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

Iraq limping on peace road

In 2007, the political arena of Iraq witnessed a number of deadlocks. Some of the unresolved issues were borne out of the resigning of three ministers from different blocs, the failure of Iraqi Parliament to complete projects on schedule and delays in amending the constitution and the oil and gas law. Moreover, the parliamentary members' attendance was very poor.

There has also been other conflicts between the Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and the Cabinet concerning capital punishment and the legal status of the Algiers agreement which was signed by Saddam Hussain and the late Shah of Iran in 1975. The Kurdish oil contracts and the Kirkuk status article 140 in the constitution have also been sticky problem points.

The security situation in Iraq has improved during the second half of this year, due to the US strategy of dispatching more than 20,000 additional troops to Baghdad, and choosing new allies.


This improvement is weak as it did not result from a progress in the political process. National reconciliation efforts did not yield a significant success either. Improvement in security was attributed to two key factors —firstly, the formation of awakening councils in a number of governorates, starting in Al Anbar, and secondly due to security related US-Iranian dialogue.

Three meetings have taken place between the two country's ambassadors. They, however, did not leave clear imprints on Iraq's security issues. The only positive thing that came out of the meetings was Iran's move to cease supplying militias with improvised explosive devices which inflict great damage on US troops. Freezing the activities of Al Mahdi militias for a possibly renewable six months was another result of these meetings.

Important point

The first point is important because it affects the future of the Iraqi political process. It is also an indicator to the receding role of religious groups in Iraq. As a result of the success of the awakening councils, disagreements have emerged from within the government over the future of these forces. One part of the Iraqi government which is backed by the US calls for integrating these forces into the Iraqi security force. The other part distrusts these forces and calls for a partial integration, not to exceed 20 per cent of the Iraqi security forces.

The new US policy in Iraq backs Iraqi tribes and awakening councils, and backing them with weapons and funds. This policy is a replica of the British policy followed in Iraq after the First World War.

Today, the US is seeing that the religious groups in Iraq who have led the country since the downfall of the former regime in 2003 have failed in their role as US allies.

The Shiite elite which heads the majority of the Iraqi parliament is divided, fights for power and gains, and has resorted to use of weapons in disagreements among themselves. Hence, the US may find that the tribes have succeeded where others have failed.

Several Iraqi parties which are a part of the political process in Iraq are not comfortable with the new US policy in Iraq, especially the Iraqi Coalition Bloc.

The political process in Iraq is encountering a new high in the crisis facing the country. This is not in Iraq's benefit, as Iraq has gone through so many hardships and needs a break.

Gulfnews: Iraq limping on peace road

Overstaffing, funding threaten Nassiriya weaving plant

The Nassirya weaving plant director said the antiquated machinery, system of salaries and the self-funding scheme endorsed by industry ministry caused stagnation in domestic production.

"The Nassiriya supplied the local market for thirty years," Eng. Jamil Abdul-Kadhum told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), adding "yet the factory was burned and looted in the 2003 war and its destruction amounted to 90%."

"The plant departments' production dwindlesd due to the old-fashioned machinery," he said, pointing out "some departments were re-operated by the factory workers and the top management in Baghdad."

"No maintenance was carried out in the facility's production lines and no new machines were brought that most of the old machines remained out of order," he explained.

Abdul-Kadhum also referred to a problem in the funding plan set by the U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer in 2003.

"In addition the number of workers has increased from 600 under the former regime (of Saddam Hussein) to 2,200 after the return of workers sacked for political reasons and relocated in volatile areas."

He called for "conducting a case study, upgrading machines and supporting the domestic production through levying duty on imports."

Workers called for changing finding and salary system. The factory law endorsed by Paul Bremer stipulated that 60% of salaries would be disbursed by the industry ministry, while the remaining 40% was self-funded by the factory production.

Hundreds of workers staged a strike to improve their payments by canceling the self-funding policy and improving the workers' living conditions.

