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

14,000 Interior Ministry employees fired: Iraq

More than 14,000 employees in Iraq’s Interior Ministry have been sacked for failing to respect human rights, the government said on Sunday, rejecting a report by a US panel that accused the police of sectarianism.

‘The Jones report is incomplete and does not depict the real picture in Iraq,’ government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said, referring to the assessment of the independent commission headed by General James Jones, the former top US commander in Europe.

The panel recommended that the Iraqi National Police force, widely seen by Iraqis as Shia dominated, should be scrapped and reorganised because of sectarianism within its units that made it ‘operationally ineffective’.
It also said corruption and sectarianism were rife in the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police.

The US military in Iraq has said it will study the report and see where it can make adjustments to its police training programme but that it is unlikely to agree to the force being rebuilt from scratch.

Dabbagh defended the performance of Iraq’s security forces and said serious efforts were being made to clean up the police, which has long been accused of colluding in sectarian violence against minority Sunni Arabs.

‘Until yesterday more than 14,000 members of the Interior Ministry have been removed from their positions because they don’t respect human rights or because they are believed linked to militias and armed groups,’ he told a news conference in translated remarks.

All nine national police brigade commanders and 17 out of 24 battalion commanders have been sacked and replaced, US and Iraqi officials have said previously.

The Jones report also said the Iraqi army would not be able to operate independently within the next 12-to-18 months.

Dabbagh declined to comment directly on that timeframe but acknowledged Iraq’s security forces still needed US military assistance.
Analysts agree the capabilities of Iraq’s army, which was rebuilt after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, have improved, but they are still heavily dependent on the US military for logistical and air support in counterinsurgency operations.

‘We think the Iraqi security forces have done a good job. We still need training, we still need support from the multi-national forces,’ Dabbagh said.

‘When things get better, then the Iraqi government will be in a position to talk about a timetable’ for a US troop withdrawal, he said.

There are 168,000 US troops in Iraq as part of US President George W. Bush’s ‘surge’ strategy to quell sectarian violence and give Iraq’s leaders time to reconcile the country’s warring Shia and Sunni Arab sects.

Training Iraq’s security forces to take over more combat duties from US forces is a prerequisite for starting the process of withdrawing US troops.

Khaleej Times Online - 14,000 Interior Ministry employees fired: Iraq=

Iraq to Open Oil Sector to more Foreign Firms

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 Gulf wars, 13 years of UN sanctions and the rampant insecurity that followed the US-led invasion in 2003.

Washington regards passage of the controversial oil legislation as key to efforts at national reconciliation in the country which is wracked by an insurgency and sectarian violence.

But the measures to loosen state control of Iraq's main natural resource have drawn strong opposition from nationalists and left-wingers who charge that the US is abusing its military presence to plunder the country, which holds the world's third-largest proven reserves of crude.

Ghadhban said he hoped that the oil law would be approved soon.
"What I have been hearing and (after) counting numbers, I think the law has a good chance of being passed," he told the newsletter, while adding that in the end the decision was up to the Iraqi
lawmakers.

While waiting for the approval, Iraqi oil officials have been doing some preparatory work on identifying oil fields and gathering data for the eventual licensing round.

Ghadhban said he estimated contracts could be awarded in a year's time.

"Let us say within a year. If you take other countries' experiences of bid rounds, they usually take some time," he said.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4494

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Trend in Iraq to Let the Private Sector Manage Ports and Airports

Iraqi Ministry of Transport is currently studying the proposal of managing ports and airports by the private sector.

An official source at the Ministry of Transport said in a statement that the ministry is considering the proposal submitted by the Cabinet in this regard in accordance with specific criteria set by the two Iraqi companies of ports and airports, pointing out that the ministry has proposed the management of one port only by the private sector initially, on condition that it would include debt repayment, rehabilitation and maintenance.

The source confirmed that the ministry is considering the possibility of extending its control over the border crossings through rehabilitating them and provide the necessary protection, explaining that there is a lack of coordination between the concerned ministries on the management and control of border crossings, in particular among the ministries of Interior, Finance and Trade.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4483

More Iraq suggestions ahead of looming assessments in Washington

Washington - A semi-independent report to be released Sunday in Washington calls for US forces in Iraq to be cut in half by 2010 and proposes a UN-led, continuous negotiations among leaders of Iraqi factions, modelled on the Bosnian peace talks of the 1990s.

The panel that developed the report has links to the Iraq Study Group, the US bipartisan panel that in December 2006 recommended a gradual withdrawal from Iraq. That study was led by former secretary of state James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton.

