Thread: Archive Latest News - Dinar Think Tank - 27/08/08 - 15/01/09

Iranian airline offers thrice weekly service to Baghdad

Private Iranian carrier Mahan Airlines announced on Thursday that it will operate three flights a week between Tehran and Baghdad, the first scheduled air link in nearly 30 years.

Services were halted on the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
Mahan's first flight landed at Baghdad's international airport on Tuesday with 192 passengers on board.

The company, which flies to Britain, Germany, India, China and Thailand, as well as to domestic destinations, said the Tehran-Baghdad flights are scheduled for Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

Mahan also said it has eventual plans for flights from the Iranian holy city of Mashhad (the burial place of the eighth Shiite Imam) to Baghdad and Najaf (the burial place of the first Shiite Imam). No date was given.

Mahan was established 16 years ago.

In November 2005, an Iraqi passenger plane landed in Tehran, marking the first time in 25 years an Iraqi aircraft touched down there. Iran and Iraq are both majority Shiite Muslim countries and many pilgrims from each country visit holy sites in the other every year.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidAN...20to%20Baghdad

President receives credentials from ambassadors of Spain, Bahrain, Syria and Jordan

The President Jalal Talabani on the need to strengthen relations between Iraq and the Kingdom of Spain in all areas. This came during the receipt of His Excellency, the era of today, Thursday, 16-10-2008 Peace Palace in Baghdad, the credentials of new Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to Iraq, Francisco Elias de Tejada for Othano..................

Recognizes President Jalal Talabani, the era of today, Thursday, 16-10-2008 Peace Palace in Baghdad, the credentials of new Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Iraq, Salah Ali Hassan al-Maliki.

During the ceremony which was attended by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari hailed the initiative of the Kingdom of Bahrain His Excellency Ambassador to send the first Arab country to send a new ambassador to Iraq, also praised the positions of the Kingdom of Bahrain towards Iraq and its people, stressing hard work and the joint development of relations between the two countries, stressing the importance of Arab support for the new Iraq...................................

Recognizes President Jalal Talabani this afternoon today, Thursday, 16-10-2008 Peace Palace the credentials of new Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic Sheikh Nawaf Aboud Knight.....................................

Recognizes President Jalal Talabani, the era of today, Thursday, 16-10-2008 Peace Palace in Baghdad, the credentials of new Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Nayef Vntol Alzeidan. During the handover ceremony which was attended by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, His Excellency praised the visit by His Majesty King Abdullah II to Iraq and his support for Iraq and its stability and discharge............................

Translated version of http://nahrain.com/news.php?readmore=29948

The four-party Alliance leaders discuss Oil Law

The four-party alliance leaders discussed Thursday a number of political differences and special points to the approval of the draft oil and gas law the controversial Iraqi source said the relevance to the meeting told (AKI) the Italian news Thursday that President Jalal Talabani and Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his deputy Barham Saleh, president of the Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani, "studied the identification of constitutional powers between the federal government and provinces, especially with regard to finding a satisfactory consensus over the oil and gas law and find solutions to a number of controversial issues" other

The Vice-President Adel Abdul-Mahdi made a brief statement after the meeting stressed that "the positive results of the meeting emerged believes the future of the country" and described the discussions as "frank and transparent and based on trust and free of partisan Mahoriat."

The formation of committees to develop solutions to the issues and outstanding issues, and transfer into implementation and application pointing out that the options would separate the Constitution established as the benchmark against which to Ayaly for nothing, as he put it

The four-party alliance of two Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by Jalal Talabani and the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani, in addition to the two main Shiite coalition, the Islamic Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Supreme Islamic Council led by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.

http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=e...uVf3nZpvx5psqw

US plays down talk of pact with Iraq

The Bush administration sought on Wednesday to tamp down enthusiasm over a draft agreement with Iraq to allow US troops to stay there and said the deal was not sealed until it was signed. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said a "text" was being considered by Iraq's political leaders but more work needed to be done.

"Nothing is done until everything is done. Everything isn't done. The Iraqis are still talking among themselves. We are still talking to the Iraqis," he told reporters. "The process is not complete."

The White House also said it had nothing to announce yet about an agreement.

"There are still discussions that are ongoing," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, adding that they were getting closer to an agreement.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman cautioned reporters against giving credence to the contents of any draft. "Tracking a piece of paper here or there, a version here or a draft there, all too often ends up being misleading because this is such a dynamic process," he said.