Nassiriya, the capital of Thi Qar province, lies 380 km south of Baghdad.

Aswat Aliraq

Increasing Iraq employees salaries on the go

Wednesday, January 02, 2008 08:11 GMT

Iraqi Cabinet official spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh stated to Alsumaria that after constant demands the implementation of the decision to increase employees’ salaries has started on Tuesday with retroaction effect. Meanwhile, 2008 budget passed to parliament is subject to several disputes and objections.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Iraq News | Increasing Iraq employees salaries on the go

South Korea to continue oil project in Kurdistan despite Baghdad threat
State-run Korea National Oil Corp. stated that it would not abandon an exploration project in Kurdistan

State-run Korea National Oil Corp. stated that it would not abandon an exploration project in Iraqi Kurdistan despite threats by the central Iraqi government to cut off oil supplies to South Korea.

"There is no change in our position to go ahead with the project," said Jang Soo-Bum, an official in charge of exploration projects.

The corporation is part of a South Korean consortium that last month signed a deal with the Kurdistan government to explore the Bazian field, which is estimated to hold 500 million barrels of crude oil.

Aasim Jihad, the official spokesman for the Iraqi oil ministry, threatened on December 26 to stop exporting Iraqi crude oil exports to South Korea if Seoul ratified an agreement concluded with the regional government of Iraq's Kurdistan.

Local newspapers have said Britain's BP and an Austrian state energy developer received similar warnings over their deals with the semi-autonomous region.

Meanwhile, Kurdistan Region criticized the Iraqi Oil Ministry's threats to stop oil exports to South Korea.

"I believe these statements would complicate matters now that the negotiations between the central government and the Iraqi Kurdistan government are still going on," a prominent Kurdish lawmaker in Baghdad Parliament, Mahmoud Othman, said in a statement.

Othman urged for recourse in Iraq's Supreme Court to settle the problem.

"Even if we presumed that the Oil Ministry's procedures were constitutional, they should not be carried out in such a speed," he added.

Regarding South Korean troops in Kurdistan Region, South Korean Parliament on December 28 voted to extend troop deployment in Kurdistan by one year.

Seoul now has about 600 troops stationed in the Kurdish region for reconstruction projects.


South Korea to continue oil project in Kurdistan despite Baghdad threat | Iraq Updates

Oil prices rise amid geopolitical tension
Prices heading towards $100 per barrel again due to instability in Pakistan, on Turkish border with Iraq.

Oil prices rose Monday due to instability in Pakistan and on the Turkish border with Iraq, heading towards 100 dollars per barrel again on the last trading day of the year, dealers said.

In afternoon trade, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, was 28 cents higher at 96.28 dollars per barrel.

The contract had briefly approached 98 dollars on Friday, a one-month high, after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, before falling back due to profit-taking.

Oil prices have roughly doubled in 2007 from a low point of just below 50 dollars in January, with some analysts predicting a price of 100 dollars or higher during 2008.

Dealers said a US report last week showing a higher-than-expected drop in US crude stockpiles had also supported prices, which are still within sight of the all-time record of 99.29 dollars per barrel reached in November.

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery was 27 cents higher at 94.15 dollars per barrel. It hit a one-month peak, 95.86 dollars, in London on Friday before easing, and achieved its all-time high of 96.53 dollars in November.

Dealers said Bhutto's killing, which plunged Pakistan into crisis and sparked global condemnation, would have a psychological impact on the market even though the country is not an oil producer.

"Political unrest around the world has once again become a major factor," said David Johnson, an oil analyst with Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong.

Tension along Turkey's border with northern Iraq has added to concerns about geopolitical instability, Johnson said.

Turkey said Friday it would continue its military operations against members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The army says it has launched three cross-border bombing raids and killed more than 160 rebels since December 16.

Johnson said trading would be light, with dealers unwilling to make major decisions ahead of the New Year holiday on Tuesday.

