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

Judiciary Source: General Amnesty Law doesn’t Include Arabs and Foreigners

In an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Iraqi Supreme Judiciary Council official spokesman Abdul Sattar Berqidar said “the General Amnesty Law doesn’t include Arabs and Foreigners, but the legislative organization can make amendments to include these persons.”

“The number of Arab and Foreigner detainees in Iraqi and American prisons is very big. The law doesn’t include them because it will cover Iraqis only”, he added.

He also said that there is a mechanism that works through forming judiciary committees in all provinces among their member are a judge, a representative from Defence, Interior, Human Rights and Labor ministries, and a representative from the General Prosecution to study those detainees’ dossiers and make the necessary recommendations about them.

PUKmedia :: English - Judiciary Source: General Amnesty Law doesn’t Include Arabs and Foreigners

McMillan Company to Prepare the English Curriculum for Kurdistan’s Schools

KRG Minister of Education Dr. Dilshad Abdul Rahman met with the delegation of McMillan Company, the authorized company of preparing the English language curriculum for Kurdistan Region schools.

They discussed in the meeting the mechanism of preparing the English language curriculum for the schools in a modern way and print it in Thailand and Egypt.

It’s worth mentioning that the company has published the series of (Sunrise) books and CDs in a modern way to teach the Region’s students on the right way of speaking.

PUKmedia :: English - McMillan Company to Prepare the English Curriculum for Kurdistan’s Schools

Press TV: Iran’s President pays visit to Iraq on 21st March

Eventually Iranian President's visit to Iraq is scheduled.

According to the news posted on an Iranian website, Press TV, the Iranian President, Ahmadinejad, is expected to visit Iraq on 21st March 2008.

As the news announced by the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in an official ceremony to welcome the Tajik president to Tehran, adding that all the preparatory work for the president’ visit to Iraq have been completed.

PUKmedia :: English - Press TV: Iran’s President pays visit to Iraq on 21st March

Iraqi Federal Court: Issue of Article 140 can be settled within Days, if it’s sent to Court

Today the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court in Baghdad clarified that it has not received the dossier of Article 140, saying as soon as the dossier arrives, the court will settle it within days.

“Until now the dossier of Article 140 has not been sent to our court which we wait for. I have contacted the Kurdistan Alliance Bloc to send the dossier. As it arrives we will settle it as soon as possible", Judge Sheikh Mohamed Saeed, member of the Federal Supreme Court said.

“We will settle the issue of Article as soon as possible since that dossier does not involve prosecutions or hearings, but it is only a question which we will answer, therefore, definitely it will take a short time, Judge Akram Baban", member of the Court said.

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court consists of 10 members, including 3 members from Kurdistan Region. The Court mostly deals with those issues related to the Iraqi constitution and Iraqi laws which have various interpretations.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraqi Federal Court: Issue of Article 140 can be settled within Days, if it’s sent to Court

Austria’s OMV Co. determined to hold Talks with Shahristani

The Austria’s OMV Company is determined to hold talks with the Iraqi government officials regarding its oil contracts with KRG as the spokesman said.

The OMV Company spokesman, Thomas Heumer, announced that the administrative body of OMV Co. is ready to hold talks with the Iraqi oil minister, Hussein Shahristani, to cope any misunderstandings between both sides concerning the OMV’s signed deals with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

The spokesman denies the news claiming that the Iraqi government blacklisted all the companies which sign deals with KRG, saying “ I don’t tend to speak about news published by medias as we have not received such warnings."

PUKmedia :: English - Austria’s OMV Co. determined to hold Talks with Shahristani

U.S. Secretary of Defense arrives in Baghdad

Today the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, paid a visit to Iraq according to Reuters. Details will be posted as it comes up.

PUKmedia :: English - U.S. Secretary of Defense arrives in Baghdad

Tomorrow critical Issues to be settled in Iraqi Parliament
Today on demand of Shiite Iraqi United Alliance, the Iraqi parliament delayed voting on the Iraq’s budget for 2008 while the Kurdistan Alliance Bloc demanded that the provincial law will not be voted on unless the Iraq’s budget is settled, an Iraqi MP told PUKmedia.

“Today we wanted to vote on the budget, but the Iraqi United Alliance demanded the voting to be delayed as some of the items need new formulas as required by the bloc,” Iraqi MP from Kurdistan Alliance Bloc, Firyad Rawanduzi, told PUKmedia.

Concerning the provincial law, Rawanduzi said that it was intended to vote on it, but the Kurdistan Alliance Bloc demanded to be held on unless the budget is settled.

“The voting on the amnesty law was also postponed on Iraqi Accordance Front’s demand, calling for being further revised by the respective committees, he added.”

It is expected that the provincial law and the budget issue will be voted on in tomorrow’s session of the Iraqi parliament.

PUKmedia :: English - Tomorrow critical Issues to be settled in Iraqi Parliament

First batch of 2008 ration cards ready

The Iraqi Ministry of Trade said on Sunday that the first batch of 2008 ration cards are ready after having been printed in a neighboring country.

The ministry's department of planning and supply has started packing the cards in preparation for their distribution to citizens, according to a ministerial statement received by Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq, (VOI).
The statement indicated that the ministry will need 10 days to load the data into its database.

The statement did not reveal the number of cards that arrived in the Iraqi capital or the country where they have been printed.

Aswat Aliraq

2 gas investment projects in Basra

Iraq's South Oil Company has started investing natural gas in two large fields in northern and western Basra province, the company's director said on Sunday.

"On Sunday, the company started investing natural gas in Basra's northern field of Ibn Omar, at a capacity of 100 million cubic feet per day," the director told Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq, (VOI) by phone.

"The company has also started investing gas in Makman al-Yamama in Artawi area, western Basra, at an initial capacity of 10,000 million cubic feet per day that is expected to reach 100 million soon," he added.

Basra has 1,197 oil wells located in the north and the west, in addition to 29 natural gas insulation stations that reduce the pressure in multiple stages.

The Shiite province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Aswat Aliraq

ISX opens with 3 million share contract

The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) opened its session on Sunday with a 3 million share contract at a value of 3.850 Iraqi dinars (1 U.S. dollar =1,220 Iraqi dinars) per share.

The contract was concluded by the Iraqi Atlas company, which bought the shares from five companies working under the Northern Bank.

On Thursday, the index increased by 0.674% compared to the previous session, closing at 34.350 points.

Traded shares in Thursday's session exceeded 1.66 billion at a total value of over 3.073 billion dinars by implementing 270 contracts.

According to the daily analysis of the capital market, the banking sector's index, in which 15 companies traded, closed at 36.610 points, 0.411% higher than the previous session; while the industrial sector, in which eight companies traded, ended 11.111 points, same as the previous session.

The statement concluded that 28 companies were traded in Thursday's session out of 94 companies registered in Iraq's stock exchange, of which eight indexes went up, four dropped, and 16 maintained their previous price.

Aswat Aliraq