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

Britain to withdraw 250 troops from Iraq within four weeks

Some 250 British soldiers will be withdrawn from Iraq over the next four weeks as part of a plan to reduce troop levels by 500 to 5,000, the defence ministry said Saturday.

The move comes after 500 British troops completed Monday their pull-out from their last remaining base inside Iraq's second city Basra.

The troops handed over Basra Palace in the southern oil port city to Iraqi security forces and retreated to an airbase outside the city, Britain's last remaining base in Iraq.

The King's Royal Hussars Battle Group of approximately 250 men were told that as part of a planned troop reduction, their tour was being cut short and they would return to Britain over the next four weeks.

The remaining reductions would be achieved in the coming months as part of ongoing manpower reviews, the ministry said. They are expected to be withdrawn by the end of November.

Defence Secretary Des Browne told parliament on July 19: "In February, the then prime minister set out our plans for Iraq in 2007, centring on changes to the posture of UK forces in Basra in Multi-National Division -- South East and consequent force level reductions.

"UK forces have transferred control of a number of bases in and around Basra to the 10th Division of the Iraqi army.

"We expect to complete the final part of these plans, involving the transfer of control of Basra Palace to the Iraqi authorities, before this roulement (in November 2007) takes place. As a result UK force levels in Iraq will fall to around 5,000 troops."

British troops are in security control of the wider Basra province. Its troops in southern Iraq are transferring from combat to overwatch duties as they gradually hand over control to Iraqi security forces.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has consistently refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, insisting only conditions on the ground could determine when the time was right to pull them out.

The 169th British soldier to die in Iraq since the March 2003 US-led invasion was killed Wednesday during a routine operation.

Britain to withdraw 250 troops from Iraq within four weeks - Yahoo! News UK

Bush to address war-weary Americans on Iraq

U.S. President George W. Bush will address a war-weary American public next week to "lay out a vision" for the U.S. role in Iraq as he tries to sell his strategy in the wake of a crucial report to Congress.

Heading home from an overseas trip on the eve of a political showdown over the unpopular war, Bush used his Saturday radio address to appeal for patience from Democratic lawmakers demanding a timetable for troop withdrawal.

Bush is under mounting pressure to change course in Iraq as top commander David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker prepare to testify about a troop buildup the president says is making progress but which critics call a failure.

"I urge the members of Congress to listen to these two well-respected professionals -- before jumping to any conclusions," he said.

Fresh from a surprise visit to Iraq, Bush announced he would make his case in a televised address after Petraeus and Crocker deliver much-anticipated assessments starting Monday. CNN said the president would speak in prime time on Thursday.

"Next week," he said, "I will speak directly to the nation about the recommendations General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have presented to me.

"I will discuss the changes our strategy has brought to Iraq. I will lay out a vision for future involvement in Iraq -- one that I believe the American people and their elected leaders of both parties can support."

With his approval ratings near historic lows, largely due to anti-war sentiment, Bush has raised the prospect of a limited troop drawdown if security trends continue.

But he is unlikely to unveil a major shift in strategy any time soon in a war that has dragged on for more than four years, claiming the lives of more than 3,700 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

WAR DEBATE

The Petraeus-Crocker report will fuel debate on Capitol Hill as lawmakers weigh whether to approve more funding for the war and as Democrats and a few Republicans insist that Washington should start bringing some of troops home.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Petraeus told Bush he wanted to maintain heightened troop levels in Iraq well into next year but could accept a modest withdrawal of about 4,000 troops starting in January.

Petraeus's testimony, the centerpiece of the administration's mandated report to Congress, follows bleak independent assessments that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has done little to achieve national reconciliation needed to curb sectarian violence.

Petraeus conceded in a letter to troops on Friday that the Shi'ite-dominated government's record on political reforms had been disappointing.

The Bush administration boosted troop levels -- now at 168,000 -- as part of a plan to improve security and give Iraqi politicians time to start bridging the sectarian divide.

