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

Foreign Minister Receives Head of European Mission for Rule of Law

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari received Mr. Stephen White, Head of European Mission for Rule of Law in Iraq, on Monday afternoon Aug 11, 2008.During the meeting a number of issues and topics related to the mission's tasks in Iraq were discussed.

Minister Zebari expressed his concern towards the development in accomplishing the tasks of mission through training the Iraqi concerned legal and professional staffs by implementing the laws, in accordance with the humanity and professional regulations. Minister Zebari commended the mission's role for supporting the Iraqi authorities’ functions in this field and rehabilitating of its staffs in accordance with the bilateral agreement between Iraq and European Union.

On his part, Mr. White expressed his gratitude to Iraqi Foreign Ministry for supporting and assisting the European Mission for Rule of Law to carry out its tasks in rehabilitating and training the Iraqi judicial and legal staffs of the various state institutions.

The Mission also, during its work from July 2005 until now, had organized 55 rehabilitative and training courses included nearly 1313 persons and hopefully that number will reach to 1500 at the end of this year, including 400 judges and 100 employees at the prisons security, in addition to 700 of Iraqi officers representing all the spectra of Iraqi people.

PUKmedia :: English - Foreign Minister Receives Head of European Mission for Rule of Law

Iraq, China ready to revive major oil deal
Sun Aug 10, 3:11 PM ET


Iraq's oil ministry said Sunday it plans to resurrect a major oil deal with China that fell apart amid crippling United Nations sanctions and the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion.
Oil minister Hussein Al-Shahristani met with Chinese ambassador Chang Yi to revive the 1997 contract that granted China exploration rights to the Al-Ahdab oil field in the province of Wassit, just south of Baghdad.
"Iraq and China are concerned with completing the agreement to develop Ahdab oil field," a statement from the Iraqi oil ministry said.
The construction of a power station in the province's Al-Najibia was also discussed, Assim Jihad, a spokesman for the ministry told AFP, adding that an Iraqi delegation would travel to China in the next few days to work on the terms.
After China won exploration rights to the al-Ahdab field in 1997, in a deal then valued at 700 million dollars over 23 years, activities were suspended due to UN sanctions and postwar security problems.
Planned oil production was 90,000 barrels per day. State-run China National Petroleum Corp had been expected to win the new exploration rights.
The meeting in Baghdad came after Iraq announced Friday that it was resuming exploration of its immense oil reserves after a break of nearly 20 years.
Iraq wants to ramp up output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the current average production of 2.5 million bpd, about equal to the amount being pumped before the US-led invasion of March 2003.
At the end of June, the oil ministry threw open six oilfields and two gas fields for international bidding by 41 companies, the contracts for which are expected to be signed in June next year.
The deals, which are service contracts only, pave the way for energy firms based abroad to return to Iraq, 36 years after Saddam Hussein threw them out.

Oil price rises with the war between Russia and Georgia

Oil prices surged by more than a dollar on Monday, partially offset drop five dollars at the previous meeting with the escalation of fighting between Russia and Georgia, which has delayed some exports from the Caspian region. But analysts said that oil rises somewhat higher dollar, which hit its highest level in six months to a basket of currencies on Monday.

At 0912 GMT U.S. crude price rose 71 cents to light 115.91 dollars per barrel and remained lower than its highest level today of $ 116.90. The price rose Brent blend crude measurement Union 70 cents to 114.03 dollars.

Oil fell towards 31 dollars a 21 percent from its peak of $ 147.27 dollars recorded on July 11 in July amid fears of slowing demand.

He said analyst David Moore of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, "the military conflict in Georgia is the main factor behind the rise in oil prices this morning."

He added: "There is also a degree of technical recovery after sharp fall in oil prices on Friday."

The company said energy Azerbaijani government on Saturday that the conflict on South Ossetia led to the suspension of shipments of Azerbaijani crude and refined fuel from ports in Georgia.

The pipeline is a major transfer of crude oil across Georgia to Azerbaijan but disrupted last week in part Elmar Turkey before the start of the conflict.

The blaze, which broke out in the Turkish section of the pipeline Baku - Tbilisi - Ceyhan to stop the loading of light Azerbaijani crude to Ceyhan, Turkey.

The news media about an Iranian government spokesman as saying on Sunday that his country's fourth largest source of crude oil in the world will not abandon its position in the nuclear dispute in spite of threats to tighten the sanctions it.

The tensions between Iran and the West because of its nuclear program and fears that Israel or the United States might launch an attack on Iran, a major factor behind the rise in oil prices in the past few months.

He urged the President of OPEC during a visit to Iran OIC Member States to adhere to agreed production levels.

