Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 15/04/08 - 26/08/08

U.S. Says Talks with Iraq Do Not Include Withdrawal Date

The United States said Monday that its talks with Iraq on future U.S.-Iraq relations will not include a date for the U.S. troops to withdraw from the Middle East country.

"It is important to understand that these are not talks on a hard date for a withdrawal," White House spokesman Scot Stanzel said.

"As (U.S.) Ambassador (Ryan) Crocker has said, we are looking at conditions, and not calendars -- and both sides are in agreement on this point," Stanzel said.

However, Stanzel said the two sides may discuss "time frames" for the U.S. withdrawal.

According to media reports, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Monday that Iraq was seeking a timetable of U.S. troops withdrawal as part of its negotiations with the United States on the status of U.S. forces in Iraq beyond 2008.

U.S. President George W. Bush has repeatedly said that there is no clear timetable for the U.S. troops to withdraw out of Iraq

PUKmedia :: English - U.S. Says Talks with Iraq Do Not Include Withdrawal Date

Higher demand for the dollar on Tuesday

Demand for the dollar was higher in the Iraqi Central Bank's auction on Tuesday, reaching $103.815 million compared to $84.480 million on Monday.

"The demand hit $38.815 million in cash and $65 million in foreign transfers outside the country, all covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,194 Iraqi dinars per dollar," according to the central bank's daily bulletin, which was received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
None of the 18 banks that participated in the auction offered to sell dollars.

The Iraqi Central Bank runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.

Aswat Aliraq

About time........

Cabinet to ratify the supplementary budget in 2008

Announced the official spokesman for the Iraqi government Dr. Ali Skinner said the Cabinet has completed the ratification of the supplementary budget in 2008 and the total amount of (21) billion dollars MEETING OF 30 regular meeting, approved this today, Tuesday, July 8, 2008.

Skinner added that the budget was ratified after the transfers and adjustments between the ministries and Iraqi institutions, where the total amount of the budget in 2008 to approximately (70) billion dollars, the highest budget in the history of Iraq.

Translated version of http://nahrain.com/news.php?readmore=16691

Trevi oil drilling platforms supply to Iraq worth 205 million dollars

The unit of the Italian company Trevi Monday in a statement that it will be reflected 14 platform drilling of oil and gas to Iraq under contracts worth 205 million dollars in supporting the Government of Iraq plans to increase the extraction of oil and gas.

The company said Drellmik of the company Trevi she won the international tender for the supply of platforms that will be delivered over 13 months.

The contract guaranteed letters of credit.

The company specializes in the development Drellmik drilling platforms. And rural specialized in engineering the soil and dig tunnels and platforms for drilling and equipment.

And Iraq has proven reserves huge but its infrastructure severely damaged because of the sanctions and war.

Translated version of http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNewsAr.aspx?id=6461

Jordanian King's visit to Iraq put off

Jordanian King Abdullah II's visit to Iraq, which was scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed until further notice, an Iraqi government spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"King Abdullah II's visit to Iraq has been put off due to personal commitments," Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI), noting that another date will soon be set for the visit.

Aswat Aliraq

Update.......

USA: No “hard date” for withdrawal from Iraq

US officials constantly affirm that the awaited security agreement will not negotiate a "hard date" for a US withdrawal from Iraq. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said that White House does not agree upon determining a timetable to withdraw from Iraq however he said that the security agreement with Maliki’s government could determine a timetable for the deployment of US troops in Iraqi provinces. Thus, Stanzel differentiated between “hard dates” US soldiers should abide by in order to leave Iraq and between the principle determining the period their re-deployment shall take.

He stressed that Bush has often spoken about timelines, as when he talked about the possibility of new troop withdrawals before year's end, and after "the last surge brigade leaves Iraq" by the end of July.

Yet Stanzel added that US and Iraqi government agreed that withdrawal decisions shall be taken according to the situation on the field and refused to consider that Maliki’s call to sign a memorandum of understanding concerning the US presence in Iraq means that negotiations between USA and Iraq aiming at achieving a strategic partnership is being undermined.