Drawing upon his trip to Iraq's restive Anbar province on Monday, Bush reiterated, however, that he had seen promising gains on the ground, with Sunni tribal chiefs joining with U.S. forces against al Qaeda militants.
Bush left an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney before it ended on Saturday to head home for final consultations on the Iraq report. He was due to stop briefly in Honolulu to review war strategy with commanders.

Bush to address war-weary Americans on Iraq - Yahoo! News UK

The Iraqi government has added millions of dollars to the budget of the western province of Anbar

The Iraqi government has added millions of dollars to the budget of the western province of Anbar to help rebuild the region that was once an al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold and one of Iraq's most dangerous areas, an Interior Ministry official said.

The step comes days after a surprise visit to the province by U.S. President George W. Bush to Anbar where he met top Iraqi officials as well as tribal leaders who carried arms against al-Qaida in Iraq, a move that led to the improvement of the security situation in the predominantly Sunni Arab area.

During a conference held Thursday in this city, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, the government allocated additional US$70 million (€51.2 million) to the Anbar budget, Interior Ministry official Col. Tariq Mohammed Youssef said. He added that 6,000 jobs will be created for Anbar residents.

Another US$50 million (€36.57 million) was allocated to compensate citizens who suffered from military operations.

The conference was attended by Iraqi Vice Presidents Tariq al-Hashimi and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker as well as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Top tribal leaders from Anbar were also present, including Abdul-Sattar al-Rishawi, head of the Anbar Salvation Council that spearheaded the fight against al-Qaida.

Government allocates millions of dollars for western region - International Herald Tribune

Iraq needs $20-25 bln for refineries-oil official

Iraq will require up to $25 billion in investment to expand its refining capacity over the next five to seven years, an Iraqi oil official said on Saturday.

Dathar al-Khashab, director-general of the state-run Midland Refineries Co, said that estimate included expanding Iraq's five existing refineries and building four refineries, as well as the cost of crude pipelines, product pipelines and depots.

"The huge surge of prices in construction costs means this figure could be moderate," he said on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

"This could be done from internal financing and the other way is through joint ventures, inviting international companies to come in and offering a lot of incentives to do so."

Iraq has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves but its refineries have suffered from a decade of sanctions and four years of violence since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, which has hampered investment.

In 2002, Iraq had total installed refining capacity of some 590,000 bpd, operating at 90-95 percent, Khashab said. The refineries were operating at 60 percent in 2005, when Iraq suffered a gasoline shortage of 10-12 million litres, he added.

While that has eased, Khashab said, demand was likely to rise again if the security situation improves. The shortages have already resulted in a thriving black market in fuel.

Khashab said each of the existing refineries, would cost $1.5 billion to expand.

Plans were also afoot for the construction of a new 300,000 bpd refinery in the southern city of Nassirya and three 150,000 bpd refineries in Amara, Kerbala and Kirkuk, though the projects are mostly still at the consulting stage.

"The one in Kerbala we have done some engineering on and the FEED package is going to be tendered in the next few weeks," he said. "We are having problems with the new pricing. The main thing that is hampering us is the misunderstanding from companies... It is not like before. We are now transparent."

Some foreign companies have been wary of entering Iraq amid daily violence, a lack of transparency and a legal vacuum in some areas. Many international oil companies are awaiting the passage of a new federal oil law that will regulate the sector.

The much-anticipated bill has been approved by the government after months of talks but has yet to be passed by Iraq's parliament.

Iraq needs $20-25 bln for refineries-oil official | Reuters

Bush sees 'remarkable changes' in Iraq

U.S. President George W. Bush Saturday said he saw "remarkable changes" in his visit this week to Anbar Province in Iraq.

In his weekly radio address, Bush said coalition forces have driven al-Qaida from the province, where he said "success Â… is critical to the democratic future of Iraq and the war on terror."

