requirements for the petrochemical sector, covering issues such as refinery and petrochemical integration, feedstock flexibility and production availability for petrochemical production.

The summit will also feature a special security briefing, featuring director generals from Iraq's Ministry for National Security Affairs, complemented by the Head of Facilities Protection, who will be attending as part of the Ministry of Electricity delegation led by Minister H.E. Karim Waheed. The briefing will be held on Day 3 of the summit, focusing on the protection of power stations, pipelines, refineries and other associated energy facilities and the various security provisions required.

All attending Iraqi Ministries will be outlining the requirements for their relevant sectors in front of the senior corporate audience, before holding private consultations with some of the pre-eminent operators within the global energy sector.

These best-in-breed operators and companies will be represented at board level in order to build the relationships that will be crucial to the future of the Iraqi energy sector and include the likes of BP, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Lukoil, Statoil, Marathon Oil, Total, Shell, Kuwait National Petroleum, Annadarko, Schlumberger, ABB, ONGC, General Electric, Cummins Power, Mitsui, Aegis, ArmorGroup, Janussian, Control Risks Group, Unity, Hart, Olive Security, GardaWorld and Triple Canopy.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4345

Originally Posted by Hardwood

I am starting a new News thread.

Please feel free to openly discuss the News. Give your thoughts and reactions as we see Iraq take care of their political and domestic issues.

Thank you.

THANK-YOU, BUDDY, FOR TAKING THE INITIATIVE! PLEASE IGNORE MY 2ND REQUEST IN THE RUMOR SECTION AS I JUST RETURNED TO THE HOUSE AND DIDN'T SEE THIS THREAD AT THE TOP OF THE HEAP, AND ACTUALLY NOTICED IT AS I GLANCED DOWN THE LINE. AGAIN: THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND THAT OF ALL OUR GOOD REGULAR POSTERS, HERE. I DO BELIEVE, I DO BELIEVE, I DO BELIEVE!

L-M

New Iraq alliance formed to back shaky government

By Mariam Karouny Reuters - Thursday, August 16 05:59 pmBAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish and Shi'ite leaders formed an alliance on Thursday to support Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, but failed to bring in Sunni leaders who are crucial to national reconciliation.

Maliki is facing a political crisis after the main Sunni Arab bloc, the Accordance Front, pulled its six ministers out of his Shi'ite-led national unity government saying he had ignored their demands.

The new alliance includes the two main Kurdish parties in the government, the powerful Shi'ite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) and Maliki's Shi'ite Dawa party.

But it failed to include the Islamic Party, the biggest single Sunni Arab party in parliament.

U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said the alliance would not be able to solve the country's problems on its own.

"The major problems confronting the country, the reasons that brought the leadership together are the kinds of thing that are going to have to be solved by Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurds," Crocker told Reuters. "This is a Kurdish-Shi'ite grouping.

"It certainly seems to me that by itself it is not going to be able to get at some of these core difficulties."

Talks to form an alliance began last year with the Islamic Party but broke down over its demand that it be given a greater say in security matters.

The same demand triggered the withdrawal this month of the Accordance Front which comprises three parties, including the Islamic Party.

But at a ceremony to announce the new bloc, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, left the door open to other groups to join.

The agreement was signed by Talabani, Maliki, the president of the Kurdish region Masoud Barzani and Shi'ite Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi. It was not related to a leadership summit, which is expected soon with Sunni Arab participation.

"This agreement came to shake the paralysis in the political process. It is not an alternative to the blocs (in parliament)," Maliki said.

NEW PHASE

The three-page agreement did not mention details of how the alliance would help the government. It did include plans to form a follow-up committee and to continue talking with Sunni Arabs.

Maliki's government is made up of competing ethnic and sectarian blocs, whose infighting has paralysed decision-making and resulted in a failure to push through key issues, such as disbanding militias, which are critical for stability in Iraq.

Sunni Arab officials said the alliance marked a new phase for Iraq in which parties would be divided in parliament into pro-government and opposition blocs.

