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

AsiaCell launches service in Arbil

Arbil, Sept 1, (VOI) – Asiacell has launched its service in the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region Arbil, the GSM company's subscribers said on Saturday.

An Asiacell subscriber told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) that he is now able to receive phone calls from his family in Baghdad via his mobile phone, while another said that it is not yet possible to call subscribers to other companies.

AsiaCell, Korek Telecom and MTC Atheer were the three winners in the mobile phone license auction held by the Iraqi goverin the Jordanian capital Amman a few days ago.

Mobile phone services were first launched in Iraq in early 2004 after the collapse of the former Iraqi regime and the Cairo-based Orascom Telecom Holdings, Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co and AsiaCell were the winners in an auction that drew 35 bidders. Under the then contracts, Orascom's network covered central Iraq, including Baghdad, AsiaCell served northern Iraq, while Atheer Tel (from Kuwait) operated in the south.

Aswat Aliraq

Electricity ministry says 150 new generators set up in Baghdad

Baghdad, Sept 1, (VOI) – The Iraqi electricity ministry announced on Saturday that 150 new power generators were set up in different areas in the Iraqi capital Baghdad to enhance supply and lessen the cut-off hours.
"The new generators will work in a few days' time and would produce two megawatts," the ministry's media spokesman told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
He added that the generators, to provide power supply for the residents of Baghdad for many hours, were of "high quality and can stand Iraq's very hot summer."

Aswat Aliraq

Saudi diplomats look for embassy headquarters

Riyadh, Sept 1, (VOI) – The Saudi diplomatic mission assigned to re-open an embassy in Baghdad wrapped up a visit to Iraq after considering some places likely to serve as embassy headquarters, an official source in the Saudi foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"The Saudi mission had meetings with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari and undersecretaries to discuss the means to re-open an embassy in Iraq," the source, who preferred not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source did not give further details about Saudi Arabia's announcing the re-opening of its embassy in Baghdad, where the Saudi mission had arrived on Tuesday.

Diplomatic relations were re-established between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in 2004 after the fall of the former regime but did not open an embassy due to deteriorating security conditions.

Iraq, however, re-opened its embassy in Riyadh in February 2007 for the first time since 1990, when it was closed after the outbreak of the 1st Gulf war.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saoud al-Faysal, during a press conference on August 1, 2007 with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, had said the kingdom was planning to send a diplomatic mission to Iraq "soon" to prepare for re-opening its embassy in Baghdad and enhance bilateral relations.

Aswat Aliraq

Freezing the Mahdi Army… a prelude to militia dissolution?
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Baghdad, Aug 31, (VOI) – Some Iraqi strategic experts described the decision taken by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to freeze his Mahdi Army for six months as offering "half a solution" to the long-standing problem of armed groups in the country, while others have questioned al-Sadr's ability to control his militias amidst a volatile atmosphere due to the unstable security situation in the war-torn country.

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Crocker pledges new oil refinery, power plant in Diala

U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker pledged during a visit to Baaquba on Thursday to exert more effort to obtain donors' approval to set up an oil refinery and power plant in Diala province.

"Crocker also stressed the grave importance of national reconciliation and tribal efforts for solving security problems, as he said ‘security agencies can not realize stability without the cooperation of all groups of the Iraqi people, including the tribes'," the chief of the local council in Diala, Ibrahim Hassan al-Bajlan, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"Crocker promised leaders of security agencies to study the issue of more than 500 fired policemen and the possibility of getting them back to service," said Bajlan.

A peaceful march was staged recently by sacked policemen who were forced to leave their jobs during the period that preceded the "filtering" campaigns on June 19, after death threats were received against them and their families from "terrorist" groups belonging to al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq, Bajlan added.

Bajlan said, "the U.S. ambassador was requested to increase the number of security forces now that the province is witnessing wide-scale military operations coinciding with hundreds of reconstruction and service projects."

Crocker held a meeting attended by Diala governor, lawyer Raad Rashid al-Mulla, his deputy, Ouf Rahoumi, and the Diala security operations chief, Maj. General Abdul-Kareem al-Rubaie.

Crocker also toured local souks (markets) in Baaquba and met with a number of citizens who expressed outright support for the security plan being carried out in the province.

Iraqi and U.S. forces launched a security plan in Diala several months ago codenamed Arrowhead Ripper, with the aim of cleaning the province of armed groups.

The local council of Diala is composed of three political blocs: the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (21 members), the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party (14) and the Kurdistan Coalition (7).

Baaquba, the capital of Diala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

Crocker pledges new oil refinery, power plant in Diala | Iraq Updates

U.S. welcomes suspension of Iraq militia

BAGHDAD, Sept. 1 The U.S. military issued a statement Saturday saying the six-month suspension of Iraq's radical Mehdi Army militia is "encouraging."

The military said Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to suspend the militia will allow U.S. and Iraqi forces to "intensify their focus on al-Qaida in Iraq ... without distraction from (Mehdi Army) attacks," CNN reported Saturday.