"The level of violence is down," he said. "Local governments are meeting again. Young Sunnis are joining the police and army. And normal life is returning."

Bush said he received a briefing in Iraq from Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

"They told me about the progress they are seeing across Iraq and their ideas for the way forward,"

Bush said he would address the nation next week, after Petraeus and Crocker report to Congress on conditions in Iraq.

"I urge the members of Congress to listen to these two well-respected professionals -- before jumping to any conclusions," said Bush.

The president said he would use his nationwide address to "lay out a vision for future involvement in Iraq -- one that I believe the American people and their elected leaders of both parties can support."

Bush sees 'remarkable changes' in Iraq : World

Iraqi Defense Ministry warns against approaching oil, power lines

The Iraqi Defense Ministry warned Saturday against any attempts to approach oil pipelines, as well as electrical power lines and towers.
In a press release, the ministry said its airplane jets will shoot and kill any person approaching those installments, noting that those jets will conduct tours around the clock.

Monthly, Iraq is losing billions of US dollars due to sabotage against its oil and electrical facilities.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesP...06&Language=en

US troops launch assault in Iraqi oil city

More than 400 US and Iraqi troops launched an air and ground assault in the northern oil city of Kirkuk to flush out Sunni insurgents, the US military said on Saturday.

The mission is part of Operation Lightning Hammer II and was launched on Thursday.

"The combined forces are currently clearing villages to identify and root out Sunni extremists suspected to be in the area" of Riyadh Valley in southwestern Kirkuk.

"At least eight individuals have been detained for alleged terrorist activity."

In the Rashad valley region of Kirkuk, another nine suspects were detained in a simultaneous operation, the military said.

Insurgents have launched deadly attacks over the past months in Kirkuk, a ethnically volatile oil city claimed both by the Arabs and Kurds.

Longstanding Kurdish demands for the city to be incorporated in their autonomous region in northern Iraq are due to be put to a referendum by December 30.

US troops launch assault in Iraqi oil city - Yahoo! News

UPDATE 1-Iraq to issue oil tenders with or without new law

Sat Sep 8, 2007 4:40PM BST

DUBAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Iraq will issue tenders for international oil companies to develop its existing fields this year, even if a long-awaited new law to regulate the energy sector is delayed, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said.

"Although we have been waiting for this new law for political reasons, if it is delayed we will go ahead and start discussions with IOCs, especially in current fields to increase production levels," he told an oil conference in Dubai on Saturday.

"There is no legislation vacuum. There is a prevailing law, which authorises us to carry out any field development contract. This we will be pursuing and you will see shortly the tendering calling for IOCs to work with us to develop current fields in addition to a gas masterplan," he said.

Asked how soon the tenders would be issued, Shahristani said "well before the end of the year."

Shahristani said last month that Iraq would call an open race for around a third of Iraq's prized fields in September, but only once the new federal oil law was passed.

Now it seems the tenders will be issued with or without the new law, which will decide how Iraq's third-largest proven oil reserves will be shared out and has been mired in political bickering.

A draft bill was approved by the Iraqi government in July after months of talks but has yet to be debated by parliament, which returned this month from its summer break.

Shahristani reiterated comments by other Iraqi officials that the oil law should be passed "within a few weeks", but many disagreements over the details persist.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has already forced the renegotiation of the bill and international oil executives privately say they are wary about entering Iraq before the new legal framework for the energy sector, which provides over 90 percent of Iraqi government revenue, is in place.

Shahristani said the delay in the law would not delay plans to develop the sector, which is in dire need of investment after a decade of sanctions and four years of violence since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

"Iraq has an oil law. It has always had one and it is the prevailing law until the new one is legislated. The ministry of oil can sign any contract to develop capacity and increase oil production," he said.

"This is needed for the reconstruction."

UPDATE 1-Iraq to issue oil tenders with or without new law | Markets | Reuters

Foreign Firms to Develop Iraq Oil

NICOSIA, Sept. 8--A former Iraqi oil minister says the future development of the country's rich oil reserves will include a wide range of foreign companies, and not just US contractors.