Sunday's report, issued ahead of key assessments of the conflict by US military and civilian officials in the coming week, was written with participation of many of the experts who advised the Iraq Study Group, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

Titled Iraq: A Time for Change, the report calls for a 50-per-cent cut in US troop levels in Iraq within three years and a complete handover to Iraqi forces by 2012.

In an excerpt published in Sunday's Washington Post, the report finds: 'The United States faces too many challenges around the world to continue its current level of effort in Iraq, or even the deployment that was in place before the surge. It is time to chart a clearer path forward.'

It also urges that the United Nations promptly launch continuous talks among the hostile political factions in Iraq. Similar to the process of the Bosnian peace negotiations, the talks would be held without halt until major issues are resolved.

According to the Washington Post, the report lists familiar issues to be dealt with: power-sharing, revising the constitution, distribution of oil resources and local elections, among others.

The US has been pushing for the Iraqi government and Parliament to address the same questions, with little progress.

The report's authors were brought together by the US Institute of Peace, an officially independent, nonpartisan agency founded and supported financially by the US Congress since 1986.

More Iraq suggestions ahead of looming assessments in Washington - Middle East

Iraq PM defends govt, urges regional cooperation

Sun Sep 9

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Sunday his government had made progress on all fronts and urged neighboring countries to work together to stop what he called "evil" from destabilizing the region.


Maliki was speaking a day before top U.S. officials in Iraq deliver a long-awaited assessment to the Democrat-controlled Congress on President George W. Bush's decision to send 30,000 extra soldiers to Iraq.


The reports by the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker could influence any decision Bush takes on troop numbers amid demands from Democrats and some Republicans for U.S. forces to start leaving Iraq.


Addressing a meeting of officials from neighboring countries and Western powers such as the United States, Maliki said his government had made progress "in all directions."


"This government is working hard to develop the political situation. It has made many gains de****e the huge destruction left by the former regime," Maliki said.


"We are at the beginning of the road, but at the same time, we say that what has been achieved is something promising."


Senior Democrats in the United States have slammed Maliki's performance, with some even calling for his replacement.


The assessments by Petraeus and Crocker are expected to highlight a reduction in violence in Iraq but also note the country's failure to pass laws aimed at reconciling warring majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs.


Petraeus said in a letter to troops on Friday that the government's record on political reforms had been disappointing.


"STAND TOGETHER"


Maliki, referring to attackers including Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, said all nations had a stake in making the region safer.


"Evil wants to strike this or that country, it will not stop at the border of one country. For this, we have to stand together as a wall in the face of this evil," Maliki said.


U.S. forces said on Sunday they had killed a militant linked to al Qaeda who masterminded truck bomb attacks on the minority Yazidi community last month that killed more than 400 people.


The purpose of Sunday's meeting is to review the work of several committees that were set up after a high-level conference in Egypt in May where ministers from the region and Western powers discussed ways to stabilize Iraq.


The committees have been looking at greater cooperation in security, energy and economic matters.


Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said discussions needed to include measures to tighten Iraq's borders so "terrorists and killers" cannot get into and out of the country.


"The fires lit (in Iraq) could reach other borders, which means those countries could be subject to the same risk," Zebari said, without naming any of Iraq's neighbors.

Washington accuses Iran and Syria of not doing enough to stop the flow of fighters and weapons into Iraq. Both countries, which have officials at the meeting, have denied the charges.

Fresh from his visit to Iraq where he raised the possibility of cutting troop levels, Bush said on Saturday he would address Americans next week to "lay out a vision" for the future U.S. role in Iraq after Petraeus and Crocker deliver their testimony. CNN said Bush would speak on Thursday.

Bush's administration has to give its own report to Congress by next Saturday.

One of the goals of Bush's seven-month-old troop "surge" was to give Iraq's divided leaders breathing space to reach a political compromise. U.S. troop numbers now stand at 168,000.

But differences run deep, with the ruling Shi'ite majority reluctant to cede too much power while Sunni Arabs dominant under Saddam Hussein feel marginalized.

Leaders of Iraq's parliamentary blocs met on Sunday to try to resolve some issues blocking reconciliation, officials said.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of a Sunni Arab political party, said items to be discussed included proposed amendments to the constitution, a key demand of Sunni Arabs and the United States.

Iraq PM defends govt, urges regional cooperation - Yahoo! Canada News

Ziralamalih and emphasizes the importance of complete files of Iraq's debt

Source: Voices of Iraq - 09/09/2007

Finance Minister said Saturday that it was important to complete the files of Iraq's debt and send letters to the creditor nations, which has not been settling the debt with the need to submit a final debt.