And exceeding the target production level of OPEC and Saudi Arabia lead after the excesses committed to meeting the growing demand help in calming the high oil prices. The OPEC will hold its next meeting on the eighth of September next.

Translated version of http://www.aljeeran.net/economic.html

Jordan to buy Kirkuk crude at higher discount

Iraq has agreed to bring up the discount offered to Jordan on the Kirkuk crude oil to $22 per barrel in an amendment to a previous three-year deal under which the Kingdom was offered Brent crude oil at $18 lower than the international price per barrel.

The shipments, the two sides agreed, would be loaded at Kirkuk with Jordan incurring the cost of transport.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaldoun Qteishat was quoted by the Jordan News Agency "Petra" as saying Monday the decision came as a result of a follow-up on recent talks between Jordan and Iraq as regards providing the Kingdom with some of its oil needs during the recent visit of Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to Jordan.

The oil deal was also on the agenda of King Abdullah's talks with Maliki in Baghdad yesterday.

During the Joint Jordan-Iraq Higher Committee meetings held in Amman recently, Qteishat said the two sides agreed to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard for a term of three years.

Under the MoU, Iraq was to provide Jordan 10,000 barrels a day, which is 10 per cent of the Kingdom's needs, to be increased gradually to 30,000 barrels a day.

Jordan to buy Kirkuk crude at higher discount - Middle East News

Barham Saleh will discuss with Iranian officials a number of economic and trade agreements

Initiate Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh important talks with Iranian officials during a visit to Tehran start tomorrow, Wednesday.

That Saleh would travel to Iran tomorrow, Wednesday, at the head of government delegation to discuss overall bilateral relations between the two countries last few days.

A source in the office Barham Saleh told a press that the Iraqi delegation which will include ministers and government officials, will discuss a number of economic agreements and agreed to strengthen trade cooperation and exchanges in various fields. The Nazim Omar representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iran, the official said that meetings between President Mosques Barzani's Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iranian side, began last Saturday. Omar explained that "strengthening relations between Tehran and Kurdistan province, and the issue of bombing Iran for the border areas in the province, and develop economic ties between the two parties, the issues that topped the agenda of the meetings the delegation of Iranian Kurdistan province side."

Barzani arrived in Tehran last Friday heading a delegation of Kurdistan province. He expected Omar in a statement quoted agency Voices of Iraq, that these bilateral meetings to develop relations between the Kurdistan region and Iran respects the security and economic and commercial activities. Omar pointed out that the Kurdish optimistic results of his visit to Tehran, as Iranian officials who met the delegation, seeking to reach good results through the strengthening of relations on various levels, and finding appropriate solutions to existing problems, pointing out that it was likely to be signed on a series of security agreements The trade and investment.

Translated version of http://www.alsabaah.com/

Minister of trade: we are working to rehabilitate and develop the central market

Lose and Trade Minister Dr. Abdullah Hassan Sudanese farmers market Mansur Al-Mansur area in central Baghdad, briefed the minister on the amount of destruction that has afflicted the market due to military operations and the looting that paves the way government long after the fall of the regime in 2003. He stressed that the Sudanese ministry is working on the rehabilitation of the central market in all governorates of the country through the Plan and the first multi-pronged partnership with the private sector and the other through Alasentosmar The other direction is rehabilitating the potential of the ministry.

He added: supermarkets suffered considerable damage during military operations and we continually strive to restore a spirit to benefit citizens and achieve their favor through the purchase of various articles of Mnascie sophisticated, the market deals over the past years. He added that he had asked the company markets to provide files on the central market in Baghdad for the purpose of comprehensiveness of the programme of investment by companies of Iraqi and Arab and international offices and the possible contribution of consulting and specialized centres for the development of these markets work and rehabilitating rapidly with the participation of consulting offices in universities for the purpose of knowledge of the validity of existing buildings markets Currently, construction is updated.

Translated version of http://www.almadapaper.com/paper.php?source=akbar&page=107

Barham Saleh: Iraqi Army Should Protect Constitution and Democracy

The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Barham Ahmed Saleh said that the great security achievements were due to the efforts of the Ministry of Defense and other security directories.

He also stressed that these achievements should lead to an economic and political improvement.

This came during Saleh’s visit to the Ministry of Defense yesterday. He also said “Undoubtedly what I have seen today is crucial as for the current progress in the Ministry of Defense capabilities and its situation is better than it used to be. We should not forget that what was built in recent years is very important. This new army should be national and protects the constitution and the basis of the Federal, Democratic System in this country. We must support this ministry and provide it with all its requirements.

PUKmedia :: English - Barham Saleh: Iraqi Army Should Protect Constitution and Democracy

Kurdistan Region Vice President Meets Delegation of US Embassy in Iraq

The Kurdistan Region Vice President, Kosrat Rasul Ali, today met with Ambassador Lawrence Benedict the Coordinator for Anti-Corruption Initiatives at US Embassy Baghdad and an accompanying delegation.