Oil prices rise amid geopolitical tension | Iraq Updates

The most important economic events in Iraq in 2007

Economic experts and analysts' opinions of the most important economic events in Iraq in 2007 differed; some thought that the rise in oil prices, the high value of the Iraqi dinar, the increase of Iraqi exports and lower inflation indexes were the most important events, while others were mostly interested in raising the prices of fuels.

Dr. Madhar Mohammad Salih, the expert at the Iraqi Central Bank and member of the supervising committee of the Bank's auction, said that the most important economic events for 2007 were, "the massive developments in the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar and the rise in its value which hit %20 from its value in 2006; it is noteworthy that the price of the dollar today hit 1225 Iraqi dinar. There were also the inflation indexes which dropped from 66% in November of 2006 to 15% for the same month of 2007." Salih said that oil prices, during 2007, increased to three times what they were during the previous two years, contributing to a significant increase in Iraq's revenues from the sale of Iraqi oil and advancing the development in Iraq, as well as creating job opportunities for half a million jobless people; thus, absorbing %40 of the unemployment rate in Iraq, and led to a growth in the labor market. Another important event during 2007 is the International Covenant which provides international grants to Iraq to help Iraqi economy to grow, in return for a pledge from the Iraqi government to achieve national reconciliation and establish security.

Asim Jihad, Director of Information at the Oil Ministry, thought the most important economic event for 2007 is Iraq paying its obligations towards the International Monetary Fund, rescheduling the remaining debt and the cancellation of some of them. The second most important event during in 2007, according to Jihad, was the increase of Iraqi oil production to two million, 300 thousand barrels per day, and the increase of Iraq's oil exports to two million barrels per day.

According to economic expert, Dr. Jum'a Al-Ani, the most important economic achievement of Iraq in 2007 is the validation of the investment law which allows foreign investors to enter Iraq to serve the Iraqi economy, and encourages the operation of labor; however, this law has not been carried out yet, since the investment body has not been formed and the conditions for the entry of foreign investment to Iraq have not been prepared yet. Al-Ani pointed out to the modest entry of foreign investors to the Iraqi market for securities in 2007, considering this entry "a strategic move for the Iraqi stock exchange market, because it is an introduction to a wider circulation, and a greater role of foreign capital in Iraq, especially that a number of Gulf bourses, which are much older than the Iraqi bourse, have not allowed foreigners to circulate in them yet such as the Saudi bourse."

Economic expert, Dr. Abbas Uleiwi, considered raising interest rates by the Iraqi Central Bank "contributed actively to encourage banks to expand the credit grants and encouraged depositors to long-term savings, which absorbed large cash from the local market." But Dr.Uleiwi also recorded some negative repercussions on the Iraqi economy during the year 2007, resulting from raising the prices of fuel twice during the current year, which affected the prices of transportation and energy of all kinds.

The most important economic events in Iraq in 2007 | Iraq Updates

2008 will be a year of eliminating unemployment

Iraqi Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Sheikh Radhi, said, during his meeting with donors of small and medium-sized enterprises in the city of Baghdad, that the loan scheme implemented by the ministry aims to develop local economy in the capital, and pledged to work to apply it in other governorates of Iraq; he revealed that the project has succeeded in providing 6157 loans which helped to provide 18 thousand jobs in various sectors, mainly the productive ones.

He explained that attempts are underway to transfer the Baghdad experience to other provinces which will present in their respective loans for 3 thousands projects, with the exception of Basrah which will present 5 thousand loans, expressing his hope that the new year will be the start of the second year of facilitated loans for the development of private projects which are estimated by 50 thousand and will provide 125 job opportunities. He pointed out that the reason for choosing loans instead of grants is that the latter do not stimulate the project owner to work seriously for the success of the project, while loans do.