"A new phase has started. This encourages the other sides to look for the option of forming an opposition front," said Saleem Jubouri, a senior member in the Accordance Front.

He said powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement and the small but influential Shi'ite group Fadhila could join such an opposition front.

Maliki's weak government promised much but has achieved little since it was formed fifteen months ago. Twenty ministers from three political blocs have either quit or stopped attending cabinet meetings.

New Iraq alliance formed to back shaky government - Yahoo! News UK

U.S. envoy says Iraq report will sound warning on Iran

Reuters - Thursday, August 16 06:49 pmBAGHDAD (Reuters) - Washington's envoy to Iraq warned Americans on Thursday that pulling U.S. troops out of the country could open the door to a "major Iranian advance" that would threaten U.S. interests in the region.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker also accused Tehran of seeking to weaken the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government so that it could "by one means or another control it". Iran has denied U.S. charges that it is arming and training Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

Crocker and the top U.S. general in Iraq, General David Petraeus are due to present a pivotal report to Congress in September on progress on the military and political fronts and make recommendations on the way forward.

Opinion polls suggest most Americans have turned against the four-year war and Democrats in Congress want President George W. Bush to start pulling out U.S. troops as soon as possible. Bush, however, has resisted such calls.

"If the leadership wants to go a different way, I have an obligation to talk a little bit about what the consequences of pulling in a different direction would be," Crocker told Reuters in an interview in his office in Baghdad's Green Zone.

"One area of clear concern is Iran. The Iranians aren't going anywhere. I have significant concerns that a coalition withdrawal would lead to a major Iranian advance. And we need to consider what the consequences of that would be."

The two long-time foes are locked in a stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme. Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.

Crocker has met his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad three times to discuss U.S. concerns that Iran is fuelling violence in Iraq, de****e Tehran's public support for Iraq's government.

"Based on what I see on the ground, I think they are seeking a state that they can, by one means or another, control, weakened to the point that Tehran can set its agenda," he said.

Tehran was seeking "greater influence, greater pressure on the government", said the veteran diplomat, a fluent Arabic speaker who has spent most of his career in the Middle East.

MOVIE REEL

Bush sent 30,000 extra troops to Iraq earlier this year to try to halt sectarian violence between majority Shi'ite Muslims and minority Sunni Arabs and buy time for Iraq's divided political leaders to agree a real power-sharing deal.

While Petraeus will look at the success of the U.S. military build-up, Crocker has the arguably more difficult task of reporting on the almost negligible political progress that has been made towards reconciling Iraq's warring groups.

With the Bush administration often accused of not giving much thought about what do in Iraq after it invaded in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein, Crocker said he was anxious to spell out the consequences of pulling out U.S. troops.

"If we decide that we tried, we're tired, we want to bring the troops home, then what? The movie does not stop the day that coalition forces leave Iraq. It keeps on running. We need to consider what reels two, three, four and five might look like."

Crocker said he was in daily contact with Petraeus but had not yet begun to draft his report, which is due to be presented on September 15 and is seen by many as a watershed moment in the war that could trigger a change in U.S. policy.

"I have come to find here in Iraq that a month is a long span of time," he said.

He said the U.S. military buildup, which has succeeded in reducing sectarian violence, and new alliances formed with Sunni Arab sheikhs that have pacified volatile Anbar province had brought Maliki's government to a cross-roads.

"This is the best chance they have had since the beginning of 2006. It is an opportunity to really start turning things around in this country. But they are going to have to move in a decisive, considered and comprehensive way."

Iraq's leaders have been meeting this week to try to find common ground and break the political logjam that has paralysed decision-making, lost him nearly a score of ministers, and stalled agreement on key laws that Washington sees as crucial to national reconciliation.

U.S. envoy says Iraq report will sound warning on Iran - Yahoo! News UK

Iraqi PM announces new coalition

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2007

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has announced a fresh alliance of moderate Shia and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates have refused to join.

He says the door remains open to them and that the agreement was the first step to unblocking political stagnation that has gripped his Shia-led government since it first took power in May 2006.