Ambassador Benedict talked about their mission in Iraq .He appreciated the freedom of expression and independent media in the Kurdistan region , saying independent media is a key factor in irradiation of corruption.

On his part, Kosrat Rasul said that he has been always with transparency, telling the delegation that their mission is sacred and hoping them all successes. He indicated that corruption is a dangerous disease that should be irradiated all over the world.

Finally the delegation appreciated Kurdistan Region Vice President’s guidance.

PUKmedia :: English - Kurdistan Region Vice President Meets Delegation of US Embassy in Iraq

Invalidation of Political Claims on Kirkuk

Since the fall of the Ba´ath regime of Iraq in 2003 political accusations have been consistently forwarded, claiming an amount of 600,000 Kurds from Turkey, Iran and Syria have been placed in the city of Kirkuk in an alleged ´human mass movement'.

This article focuses on these allegations and aims to display that with some common sense it is a complete politically inconceivable assumption which could be seen as being no more than incorrect propagandistic attempts to withhold Kurdish policy claims towards Kirkuk. It further aims to assert that however much false and subjective the accusations are considered by Kurdish governmental institutions, it is not an issue to be ignored. This was proven substantially when it made a thorough circulation in national Turkish news agencies and caught public opinion even more drastically in opposition to the Kurdish stance with regards to the issue of Kirkuk. Attention is paid on how to rather easily, but effectively invalidate these claims and receive international recognition for its false background.

1. The issue of Kirkuk and the accusations of an alleged human mass movement

Kirkuk is an ancient city in the north of Iraq, south of the official boundaries of the Kurdistan autonomous region. It is an ethnically mixed city with a majority of Kurds, followed by smaller groups of Arabs, Turcomans and Assyrians. The ethnic forefathers of the majority of its current population have settled in and around the city at various times in history since the establishment of Arrapha, the forerunner of present Kirkuk around 2000 BC. The discovery of vast amounts of oil in the region lead to an ´Arabisation´ policy by consistent Iraqi monarchies and national governments with the aim of reducing the city's non-Arab population. In 1970 an Autonomy agreement was signed between the Kurds and the Iraqi Ba´ath government, the latter which came into being in 1963 after a successful military coup d´état. Rather, in the period between 1970 and 1974 the Iraqi government stepped up the severity of the Arabisation policy and established new governorate boundaries, renaming the former Kirkuk governorate ´at-Ta´mim´, which means ´nationalization´ in Arabic. It is estimated by Human Rights Watch that since 1991 120,000 Kurds have been driven out of Kirkuk and forced to resettle northerly or flee the country.[1] Instead, members of Arabic tribes considered to be from low societal classes from central and southern Iraq, were encouraged to settle in Kirkuk, receiving financial support and public housing from the government in an attempt to realize the prospect of putting claim to the city as one that is ´Arabic´. It is estimated that under the rule of Saddam Hussein a total of 250,000 Kurds have been driven out of their homes from within the city of Kirkuk and the villages and towns in its surroundings.[2]

In the new Iraq (pan-2003), article 140 of the Iraqi constitution demands the implementation of a referendum in the city of Kirkuk among its inhabitants in order to decide democratically whether the city should come under the auspices and control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and become part of the Kurdistan autonomous region. It further includes the enactment of the naturalization process, which demands that those originally from Kirkuk and forced to leave their homes, resettle in the city and the Arab ´colonists´ return to their place of origin. The deadline for the referendum was originally 31 December 2007, but it has several times been postponed. In August 2008 the United Nations Envoy in Iraq again asked for a postponement of the referendum to 31 December 2008.[3] It is considered in light with the planned referendum that claims have been forwarded, particularly by the Iraqi Turcoman Front (ITF) about alleged Kurdish mass movements from neighbouring countries in order to ensure a Kurdish win. However, this article clarifies that no foreigners (from an Iraqi point of view) could possibly have been attracted and placed within the city, and that it have been justifiable movements by Iraqi and moral law from former original inhabitants of the city and its surroundings returning to the city, villagers often finding their villages destroyed in the Saddam era and feeling forced to resettle on the city's edges.

2. Invalidation of the accusations

Before the national Iraqi parliamentary elections of December 2005 the pro-Turkish Iraqi Turcoman Front (ITF) claimed that there were as many as 3 million Turcomans living in Iraq; a claim which was proven far from reality when the party received a mere 87,000 (0.7%) votes throughout the whole of Iraq and 11% in the Kirkuk governorate, up to 53% for the Kurdistan Alliance. One might wonder how it is then that this party is relatively influential considering its low number of votes. It is however rather the coinciding nature of Turkish governmental policies and those of the ITF (the ITF receiving at least political if not financial backing from Turkey), arisen and further particularly strengthened by the unity in terms of ethnic kinship between the Turks and the Turcomans. Like many of the Turkish peoples, the Turcomans are descended from the ´Oghuz Turks´. The voice of the ITF has therefore been deeply strengthened by backing from Turkey, as a major regional power, and the seemingly continuous political pressure from neighbouring countries, with particular reference to Turkey, under which the Kurds in Iraq operate.