Thamir Ghadhban told the Middle East Economy Survey (MEES), a Nicosia-based spe******t industry newsletter, that when the competition for contracts begins, foreign oil companies will have to form a consortium to enter the bidding.

"We believe in the benefits of diversification," Ghadhban said in the interview. "We want the maximum number of international oil companies to work in Iraq to help in providing technical expertise and management skills and financial capabilities, but also to help in enhancing the strategic balance of Iraq."

After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, many observers assumed that US firms would automatically win most oil development contracts, MEES said.

Ghadhban is a leading candidate to head the Iraq National Oil Company, set to be re-established once a draft oil law receives parliamentary approval.

The INOC will most likely be a partner in a consortium with the foreign firms.

Unlike most state oil companies, however, the INOC "will not have a monopoly on Iraqi land in terms of exploration," Ghadhban said.

Iraq's oil infrastructure has been hit by decades of under-investment as a result of successive wars, 13 years of UN sanctions and the rampant insecurity that followed the US-led invasion in 2003.

Alalam News

Iraq Neighbors to Assess Security

BAGHDAD, Sept 8--Iraq and its neighbors come together with key international players in Baghdad Sunday to assess the way forward in ending violence.

The second Baghdad Conference comes six months after a groundbreaking meeting in the Iraqi capital during which Iraq's neighbors pledged to cut off cross-border shipments of cash and arms to extremist groups.

Though violence has been down in recent weeks, the attacks reinforced the obstacles to US goals ahead of a report to Congress by the top US commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

The two are to attending hearings starting Monday on progress in Iraq since the introduction of 30,000 more US troops.

"The prime minister will use the second Baghdad Conference to assess progress in making the region more secure," said an aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"He wants to see what we have gained since the first Baghdad Conference" held on March 10, aide Ahmad al-Hadithi told France's AFP news agency.

The focus, he added, would be on commitments made at the first conference and at a similar meeting held in Egypt in May.

After Maliki addresses the meeting, delegates will break into three working groups dealing with security, the plight of four million Iraqis displaced internally or who have fled to Jordan and Syria, and Iraq's energy crisis.

The committees established at the first Baghdad Conference have each held one meeting -- energy in Turkey in mid-June, displaced Iraqis in Jordan early August, and security in Syria on August 8 and 9.

"This will be the second time they meet and their first meetings on Iraqi soil," said Hadithi.

At the March 10 gathering, delegates gave a bland pledge to "fight terrorism and enhance security" but the meeting was overshadowed by squabbles, with Tehran demanding a US military withdrawal.

Similar rows broke out again when foreign ministers and top diplomats from more than 50 countries gathered in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to launch the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) on May 3 and 4.

This time Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki launched a tirade against Washington, describing US troops in Iraq as "terrorists".

His outburst dashed expectations of a meeting between himself and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and in the end the only contact between the two foes was a brief meeting between US Ambassador Crocker and a deputy foreign minister of Iran.

The final statement from the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting echoed that issued after the Baghdad Conference, with all participants' affirming their desire to "combat terrorist activities and prevent the use of their territory for supplying, organizing and launching terrorist operations".

Since then, Maliki has visited both Syria and Iran -- angering Washington in the process -- to improve bilateral ties.

The gathering in the Iraqi capital will be more low key than the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting and the focus will be on getting down to business in the working groups rather than making political statements, said Hadithi.

Delegates are expected from across the region, from the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -- as well as from some of the Group of Eight countries like Japan, said Hadithi.

Those attending are expected mostly to be envoys based in Iraq or foreign ministry officials traveling especially for the event, although Baghdad is hoping some foreign ministers from the region will front up.

Crocker will be in Washington to give testimony before Congress on progress on the security and political situation in Iraq so another official will be attending the meeting, the US embassy said, without identifying the delegate.

Alalam News