The announcement came after three days of political negotiations in Baghdad and does not include Tariq al-Hashemi, Iraq's Sunni vice-president, and his Iraqi Islamic party.

Sunni invitation

Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, and al-Maliki were flanked by Massoud Barzani, the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, the Shia vice-president as the announcement was made.
The four men signed a three-page agreement that they said would ensure them a majority in the 275-member parliament and allow the passing of critical US-demanded legislation.

Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's Iraq correspondent, said: "The new alliance gives them the ability to continue passing legislation. However without Sunni representation ... it could increase sectarian violence."

Talabani, a Kurd, said that al-Hashemi had refused the invitation to join in the new political grouping but that "the door is still open to them and they are welcome at any time".

Al-Maliki also called on the Sunni Accordance Front, which includes al-Hashemi's party, to return to the government after five of the bloc's cabinet ministers quit the government.

The four-party agreement comes four weeks before David Petraeus, the most senior US commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq, are due to deliver a progress report on Iraq to congress.

Garage blast

In a separate development, a car bomb has struck a parking garage in a central commercial district of Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 17.

The bomb went off during Thursday's morning rush hour near the busy Rusafi Square.

Smoke poured out of the seven-storey concrete building and food and merchandise stalls below were left charred.

Al Jazeera English - News - Iraqi Pm Announces New Coalition

Al-Maliki's days are numbered

16 - 22 August 2007

Nermeen Al-Mufti interviews two families who have lost everything and ponders the fate of PM Al-Maliki who also looks like he might lose all as the Iraqi political process implodes.

Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki is a man with few friends these days. Many blame him for the current political crisis triggered by successive resignations of major political groups from his cabinet. Six ministers of the Sunni Accordance Front have left the cabinet. This was followed by the resignation of the justice minister, the withdrawal of the five pro-Sadr ministers, and the boycott of the cabinet by the four ministers of the Iraqi List. One man, however, seems to support Al-Maliki. Iranian President Ahmadinejad, speaking the day after meeting the prime minister, said that "critics of the Iraqi government are corrupt." Al-Maliki refused to comment on that remark, but other politicians were incensed.

Iyad Gamaleddin, a parliamentarian from the Iraqi List, said that "Iraq is an independent country and no one has the right to interfere in its affairs. The government and the opposition are all Iraqis and outsiders have no right to interfere in our politics." Several parliamentarians said that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements were a "violation" of Iraqi sovereignty.

Some analysts, however, were more sceptical. Jenan Ali, a professor at Baghdad University spe******ing in Iraqi affairs, said that "the outrage [over Ahmadinejad's statement] is farcical, for Iraqi sovereignty has been shattered by the occupation forces and by regional interference. President Bush says that Iran is a destabilising force in Iraq. But some Iraqi politicians maintain that Saudi Arabia and Syria are also destabilising Iraq."

Last week, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1770, which called for the Iraqi constitution to be amended for the sake of reconciliation among all Iraqis. Commenting on the resolution, Ali said that "Resolution 1770 is an indictment of Al-Maliki. The fact that President Bush approved that resolution indicates that there is a chance the occupation forces may leave the country after all."

As political parties continued consultations aimed at breaking the deadlock, the Iraqi prime minister went on a visit to Ankara and Tehran. The Kurdish administration in the north was displeased by Al-Maliki's promise to expel the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) from the country. "The government of the Kurdistan Province rejects categorically any military operation targeting the PKK in our areas, and we had an agreement to this effect with Al-Maliki before he left for Turkey."

Other politicians criticised Al-Maliki's visit to Tehran, noting that it came on the day some Iraqis still celebrate as a day of "victory" over Iran. The newspaper Al-Zaman quoted Al-Maliki as saying in a news conference that he didn't know when the eight-year war with Iran ended.

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, Al-Maliki said that "a meeting on the level of political leaders would be held on my request to introduce necessary reforms to the political process." Al-Maliki added that a preparatory committee has been working on the agenda of the meeting and that several "strategic issues" would be discussed.