He noted that the preference in granting loans will be for the unemployed graduates of universities and institutes, but that will not prevent the project from including ordinary people in support of the free economic business. Radi wished that the year 2008 will be the year of reducing unemployment and the provision of job opportunities for all Iraqis.

2008 will be a year of eliminating unemployment | Iraq Updates

Al-Shara Renews Syria's Commitment to Unity of Iraq

Vice President Farouk al Shara discussed on Monday with head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front Saleh al-Mutlaq the situation in Iraq and the latest developments in the national reconciliation process.

During the meeting, al-Shara renewed Syria's commitment to strengthening unity among Iraqi parties in order to guarantee Iraq territorial integrity.

For his part, al-Mutlaq expressed appreciation of Syria's national stances and its role in pushing the national reconciliation process forward so that Iraq can regain its freedom and independence and achieve security and stability.

The meeting was attended by Assistant Vice President Mohammad Nasif.

Al-Shara Renews Syria's Commitment to Unity of Iraq | Iraq Updates

Iraq Sunni leaders hit back at bin Laden
Tribal, political leaders say Al-Qaeda leader’s statement carries no weight, accuse him of being un-Islamic

Iraqi Sunni tribal and political leaders singled out as "traitors" by Osama bin Laden hit back on Monday, accusing the Al-Qaeda chief of being un-Islamic and mocking him as being weak.

"Bin Laden's statement doesn't affect us - he is making these threats from a position of weakness," said Sheikh Khalid Shahudh, a senior member of the Awakening Council in western Anbar province which came in for particular censure from the Western world's most wanted man.

Bin Laden, in a 56-minute tape released late Saturday, warned Sunni Muslims in Iraq not to take up arms against the terror network, saying those who did were "traitors."

Those fighting Al-Qaeda, known as "Awakening" councils, have "betrayed the nation and brought shame and scandal, that will be followed by damnation forever unless they repent," he said.

Along with Awakening members, especially those in Anbar where the movement first began, bin Laden also rejected supporters of the Islamic Party of Iraq, a Sunni faction led by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, as "traitors to Islam."

Shahudh said bin Laden's threats carried no weight.

"Al-Qaeda has no more power in Anbar province," he said.

"The Awakening is now operating all across Iraq and involving all sects. We will continue chasing Al-Qaeda. We have no enemies except Al-Qaeda. The Americans are not our enemy anymore. Our forces will deal exclusively with Al-Qaeda. We will hunt them until we get rid of the last element."

The Awakening Council in central Salaheddin province, in a statement, accused bin Laden and his followers of being un-Islamic.

"What the loyalists of bin Laden do contradicts Islamic principles and its moral standards," the council said.

"Bin Laden should order his followers to stop targeting Iraqis ... he must apologise to Iraqis that have been harmed by Al-Qaeda's heinous crimes."

Abdul Karim al-Samarraie, a member of parliament for the Islamic Party, said the party did not wish to respond to bin Laden's comments as it would "give him legitimacy."

"The message of Al-Qaeda has collapsed in Iraq because of their terrorist actions. All Iraqi people are turning against them and kicking them out. Iraqis have tasted the pain of their actions," Samarraie said.

Iraq Sunni leaders hit back at bin Laden | Iraq Updates

Al-Mufti Belittles KRG Differences with Baghdad Government

Al-Mufti Belittles KRG Differences with Baghdad Government
Adnan al-Mufti, Head of KNA, belittled KRG differences with the Central Government concerning Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces budget. He considered these differences ordinary ones. “ I think the differences with Baghdad Government can be disregarded in 2008 through the discussions decided to be held between both sides to reach the final solution .” Al-Mufti said in a press statement.

dnan al-Mufti also added “These are ordinary differences about the budget allocated by the Iraqi Government to Kurdistan Region and Peshmerga Forces.”

It’s worth mentioning that KRG budget including Peshmerga Forces payments represents 17% of Iraq budget.

PUKmedia :: English - Al-Mufti Belittles KRG Differences with Baghdad Government