"Muqtada al-Sadr's declaration holds the potential to reduce criminal activity and help reunite Iraqis separated by ethno-sectarian violence and fear," the statement said.

Sadr's order follows the deaths of nearly 60 people during recent battles between armed Shiite groups in Karbala and Baghdad. An aide to the Shiite cleric said Sadr suspended the militia with the intent to restructure its forces.

A permanent disbanding of the Mehdi Army "would also be an important step in helping Iraqi authorities focus greater attention on achieving the political and economic solutions necessary for progress and less on dealing with criminal activity, sectarian violence, kidnappings, assassinations, and attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces," the U.S. military said.

U.S. welcomes suspension of Iraq militia : World

Top British general attacks US over Iraq policy

London - In a harsh attack, the commander of British forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, General Sir Mike Jackson, has dismissed US policy in post-war Iraq as 'intellectually bankrupt'.

He also branded former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld as 'one of the most responsible for the current situation', which had resulted from 'short-sighted' strategy.

In remarks published by the Daily Telegraph Saturday, Jackson - a former chief of the general staff - dismissed as 'nonsensical' Rumsfeld's claim that US forces 'don't do nation-building'.

In what the Daily Telegraph called the first time he had revealed the depth of his anger towards the US administration, Jackson also hit out at the decision to hand control of planning the administration of Iraq after the war to the Pentagon.

And he called 'very short-sighted' the disbanding of the Iraqi army and security forces after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, adding: 'We should have kept the Iraqi security services in being and put them under the command of the coalition.'

Jackson, who is now retired and whose autobiography is being serialised in the Daily Telegraph, also criticised as 'inadequate' the US approach to combatting world terrorism, since it neglected diplomacy in favour of sheer military power.

Jackson also made clear the doubts that he and other top British officers had that Saddam Hussein was hoarding weapons of mass destruction - the reason Washington and London at the time gave for invading Iraq.

Top British general attacks US over Iraq policy - Middle East

Foreign Minister Receives a Telephone Call from his British Counterpart

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari received a phone call from his British counterpart Mr. David Miliband on August 30th. A number of issues of common interest and bilateral relations between the two countries were discussed.

Minister Zebari viewed the developments in the political and security situation in Iraq as well as in Basra, in addition to the agreement between political leaderships to address a number of issues and legislations necessary to achieve national reconciliation in the country.

Minister Zebari stressed the importance of the role and the assistance provided by UK to achieve security and stability in southern Iraq.

On his part the British Foreign Minister confirmed his government's commitment to Iraq's security and stability, and to defend the new Iraq and the political process under the framework of the Multi-National Forces.

PUKmedia :: English - Foreign Minister Receives a Telephone Call from his British Counterpart

1300 loans for industrial projects in Baghdad

An official source at the General Directorate for Industrial Development, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, said that the Directorate granted nearly 1300 loans for small and medium industrial projects for the industrialists of Baghdad as a result of Cabinet's allocation of $20 million for facilitated loans to support industrial enterprises in the private sector.

As the source explained in a statement issued by the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, “The loans ranged between ID10 and 25 million dinars for each project across all industries, with repayment over four years at 2% interest," but didn't specify when they were disbursed.

The statement added that "these loans apply to just 20% of the total enterprises registered in the Directorate in Baghdad, with eight thousand fully incorporated industrial projects in its database of detailed and exhaustive information."

He explained that there is a specialized committee within the Directorate of Industrial Development called the Federation of Industries and Internal Ministry Inspection which scrutinizes information provided by the owners of those projects in conjunction with existing Directorate data. The Directorate ceased distribution of applications for the loan program, begun last April 29, after it reached nearly two thousand forms.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4455

US says Sadr militia freeze will help fight Qaeda in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's suspension of armed actions by his feared militia will help US forces fight Al-Qaeda in the war-torn country, the military said on Saturday.

The military said Sadr's order would help American and Iraqi forces to "intensify their focus on Al-Qaeda-Iraq "without distraction from Jaysh al-Mahdi attacks."

Jaysh al-Mahdi, widely known as Mahdi Army, has carried out sustained attacks against US-led troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.
"Muqtada al-Sadr's declaration holds the potential to reduce criminal activity and help reunite Iraqis separated by ethno-sectarian violence and fear," the military said.

The military has accused the militia of killing Sunni Arabs in the sectarian conflict gripping Iraq, and also blamed some of its "rogue elements" for attacking its troops after receiving training from Iranian groups.

"An end to Jaysh al-Mahdi violence would also be an important step in helping Iraqi authorities focus greater attention on achieving the political and economic solutions necessary for progress and less on dealing with criminal activity, sectarian violence, kidnappings, assassinations, and attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces," the military said.

"We call on all parties and all elements to support and enforce this new initiative."

US says Sadr militia freeze will help fight Qaeda in Iraq - Yahoo! News UK