As for the Accordance Front's withdrawal from the cabinet and the conditions the AF set for returning to cabinet meetings, Al-Maliki said that "those requests would be considered, and some may be implemented in keeping with the provisions of the constitution." He noted, however, that some requests were "impossible" to meet.

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, AF leader Adnan Al-Deleimi accused Shia militia and "death squads" of displacing and murdering Sunni families in some parts of Baghdad. He called on Arab leaders to intervene. "Your brothers are coming under the worst types of injustice and persecution, unprecedented in the old or new history or Iraq. They are coming under a Safawi [Iranian] assault aiming to uproot the Sunnis from Baghdad. Cemeteries have no more room for our dead. There are more than 80,000 detainees in the prisons of the government and the occupation forces. People are thrown in prison just for being Sunni," he said.

Sheikh Ali Al-Hatim, a clan leader in Al-Anbar, said that he and other members of the Anbar Salvation Council were considering candidates for the cabinet seats vacated by AF ministers. "Those posts should be filled with alternative candidates," he said, adding that the AF didn't represent Iraq's Sunnis or do much for them." Meanwhile, Badr Hadi Al-Amiri, a parliamentarian for the Shia Alliance Block, said that the current crisis was "acute and real".

Commenting on the Iraqiya Block, which former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is putting together, MP Osama Al-Nojeifi, who represents Iraqiya in the parliament, explained that the project aimed at cementing national unity and getting the country away from sectarianism. "Unlike the Kurds, who have their own project and emphasise Kurdish nationalism in their statements, the National Iraqi Front urges national unity among all Iraqis," Allawi said.

Kurdistan leader Masoud Al-Barzani arrived in Baghdad Saturday night for talks with President Jalal Talabani ahead of a meeting of the leaders of political groups and independent figures, which is scheduled to take place within days. According to well-informed sources, Iraqi leaders will ask Al-Maliki either to resign or to accept a four-way leadership of himself, President Talabani, vice-presidents Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Tareq Al-Hashimi. Allawi will not attend the meeting because Al-Maliki did not send an invitation to him due to an Iranian veto .

A source close to Al-Maliki said that the prime minister may have to appoint Sunni ministers in order to keep the government going. His other option would be to form a government of parliamentary majority, which would include the Unified Iraqi Alliance, the Kurdistan Alliance, and independent parliamentarians.

Political analyst Alaa Al-Hodeithi voiced fears that a government of parliamentary majority may give Kurdish leaders a chance to impose their conditions on Al-Maliki. The Kurds want a referendum on Kirkuk before the end of the year, something that other Iraqis, especially the Turkmen, oppose.

The cities of the south, especially Al-Basra, are experiencing a new surge of violence as rival militia try to control oil field and the harbours. The governor of Al-Diwaniya, 180km south of Baghdad, was killed by explosive charges planted by "unidentified" perpetrators. The governor was a key figure in Badr forces and had fought against elements of the deposed regime before 2003. His police chief and six of his bodyguards were killed in the same attack.

The flood has begun

About two million Iraqis had to leave their homes because of sectarian fighting. Some now live in makeshift camps. Others have moved to rented flats or live with relatives and friends. They feel forgotten, not only by their own government but by the international community.

Abu Amna, an Iraqi Sunni, had to flee his hometown of Khan Bani Saad in the turbulent Al-Diyali Governorate. He now lives with relatives in Baghdad. This is his story:

"My family and 40 other Sunni families have received threats. We were a minority amid a Shia majority. The strangest thing is that the man who threatened me was my childhood friend, a man who appears in the photos of my wedding. I couldn't believe that the ethnic and sectarian division that took place in Iraq would affect our long-time friendship. We lived our whole lives together, never asking which sect we followed. The threatening letter came in an envelope thrown at our doorstep. We were asked to leave the area within 24 hours. We decided to leave, but my father refused to abandon a home that he spent his younger years saving money to build. So my mother sent my sisters to my uncle's house in Baquba. We, three brothers and their families, decided to go to Baghdad to live with relatives. I live in the house of my uncle, who is also my father-in-law. My two brothers found no work or accommodation in Baghdad, so one of them took his family to Kirkuk and the other went to Baquba to be near relatives. My mother insisted on staying with my father. He was killed in front of her eyes less than one month after we left. The friend who shared my childhood, the friend with whom I went to school and who was my playmate, now lives in our house. I still remember the last night I spent in the house where I was born, where my daughter and son were also born. That night I didn't speak with any member of the family. I was walking around the house committing its details to memory, wondering if I would ever see it again.