It has to be noted that the Kurdish issue in Turkey, Iran and Syria is a still very hostile and sensitive matter, of which the national government authorities of the three respective countries keep themselves continuously informed of its latest developments in order to take the most appropriate action with regards to avoiding the realization of Kurdish political aims. These authorities are thus far positioned against Kurdish political demands and fear progress in this area to such a degree that a movement of even a single family from one place to another within the same area would be kept in watch. 600,000 Kurds allegedly passing across internationally recognized and heavily guarded borders in a so called ´mass movement´ is a too big a number to remain undetected by either Turkish, Iranian or Syrian authorities.

To move to the very basics of invalidating this accusation, one has to simply note that in Kirkuk, with its own official population of around 800,000, it would not be all too difficult to pick out the alleged ´Kurdish immigrants´ with completely different dialects and linguistic pronunciations from those of Kirkukis (´inhabitants of Kirkuk´ in Kurdish). The Kurdish language is divided into and rich of such a vast number of local dialects that the word use by Kirkuk inhabitants, or Kirkuki, differs greatly with those of the inhabitants of even the neighbouring city of Hawler, or Hawleri, let alone those of neighbouring countries.

It is further a fact that – as is the case in most democratic elections – voters in the national Iraqi elections of 2005 were only allowed to take part and vote in the locality where they were officially registered as inhabitant of the place. This rule prevented unregistered voters and non–original inhabitants to cast their vote at any local poll station throughout the whole of Iraq, and thus including the Kurdistan region and the Kirkuk governorate.

Now although these political claims have never fully materialized in terms of being internationally recognized and have remained unsupported by concrete evidence ever since they have come into being, one has to note that they have actually persuaded public opinion among those particularly against the success of Kurdish policy and considering this latter prospect of being damaging to their own respective political struggle. Oppositionists to the implementation of article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, substantially among Turkish nationalist institutions, the ITF and pan-Arab Iraqi groups, have consistently been forwarding these allegations throughout in terms of a justification for successive postponements of the planned referendum on the future of Kirkuk, fearing a Kurdish majority outcome and the subsequent incorporation of Kirkuk into the Kurdistan autonomous region. In the next chapter I will put forth a recommendation on how the accusations could be effectively invalidated on official, governmental and international level.

PUKmedia :: English - Invalidation of Political Claims on Kirkuk

Continued......

3. Recommendation for Kurdish government policy

In order to put down the incorrect accusations as described earlier but on governmental level and at the same time encourage imminent full implementation of article 140, including a referendum asking the inhabitants of Kirkuk whether they would support an official return of the city to the Kurdistan autonomous region, it is important that the process is formal and official, and therefore, known to public. With this regard, the KRG ought to officially and representatively present a document to the Iraqi government, as the main body on national stage, and to the United Nations (both serving as independent overseers), as the main body on international stage, indicating the importance of the matter to the Kurds and demanding concrete evidence to be forwarded by institutions responsible for claiming the alleged ´human mass movements´, outlining names, current addresses, places of origins and other significant factors in providing identities for those claimed to have settled in Kirkuk for political electorate purposes.

4. Conclusion

This brief article's main aim was to outline oppositionist political claims to Kurdish demands, even moving to the very basics of the falsehood of these accusations. Concerning the issue of Kirkuk, the matter has clearly transformed to being an international issue, whereby relatively small proportionate ethnic groups are being backed by larger and more influential institutions, and often even, by regional or national governments rather than being limited to the city and governorate itself. In early 2007 the spokesman of the third bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) even went thus far of accusing Turkey's intelligence service (MIT) of conducting terrorist acts in Kirkuk in order to avoid the planned official referendum from taking place.[4]

It is clear that in order to avoid any conflict or even a widespread military confrontation on the matter, it is essential that the normalization process and implementation of the Kirkuk referendum be enacted fully and finally as the national Iraqi constitution approved by the Iraqi people demands. Throughout modern history the Kurds have consistently put claim to Kirkuk, justified by the great majority of the city's Kurdish inhabitants. Reactionary Kurdish governmental policies as recommended above should not have the basis of seeking political confrontation but rather to officially put down widespread accusations in order to update public opinion on the reality of the matter.

PUKmedia :: English - Invalidation of Political Claims on Kirkuk