A statement by the Ministry of Finance, the Agency received the Independent News, that Finance Minister Baqir al-Zubaidi Jabr said he "will end December December of the current year deadline to stop calculating interest on the debt of Iraq, while more than 55 state credit debt issue has been resolved in accordance with the terms Club Paris. "

The statement said Baqir al-Zubaidi met with directors of the Land Bank and reviewed the activities highlighted in their constituencies where Zubaidi, according to the statement, general manager of the Fund Iraqi efforts should be made in coordination with the Foreign Ministry to seek Iraq's debt to the states (Yemen, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Afghanistan, Mosenbek, Uganda, Madagascar , Tanzania and Mauritania).

Shahrastani: Iraq will enter into contracts for oil even if oil Act postponed

Source: Reuters-09/09/2007

Said Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani Saturday that Iraq issued tenders for the international oil companies to develop the fields even if the current postponed a long-awaited law to regulate the energy sector.

Shahrastani told the oil conference in Dubai, "Although we expect this new law for political reasons, if postponed, we go forward and begin discussions with international oil companies, especially in the fields to increase current production levels."

He added "there is no legislative vacuum. A law prevails position to carry out any contract for the development of the fields. This Sennhjah and Strawn soon invite bids international oil companies to work with us to develop fields in addition to the current master plan for gas. "

Asked when tenders will be issued, he said "before the end of the year."

Shahrastani said last month that Iraq will call for open competition, including about one third of the main fields in September but the event that a new federal law oil.

But now it seems that both tenders issued new law or not issued.

The Iraqi government on the draft law in July after months of talks, but so far not discussed in Parliament, which I resumed this month after the summer recess.

The new Shahrastani comments of other Iraqi officials that the law of oil should be approved "within a few weeks" de****e the fact that many differences still exist on the details.

He said that the postponement of the bill would delay plans for the development of the sector, which provides more than 90% of the Iraqi government revenues, which are in dire need of investment after a decade of sanctions and the four years of violence since the invasion, which led the United States in 2003.

Shahrastani said, "Iraq has oil-law. And it has always been the law is the law prevailing until the approval the new law. The Oil Ministry can sign any contracts for the development of energy Alantegh and increase oil production ... There is a need for this for reconstruction. "

Iraq's 2007 Economic Growth to Exceed Six Percent

Turkish Weekly - [9/9/2007]

A senior U.S. official says Iraq's economy is likely to grow more than six percent this year thanks to improving security in the country.


But U.S. diplomat Charles Ries also says the Iraqi economy is underperforming because of an inadequate supply of electricity, and weakness in the oil sector.

Ries was speaking Wednesday in Baghdad, where he is serving as the U.S. coordinator for Iraq's economic transition.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report last month that Iraq has struggled to raise oil production above the current two million barrels a day.

Ries says Iraqi oil production will increase once the parliament passes legislation to share oil revenues between Iraq's Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

He says such a law will enable foreign energy companies to help find new oil and gas deposits in Iraq.

Iraq has the world's third largest proven oil reserves, with much of the country still unexplored.

The IMF has predicted Iraq's economy will grow 6.3 percent this year, slightly up from 6.2 percent in 2006.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4503

DNO confirms 2 oil deposits in Iraq's Tawke field

MENAFN - 09/09/2007

(MENAFN) A representative of the Norwegian oil producer, DNO said the two new wells have been confirmed as oil deposits in northern Iraq's Tawke field and that Tawke No. 8 has confirmed oil in the central/down flank position of the field, IDP reported.

He also added that the well has reached a gross output rate of more than 17,000 barrels of oil per day aggregated from four tests.

It is worth mentioning that a maximum of 8,000 bpd was confirmed from the most productive test interval and Tawke No. 5A has been drilled to its final depth, confirming oil in the central area of the lower deposit.

MENAFN - Middle East North Africa . Financial Network News: DNO confirms 2 oil deposits in Iraq's Tawke field

Al Basrah Oil Terminal in final phase of revitalization

MENAFN - 09/09/2007

(MENAFN) A spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced that the Gulf Region Division's (GRD) oil sector is nearing completion of its developments on the Al Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT), IDP reported.

He further stated that the USACE has invested a total of $67.5 million to revitalize the export facility which is situated fifty kilometers off the Arabian Gulf and that at the moment, 1.5 million barrels of crude oil are exported every day by tankers at ABOT.

The Basrah terminal is supplied by a 48-inch undersea pipeline from the southernmost tip of the Al Faw Peninsula and has four berths which are able to handle very large carrier-type vessels and offloading 300,000 to 400,000 barrels daily on each berth.

MENAFN - Middle East North Africa . Financial Network News: Al Basrah Oil Terminal in final phase of revitalization