Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 01/01/08 - 14/04/08

Latest IMF Press Release Re Iraq - it's quite long so I am just going to leave the link.


Transcript of a Press Briefing by Masood Ahmed, Director, External Relations Department, IMF


Transcript of a Press Briefing by Masood Ahmed, Director, External Relations Department, IMF

Iran team leaves without US talks on Iraq
US embassy in Baghdad denies talks with Iranian delegation on security situation in Iraq have been scheduled.

An Iranian delegation left Baghdad for home on Thursday without holding talks with officials from archfoe the United States on the security situation in Iraq, an Iranian official said.

"The delegation has left Baghdad because the Americans refused to conduct any negotiations," the official close to Tehran's negotiators said.

Delegation head Reza Amiri Moghaddam had been quoted by the Iranian media as saying a new round of talks would be held on Thursday in Baghdad, but both US and Iraqi officials denied any such dialogue had been scheduled.

"The government of Iraq was busy with the visit of the Iranian president and there was no time to fix the date for the talks. There were no talks fixed for today," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

US embassy spokesman Philip Reeker also said there were "no trilateral talks today."

Iran and the United States held three rounds of talks about Iraq last year despite mounting tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme. The two foes have had no diplomatic relations since 1980.

A fourth round of talks was scheduled for last month but postponed.
The fact that such talks took place at all, given the acrimonious history between the two, was hailed as a landmark event.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi held face-to-face talks in May and and July last year, the highest level public contacts between the two sides for 27 years.

Both sides also met at experts' level last August, but there has been no meeting since.

The United States accuses Iran of meddling in Iraq by helping to train Shiite militias and shipping in armour-piercing bombs for attacks against US troops. Iran vehemently denies the charges.

Iran team leaves without US talks on Iraq | Iraq Updates

Iraqi official: US-Iran talks postponed day after US insists no meeting was planned

A meeting brokered by Baghdad between Iran and the United States over Iraq's security was postponed Thursday, an Iraqi government official said, a day after Washington insisted no such talks were planned.

The official said the Iranian delegation, which arrived Wednesday in Baghdad after Iran announced the talks would take place Thursday, would return to Tehran after visiting Shiite Muslim shrines in Baghdad and in the holy city of Karbala.

No new date was set for the fourth round of talks between U.S. and Iranian officials over ways to improve Iraq's security, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

On Wednesday, Iran's state news agency, IRNA, reported that an Iranian delegation headed by Reza Amiri Moghaddam had arrived in Baghdad for the talks, which it said would take place Thursday.

But Iraqi officials hedged the exact timing of the talks, and American officials said no such meeting was planned. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said Thursday it would not comment further and referred to remarks made Wednesday by U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey in Washington. "Arrangements have not been made," spokesman Tom Casey said. "The U.S. government has no plans to have a meeting."

It was not immediately known why there was a discrepancy in the statements.

The U.S. and Iranian ambassadors held the first round of talks in May, a rare meeting between the two countries, which have not had formal relations since the taking of hostages at the U.S. embassy after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

The sides met again late last summer at the ambassadorial level, and there has been one other meeting at the expert level.

Another round of expert-level talks had been slated for Feb. 15 but Iraq postponed the discussions without giving a reason. Thursday's discussions were also to have been at the expert level.

The U.S. has repeatedly accused Iran of training and funding extremists in Iraq's Shiite majority who attack American forces and rivals in the nation's Sunni minority.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the accusations this week, and bashed the U.S. repeatedly, saying its presence in Iraq was a "humiliation" and said it should leave. However, he left the door open to further discussions with the Americans, saying at a news conference during a landmark trip to Baghdad that he couldn't predict whether there would be more talks in the future.

Iraqi official: US-Iran talks postponed day after US insists no meeting was planned | Iraq Updates

First Khurbet East Development Well Successfully Completed

Gulfsands Petroleum plc, the oil and gas production, exploration and development company with activities in Syria, Iraq, and the U.S.A., announced that the Company has successfully completed the drilling of its first development well within the Khurbet East Field ("KHE-4") following the recent approval by the Syrian Government for the development of the Khurbet East Field.