"My brother who went to Baquba started working with my uncle in the market. My other brother who went to Kirkuk worked as a taxi driver. I started working as a driver using my own car. I work but I am always in fear, although I carry several forged identification cards and use them according to the area I am in. I always work in the areas I am familiar with because my licence plates are from Diyali, so I always get stopped at checkpoints. I face suspicions because I come from a turbulent city and have no immigrant papers. I can't get immigrant papers because Baghdad already has too many immigrants. So I don't dare ask for a ration card or to get my residence changed from Diyali to Baghdad. My brother who went to Kirkuk has immigrant papers. He received assistance in the form of one blanket and a single-bed mattress, although he has a family of five. He, like hundreds of thousands of immigrants, doesn't have a ration card and has been waiting for over 10 months to receive new identification papers."

Abu Amna doesn't care much for the political crisis. He said that anarchy killed his father, destroyed his country, and massacred his dreams. The political crisis is merely a symptom of the anarchy introduced by the occupation forces. He adds: "Everyday before I leave the house, I pray and I kiss my children and wife as if I am kissing them for the last time. No Iraqi who leaves his house in the morning knows if he shall return or not. We are not heroes to be working in these conditions, but we have to live so long as life goes on. I wonder who will help us return to our home, our life, and our dreams. Who will help us live, even for one hour, without fear?"

Abu Ammar is a Shia journalist who was driven out of his house in Al-Ghazaliya, a turbulent Baghdad neighbourhood that has been walled off. This is his story:

"Everyone knows that I spent eight years building my house. We, the Sunnis and the Shias, lived in amity side by side. My Sunni neighbour used to guard the building material that would remain stacked for months at the building site. When I and my family moved in, Sunni families kept bringing us food for a whole week, every single meal, de****e the severity of the blockade. About 10 months ago, a letter was posted at my door asking me to leave the area, or else. I didn't pay much attention, for the neighbours know me well and they know also that I am against the occupation and write in support of the unity of Iraq regardless of race and ethnicity. At noon the next day, someone knocked at the door. I opened to find six masked men asking me to leave the house immediately and without any of my belongings. I wanted to argue, but one of them said that no arguments were allowed and that I had to leave the house with my family immediately. They allowed us to take our clothes and personal belongings and nothing else. When we were about to leave, a family walked in to live in the house. The father asked me for forgiveness and permission to live in my house. I refused. 'How can I agree to being kicked out of my house so that you may move in?' He told me that a group of my own sect kicked him out of his house. 'This wasn't my fault,' I said. 'It is not your fault and it is mine, someone has taken my house,' he said.

"We were split among relatives. My six children went to live with uncles in Al-Kadhimiya. My wife went to stay with her brother, also in Al-Kadhimiya. I move between my sons and my wife to make sure they are fine. I am thinking of leaving Iraq, but where to? Iraqi immigrants are suffering from difficulties either in neighbouring countries or in other places. I miss my home. I miss the smile that I left behind at one of its corners. I miss my library and the archive that I put together in 30 years of working as a journalist. I miss the night gatherings with the neighbours, who still call me to make sure I am fine. I haven't changed my ration card, and I can't risk going to Al-Ghazaliya to get the monthly ration. I wrote a lot about the immigrants' crisis and their hard life. And yet, we who live in rented places or with relatives are better off than those who have to live in camps whose children can't go to school. I don't expect much from a world that is watching our pain in silence. I don't care whether Al-Maliki's government continues or not. No official is thinking about the Iraqis. They all think of themselves. They think of how to save Bush, who has a report to submit to the congress in mid-September."

Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | Al-Maliki's days are numbered