To that, Gordon Johndroe, White House Spokesman said that actual security talks do not aim to determine a “hard date” for US withdrawal.

USA: No ?hard date? for withdrawal from Iraq | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Launch of the Kurdistan Gas City this summer

The Director of the company "UAE Oil Crescent" Iraq's Kurdistan province Salem exclusive from the end of preparations, before his company and its partner, "Dana Gas", to release the draft Kurdistan Gas City.

He said in an interview exclusive "Uzmatik" that "the current summer season will see a foundation stone of the Kurdistan Gas City, north of the town of Chamchamal of Sulaymaniyah."

The head of oil company Crescent Iraq's Kurdistan Province that the "project implemented on an area of land amounting to 43 square kilometers, and cost $ billions of dollars," without saying that the amount allocated for the project, but one local company officials said in a statement earlier that "the creation of a Kurdistan city The investment cost of gas to 20 billion U.S. dollars. "

He added that the exclusive "transfer of gas from the field Kurmur will be available next month, to operate the power station, Berdaod, Arbil," noting that "business power station in Sulaymaniyah has not yet been completed to provide them with gas."

It is noteworthy that the oil company Dana Gas and Crescent invested in the Kurdistan region of Iraq by about 600 million dollars, according to the strategic protocol signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, where the two companies to develop gas fields Kurmur and Chamchamal from the Sulaymaniyah, the production of liquid gas for electricity generation stations in Arbil and Sulaymaniyah.

Iraq is estimated reserve of natural gas by about 3.15 trillion cubic meters, is the tenth largest stock of gas in the world, but Iraq imported a large part of the requirements of the gas cooking and heating from the outside due to the exploitation of resources of gas.

Translated version of http://iraqalaan.com/

The spring after meeting with Sistani: WE'RE establish any military bases inside Iraqi territory

The Iraqi national security adviser, Muwaffaq Al-Rubaie, Iraq rejected any military bases on its territory, "What camps were not subject to Iraqi sovereignty," stressing that "Iraq will not accept the agreement detract from national sovereignty," as he put it.

He said Al-Rubaie, told reporters, after meeting, today, Tuesday, in Najaf with religious authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said "the so-called convention, we call it a memorandum of understanding, especially as they govern the relationship between the interim Iraqi government foreign troops, can not be approved Iraq on any formula or any agreement or memorandum of understanding affect the sovereignty of Iraq and the Iraqi government's opinion ", he said, pointing out that what is being negotiated now between Iraq and America is the" memorandum of understanding, not a convention or treaty. "

The Iraqi National Security Adviser that "Iraq can accept the existence of stable, but the camps and be under control and the Iraqi government, and also do not accept the memorandum of understanding with the foreign partner not include the dates and times of clear and specific evacuation of foreign troops from Iraq, as we do not talk about things But vague talk about the evacuation of American troops from Iraq. "

But Al-Rubaie refused at the same time, identify specific dates for withdrawal of foreign Iraq, expressing "cautious optimism about" and noting that there were some obstacles, saying that "it is difficult now to disclose this information dates, although he talked about the prospects of time to evacuate, and we are talking also about the prospects Time to evacuate, but they differ from the talk completely. "

National security adviser said he "prefers to leave it to the negotiators, especially as these very sensitive negotiations, despite achieving some progress in some of the steps, but there are some problems and some difficulties still ahead of us," and he believed the possibility of overcoming these obstacles, stressing that "identifying Dates will be very difficult at this time. "

And on the position of religious authority in Najaf, Al-Rubaie said that "the reference monitor the situation closely and near, which is on until the precise details, although they consider the grand strategy of the general situation, but also consider the details and carefully observe the scene and monitor the positions of the other political forces, namely with Iraqi national consensus and with the political forces gathered by the Iraqi national and Islamic countries in Iraq. "

And the possible impact of the U.S. Congress on the negotiations, Al-Rubaie said, "We are not interested decisions of others, they can decide for negotiations or negotiating team, and we have a House of Representatives and the Council of a political and national government headed by Maliki, and we have a historic political parties leading the country", stressing the common Iraq stance To authorize "the prime minister to negotiate on this matter" as saying.