The KHE-4 well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 1,935 metres, and the top of the reservoir section was encountered within 3 meters of the pre-drill prognosis. The well has now been completed and suspended as a future oil producer, and will be brought on line when the Khurbet East Early Production Facility is operational, scheduled to commence by Q4 2008. As planned, the Company did not undertake a drill-stem test with this well as the tests from the KHE-2 and KHE-3 wells provide sufficient information for the vertical wells in this portion of the Field. As previously announced, a drill stem test on the KHE-3 appraisal well produced at an average stabilized rate of 3,420 bopd with 206,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The KHE-4 well is the first development well within the Khurbet East Field, and is designed to deliver oil production from the Cretaceous Massive Formation reservoir. KHE-4 is a vertical well located near the currently mapped crest of the structure.

Drilling operations on KHE-4 were completed ahead of schedule and under budget, which is a significant achievement for the first development well in the Field. The next development well in the Field, KHE-5H, is designed and will be completed as the first horizontal well within the Massive Formation reservoir. Drilling operations on KHE-5H are expected to commence in mid-March 2008.

Gulfsands CEO John Dorrier, said, "KHE-4 is the first development well in the field. We have planned an aggressive programme of drilling and early production for the balance of 2008, and look forward to updating the market on its progress."

First Khurbet East Development Well Successfully Completed | Iraq Updates

Kurdistan deepens ties with British business at launch of KRG publication

The Kurdistan Region took a further step forward with British companies today at the announcement of a business forum and the London launch of 'The Kurdistan Region: Invest in the Future'

The Middle East Association (MEA), a leading British trade organisation, today hosted a meeting to announce the UK Kurdistan Region Business Forum to promote trade and investment. Lord Tim Clement Jones, who will chair the forum, announced the new organisation at a meeting of British business representatives and journalists.

At the same occasion, Ms Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) High Representative to the UK, introduced the audience to 'The Kurdistan Region: Invest in the Future'. The new KRG publication, which had its US launch last month, describes in detail the Region's improving economic, political and cultural environment.

Ms Abdul Rahman said the publication was "an authoritative and compelling guide to the region as it is today and its plans and aspirations for the future". She said, "While Kurdistan Region is rich in oil, we do not want to become purely a 'petrostate'-equivalent. We are also working to strengthen other sectors such as agriculture, tourism and construction. The region is rich in minerals and water. All of these provide opportunities for British companies to work in Kurdistan."

Mr Michael Thomas, Director-General of the MEA, said, "I have visited the Kurdistan Region twice with British delegations. We saw considerable goodwill towards the UK , and the Kurdish business community showed that they are very keen to trade or partner with British companies."
He added, "The new Business Forum will meet twice a year, once in Kurdistan and once in the UK . Our aim is to work together to remove obstacles to economic cooperation."

Lord Tim Clement-Jones, a Liberal-Democrat Peer, also spoke at the meeting. He said, "When I visited the Kurdistan Region in 2006 already we could see a great deal of new construction and its openness to working with the West. The new Business Forum will bring Kurdish and British business communities closer to each other and help both fulfil their ambitions."

The MEA has previously organised two British trade and political delegations to the Kurdistan Region, and plans to visit again this year. Mr Thomas of the MEA and Mr Dara Jalil Al-Khayat, President of the Kurdistan Federation of Chambers of Commerce, in late February signed the agreement establishing the UK Kurdistan Region business forum. The forum will be made up of a small committee of British and Kurdish business and other representatives.

Kurdistan deepens ties with British business at launch of KRG publication | Iraq Updates

President Talabani Arrives in Ankara

A short while ago the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, arrived at the Ankara International Airport. The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister , Cemil Cicek, several Arabic ambassadors welcomed President Talabani and his accompanying delegation at the airport.