But in Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the two sides had reached a final deal after months of negotiation on the pact to allow US troops to stay until the end of 2011. In addition, he said, the two countries reached a compromise on the difficult question of whether US troops could be tried in Iraqi courts for crimes committed while deployed in Iraq, an issue that both sides had long said was holding up the pact.

McCormack declined to be drawn on details but another US official confirmed the final draft would require US troops to leave by the end of 2011 unless Iraq asked them to stay longer.

Dabbagh said Wednesday the agreement was submitted to Iraqi political leaders for approval, a first step toward ratifying it in Parliament. Dabbagh said the agreement envisions US forces withdrawing from Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year, and leaving the country completely within three years unless a new pact is agreed.

"The withdrawal is to be achieved in three years. In 2011, the government at that time will determine whether it needs a new pact or not, and what type of pact will depend on the challenges it faces," he told Reuters.

On the question of immunity for US troops, he said: "Inside their bases, they will be under American law. Iraqi judicial law will be implemented in case these forces commit a serious and deliberate felony outside their military bases and when off duty."

The US official confirmed that a compromise had been reached on the immunity issue but gave no further details.

The bilateral pact replaces a UN Security Council resolution enacted after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and may give Iraq's elected government authority over the US troop presence for the first time.

Among other expected effects of the change, the US military will no longer be able to hold prisoners without charging them with crimes under Iraqi law. US forces are now holding 18,000 prisoners, the vast majority of whom have not been charged.

The pact still must be approved by a council of Iraqi political leaders, the Iraqi Cabinet and Parliament. Should they fail to approve it by the end of the year, Dabbagh said Baghdad would seek an extension of the UN mandate.

Also Wednesday, Moldova's army announced that it plans to withdraw its small contingent of soldiers in Iraq ahead of schedule in December. The decision to pull the troops out three months early reflected Iraq's "stability ... and the transfer of de-mining operations to [Iraqi] armed forces," General Ion Coropcean told AFP.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidDS...%20with%20Iraq

This is an interesting opinion piece from Azzaman - I don't think this chap is very happy.

Iraq and world financial crisis

As the world’s richest countries fret about the current financial crisis, Iraqi leaders boast that their economy has emerged unscathed.

While the world economy is reeling under the weight of this crisis, Iraqi leaders believe they can go to bed without the slightest worry about any repercussions to a country torn by war and suffering from lack of basic economic infrastructure.

How could Iraqi leaders be so confident at a time they do not know when the next oil pipeline will be blown up?

Superpowers like the United States are shifting their priorities and reconsidering their economic strategies. But Iraqi leaders unashamedly declare that “Iraq is strong and strong enough to withstand the current financial crisis.”

For God’s sake could you tell us what is it that makes you so strong?

Is it the Iraqi dinar? To buy $1,000 today you will need a sack of dinars.

Is it the Baghdad Stock Exchange? The value of a week-long worth of trading in the so-called Iraqi bourse will be probably not pay for a week-end dinner by a western millionaire.

Is it our political stability and security? The hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops and police as well as 150,000 U.S. Marines cannot stop the persecution of Iraqi Christians in the city of Mosul.

Is it our robust financial system? Five years of U.S. occupation and administration have not persuaded a single foreign bank to open a branch in Baghdad.

Indeed Iraq’s situation is unique. This is a country where the best rules and standards of capitalism and free market are applied.

Everything floats.

It is not only the currency and the economy that are floating. Thieves, killers, abductors, embezzlers, corrupt officials, terrorists, foreign troops, foreign mercenaries, and you name it, all are free and all can do what they want to do with impunity.

It is a free market, a free country, free for all.

Iraq has special bourses which operate ‘smoothly’ and with government blessing regardless of what happens on international markets.

Look at our ‘pharmaceutical’ stock exchange. Prices of medicine soar when the government makes it easy for smugglers to take medicines across the borders for sale in neighboring countries.

We do have banks. But I doubt whether any of Iraqi officials in the government or in charge of any of the political factions have ever thought of opening an account in them.

Their accounts are in hard cash stashed away in international banks. Probably the current financial crisis has devoured some of their savings.

For sure the first thing they do is to replenish their foreign accounts and assets. And no one on earth is better equipped and more knowledgeable than our officials on how to ‘launder’ oil royalties and grants and loans from international donors.

Now I understand why and how Iraqi economy is so strong that it can easily weather the current financial crisis.