The religious authority in Najaf, had been earlier in several conditions for the acceptance of the Convention, including transparency and not compromising the sovereignty of Iraq, in addition to the need to be submitted to the Iraqi parliament.

Translated version of http://iraqalaan.com/

Kuwaiti MPs Reject Government Attempt to Write-Off Iraqi Debts

The decision made by the UAE to write-off Iraq's debts did not encourage Kuwaiti MPs to follow suit. They said that "this is unacceptable to the people and the government has no right to write- off those debts without approval from parliament. As for the UAE's decision it's an internal matter that concerns them."

Deputy Rawdan al-Rawdan said that writing-off the Iraqi Government's debts by Kuwait is rejected by the populace, and if there are any political decisions in this regard then it is better to cancel the debts of the Kuwaiti people.

Al-Rawdan commented to Al-Watan saying that the situation in the Emirates is different from that of Kuwait because we are the country that was harmed and came under aggression, so naturally the political situation is different. Al-Rawdan added that Iraq is a rich country, and if there is a political problem in distributing the wealth and mismanagement then this is not Kuwait's problem. He adds: "Iraq does not need to have it debts written-off. It is not a poor country but is considered one of the richest in the world."

Deputy Salih Ashur said that Iraq is a rich country with large amounts of oil production and its revenue from oil and other sources is several times larger than Kuwait. The Iraqi parliament set a budget for itself that exceeds Kuwait's last budget. In a comment Ashur made to Al-Watan he said that "Iraq is living in a state of administrative, financial, and economic corruption which is something I personally followed up on during the Iraqi parliament's discussions. This indicates that Iraq's economy is strong but that administrative corruption is stronger." Hence, he added: "Kuwait cannot write-off Iraq's debts because that will open the door for other countries like Egypt, Jordan, and Syria to call for writing- off their debts. This is locally unacceptable in Kuwait." Ashur goes on to say: "The Kuwaiti people are more deserving of having their debts written-off than the Iraqi Government, in addition to Iraq not needing such a decision because its economy is strong and rich."

Deputy Abdallah Ra'i al-Fahma said that "the UAE's decision to write-off Iraq's debts is a personal issue that we have nothing to do with," affirming that "if there is a government plan to write- off Iraq's debts then we will not accept it, and we warn the government against taking this path." Al-Fahma said to Al-Watan that the government had once before assured the National Assembly that there will be no writing-off of Iraqi debts without a law presented to the National Assembly, indicating that the legislative authority is in agreement on not cancelling these debts because the Kuwaiti people deserve them. If the government is planning to write-off Iraq's debts then it is more appropriate to write-off the debts of the people, adding that the National Assembly will make a stand if it comes to this.

Al-Fahma pointed out that Kuwait was among the first countries to support Iraq ever since the old days and even as of late. It stood by Iraq and its government in full support. However, if there is any move to write-off Iraq's debts, then we will not accept it, and we warn the government once again in hopes that it does not commit what is forbidden by bypassing the National Assembly and abolishing those debts.

Al-Fahma aded: "Unfortunately information is circulating in this regard nowadays, and we fear that the debts will be written-off in the absence of the National Assembly. But I assure you that we as MPs will not stand for this." He maintained: "Unfortunately, we find that the government stands against the citizens. It reacts negatively to their needs, whether about giving 50 dinars [as a grant], buying off their debts, or writing-off their debts while it gives away millions to other countries through grants and aid."

Al-Fahma said: "After the government found itself in a weak position lately, it came up with the idea of a fund that supports low income individuals. This can be considered, at best, a reward from the government to the banks." He asserts that "there are procedures that the MPs will follow up with, and they will propose new projects in this regard during the coming session."