It is excepted that before both Iraq-Turkey sides hold meetings, the Iraqi President and his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, will hold a meeting which lasts one hour. Then meeting's of both Iraq-Turkey sides will start supervised by both Presidents Talabani and Gul.

This is breaking news, we will post updates soon.

PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani Arrives in Ankara

Iraqi Industry Minister Says He will Settle Key Issues with Turkey

The Iraqi industry minister participates in the Iraqi delegation to Turkey and he is expected to meet his Turkish counterpart.

“ I consider this visit as a significant opportunity with the Iraqi President in the current situation as the condition of Kurdistan region requires review and needs that new climate,” the Iraqi industry minister Fawzi Hariri told PUKmedia.

“Turkey wants to review the Iraq-Turkey protocol signed between both countries during the ousted Baath regime. According to the protocol, Turkey exports goods and implements projects in exchange for oil from Iraq.

As Fawzi Hariri said, $200 million of Iraq have yet remained in Turkey which should be settled.

“This amount should have either sent to Iraq or subsidized to the trade projects which have not yet executed as they would have to.”

PUKmedia :: English - Iraqi Industry Minister Says He will Settle Key Issues with Turkey

IAF deputy says bloc to return to govt. soon

The Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) will "soon" return to the government in its next lineup after "most" pending issues that prompted it to quit the government of Nouri al-Maliki were solved, an IAF legislator revealed on Friday.

"The IAF's negotiations with the government are still going on, and they made great progress after agreements were reached over most outstanding issues," MP Nour al-Din al-Hayyali told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

Hayyali said the IAF has tabled 11 proposals and the government responded positively to most of them, adding only a few demands are left.

The incumbent government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, formed in April 2006, has been in a quandary after influential political blocs quit it, including the IAF, which had five portfolios and the deputy premier post, the former premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL), which had five portfolios, and before them the Sadrists, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Saadr, who had six portfolios.

The IAF has been in negotiations with the government for months now to find a way to have its demands met.

"The differences between the IAF and the government do not have to do with getting certain ministries or personal ambitions inasmuch as they revolve around improving the government's performance," Hayyali said.

The IAF, the largest bloc representing Arab Sunnis in Iraq's political process, is composed of three main political organizations and has 44 out of a total 275 seats in the Iraqi parliament, the third largest after the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC)'s 83 seats and the Kurdistan Coalition (KC)'s 55 seats.

The IAF withdrew its five ministers and deputy premier from Maliki's government in August 2007, citing its reasons as being the government's refusal to meet its demands. It linked its return to have some demands, including the release of detainees from Iraqi jails, met.


Aswat Aliraq

Sadr explains reasons behind absence

Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr issued a statement on Friday explaining his long absence to his followers, asserting that the continued presence of the occupation forces is one of the main reasons that pushed him to take this isolation.

In the statement spread in the city of Karbala during the Friday sermon, al-Sadr said he had chosen to isolate himself to concentrate on his studies and to distance himself from groups that had splintered from his movement and developed their own political agendas.

"Many whom we believed were good followers are not listening to or obeying the instructions of their religious leaders and they are involved in political conflicts," he added.

"Many followers have split from me for many reasons; some of them want to be independent. This does not mean there are not loyal followers," he also said.

"The continued presence of the occupiers pushed me to take this isolation. It is a way to express my protest at what is going on," the Shiite cleric highlighted.

Two weeks ago, Muqtada al-Sadr extended the freeze on his Mahdi Army militia's activities for six months.

Mahdi Army is the military arm of the Sadrist bloc, or Iraqis loyal to Sadr. In August 2007, Sadr announced a unilateral freeze on all military operations by his army, including those against U.S. and allied forces, for six months "for restructuring purposes."

Aswat Aliraq

Iraq governmental crisis heading towards more complication

It seems that the governmental crisis is heading towards further complication after different parliamentarian blocs have raised the stake of conditions. To view the video report of this article, click on play movie.

Iraq governmental crisis heading towards more complication | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network