Azzaman in English

Iraq Oil Minister: No oil export license has been granted to DNO

Iraq's oil minister has rejected reports that Baghdad has given an export permit to DNO Norwegian Company.

"No export license has been granted to DNO. Any crude produced in Iraq, including (by) DNO, should be handed over to SOMO (the state oil export company) to export and all the revenue will be given to the Ministry of Finance," Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said.

Iraq Oil Minister: No oil export license has been granted to DNO | Economics News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Iraq unbending about security deal with US

Iraq insists on reaching an optimal security agreement with the US that rallies consensus and satisfaction of all parties without exception. It is remarkable to note that Iraq’s unbending stand and attachment to sovereignty has led governmental parties to speculate that this draft might not be final. These stands were voiced by Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s media official Majid Yassin who said “We have discussed the draft yesterday and will continue discussions today and tomorrow” noting that senior officials have been handed the last draft of the security agreement for remarks.

While affirming that negotiations are hard and complicated, Yassin noted that US Forces judicial immunity remains the main hindrance. He added that it has been agreed to withdraw US Forces from Iraqi cities in May and fully withdraw in January 2011 asserting that it’s hard to speculate how the situation will turn out eventually.

Cabinet spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh clarified that the timeline to withdraw is set in 2011 unless Iraq requests to keep the US military in the country for a longer period according to risks on the ground. He explained however that US Forces immunity from legal accountability is subject to US judiciary inside the camps while Iraqi judiciary would apply on US Forces major crimes outside their facility and out of duty adding that an Iraqi-US committee will decide about the case.

Following legal course, the draft discussed on Tuesday night by the ****utive council should be passed to the political council for national security before transferring it to Parliament if approved. According to head of the presidential endowment, Nasir Al Ani, it seems that consensus has been reached effectively, as he declared that the ****utive council has passed the final draft of the agreement to the political council which includes all political powers for remarks and notes whether positive or negative affirming that this draft has not been declared.

However, optimism felt so far was put in doubt due to statements of US Department of State spokesman Sean McCormack who said that negotiations are still ongoing between Iraq and the US declining to state that both parties are close to reaching an agreement. McCormack showed some reservation regarding talks abstaining from referring to it as a draft agreement saying there are “words on a piece of paper”.

Iraq unbending about security deal with US | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Rice talks with Iraq leader on security deal

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice held phone conversations with a number of Iraqi officials in an attempt to ease negotiations regarding the security agreement due to be signed between Baghdad and Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The latter clarified that Rice has held talks over the phone with each of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki and Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi without giving further details about the talks saying he has nothing new to declare other than the proves is ongoing.

Rice talks with Iraq leader on security deal | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Gates backs US-Iraq security draft agreement

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates backed a draft agreement with Iraq on the legal status of US Forces in the country after the end of the UN mandate in December. Gates is satisfied with the draft agreement with Baghdad and has begun consultations with Congress, the Pentagon press secretary, Geoff Morrell said. Gates believes the draft agreement “adequately” protects US troops in all facets of their operations from combat to legal protections, Morrell added.

Gates backs US-Iraq security draft agreement | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Furat Phone ready to cover southern Iraq in 45 days

The director of Iraq’s Furat Phone Company for communications said on Friday that his company will be ready to cover the whole southern region of Iraq in 45 days to provide services to around nine million persons.

“The company will be ready in 45 days too provide services to nine million citizens living in Thi-Qar, Muthanna, Wassit, Basra and Missan provinces,” Khaleel Khafaji told Aswat al-Iraq.

“The company started to set up 27 new towers in the pre mentioned provinces to increase the number of towers in service too 57 which cover around 1/3 of Iraq’s area,” he explained.

“Furat Phone will start partnership negotiations as of next year with a group of Qatari-Bahraini communications companies which want to invest in Iraq’s communication market,” he also said.

Thi-Qar, 380 km south of Baghdad, has an area of 12,900 square kilometers (4,980.7 sq mi). In 2003 the estimated population of the governorate was 1,454,200 people.Thi-Qar was the second Iraqi province where security responsibilities were transferred from the Multi-National Force (MNF) to the Iraqis.

The province’s capital is the city of al-Nassiriya. It also includes the ancient Sumerian ruins of Ur, Eridu, Lagash and Ngirsu. Before 1976 the province was known as al-Muntafiq.

Furat Phone ready to cover southern Iraq in 45 days : Aswat Al Iraq