On his part, deputy Abdallah al-Ajmi refuses any government move to bypass the National Assembly and write-off Iraqi debts, indicating that these debts are the right of the Kuwaiti people and that this decision belongs solely to the National Assembly, not the government.

In his comments to Al-Watan Al-Ajmi says that the National Assembly was, and still is, insistent on refusing any attempt to write-off Iraq's debts, while emphasizing the importance of reclaiming these funds and not thinking at all of writing-off these debts. With regards to the UAE cancelling Iraq's debts he says that this has nothing to do with Kuwait, adding that this is an affair of the UAE exclusively. In addition the political conditions and situations in Kuwait are unique. He maintained: "Add to that the fact that the National Assembly is the only party that can make this decision, not the ****utive authority." He further maintained that "if there is a move to lower or cancel Iraq's debts then we at the National Assembly will not stand for this, we will make sure that the government adheres to the demands and will of the people, who are represented by the National Assembly."

Kuwaiti MPs Reject Government Attempt to Write-Off Iraqi Debts

The black gold rush
Three decades on, and after five years of war, Western oil companies return to Iraq

They are all there, without exception: Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, BP, Chevron and the rest. Also the Italian companies ENI and Edison, as was promised in 2003 by George W. Bush to the head of government Berlusconi in exchange for the Italian participation in the invasion of Iraq. As of today, it is official: after more than thirty years, between nationalizations and embargos, Iraq is once more a land to be conquered for the great oil multinationals.

Carte blanche for exploitation. As expected, today the Iraqi Oil Minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, during a press conference, revealed that thirty-five oil companies could participate in the competitive tender for the development of the national industry. Another six companies will benefit from short-term contracts, worth 500 million dollars each. At this point, the contracts will be assigned for the Iraqi deposits, which have an incalculable value in this historic moment, when a barrel of crude oil is worth more than 140 US dollars. The minister specified that six oil fields would be opened to foreigners, on the basis of long-term contracts, as are all those linked with the sector of the extraction and refining of crude oil. The fields are those of Kirkuk, Rumalia, Zubair, West Qurna Phase 1, Bai Hassan and Maysen. This last contains three other sub-fields: Bazargan, Abu Gharab and Fakka. Furthermore, two natural gas fields - Akkas and Mansuryah – will be opened to exploitation by foreigners.

Parliament by-passed. The six contracts that already exist, known as Technical Service Agreements (TSAs), are actually technical service agreements that the Oil Minister signs with six international oil companies to increase the production in six of the biggest deposits in the country, for a total of 600,000 barrels a day. In the last few days, Abdulhadi al-Hassani, vice president of the parliamentary commission on energy, guaranteed to the Oil Minister that Minister al-Shahristani would have spoken in Parliament before taking any initiative, but today’s press conference seems to be an acceleration of the timing of the Assembly, where the followers of the radical ayatollah Moqtada al-Sadr and some groups of Sunnis could offer resistance to any initiative.However, the competitive tender procedures were initiated before the definition of the framework law on the division of the proceeds from the sale of the oil, but the western companies were too starved of oil in an economic moment such as the present to wait until the parliamentary procedure ran its course, with all its perils.

The Kirkuk problem. But the choice of the oil companies authorized to dispute the competitive tender does not resolve all the hitches. One of the problems to be ironed out is the assignment of the contract for the exploitation of the Kirkuk oil field, regarded as potentially one of the richest in the world. But the fate of the city, for the moment, is still hanging by a thread. There was supposed to be a referendum, to be held by December of last year, to define the Kurdish or Sunni sovereignty of the city. For security reasons, the referendum was postponed, initially until July, and subsequently indefinitely.The government of the premier al-Maliki is negotiating to reach an agreement, but the solution to the problem seems a long way off. And the Kurds, despite the absence of a national oil law, have stipulated more than twenty international contracts for the exploitation of the wells in Iraqi Kurdistan. The prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani, repeated that these contracts are ''irreversible, and anyone who is thinking about cancelling them is dreaming''. Not exactly the basis for flexible negotiations.

http://www.pe****eporter.net/dettagl...c=&idart=11563