Thread: Archive - Latest News Think Tank - 15/01/09 - 04/05/09

Dr. Rafie al-Issawi said today that the high-level Kuwaiti delegation will visit Iraq soon

The Deputy Prime Minister said at the conclusion of a visit to Kuwait as part of the delegation, headed by Mr. Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic and who is participating in the economic conference, he said (was discussed several issues with the Kuwaiti side agreed to extend an invitation to the Kuwaiti brothers to visit Iraq and to discuss issues that would end the problems between the two countries ).

The file on the debt Iraqi Airways Issawi said that the case was contained in a final and have been almost mutually satisfactory solutions will contribute to the re-build bridges of confidence between the Iraqi and Kuwaiti counterpart.

http://74.125.79.113/translate_c?hl=...9-CJSae3eNUb4w

Slump in dollar demand in CBI auction

Demand for the dollar rose in the Central Bank of Iraq’s (CBI) auction on Wednesday, registering at $198.555 million, compared to $201.225 million in the previous session.

“The demand hit $25.405 million in cash, covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,176 Iraqi dinars, and $173.150 million in foreign transfers outside the country covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,173 Iraqi dinars per dollar,” according to a CBI news bulletin received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

None of the 14 banks that participated in today’s session offered to sell dollars.

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

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=106738

Prices go down in Kurdistan

The American Society for Kurds (ASK) said on Wednesday that prices of goods in Iraq’s Kurdistan region went down by 71.3% in December 2008 compared to the previous month.

The organization said that there are several goods evaluated by the U.S. dollar, noting that despite the stabilization of these goods’ prices, the value of the dollar went down, bringing down the goods’ prices.

The American Society for Kurds aims to encourage, establish and nourish constructive relationships and cooperation between Americans and Kurds.
It is a non-profit, non-partisan organization registered in the United States which has branches in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=106712

PM urges Iraqis to participate in elections

Premier Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday called on Iraqis to actively participate in the upcoming provincial councils elections that would take place on Jan. 31, 2009.

Addressing a crowd of Najaf people, the premier said “I call on voters to select their representatives on the basis of honesty, qualification and integrity.”

“The upcoming provincial councils elections would show the image of the new Iraq,” he added.

Al-Maliki promised to respect the election result, “as it represents the national will,” according to his description.

The provincial council elections are due to be held on January 31 in 14 out of 18 Iraqi provinces.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=106734

Activate the economic cooperation between Iraq and Iran

Iraqi official stressed that the activation of the coordination and economic cooperation between Iran and Iraq have contributed to the development of trade relations between the two countries.

The agency quoted the international press, the joint Iranian envoy to the Iraqi province of Kermanshah, Jamal Abd al-Sattar said that a large part of the trade relations is to draw pilgrims to the holy sites in Iraq, which contribute to the development of trade between the two sides.

For his part, said the governor of Kermanshah Eelam Mir Karavalle during the summit of the Organization of Economic Cooperation, the two sides can expand trade across the border to promote the regional economy through the religious rituals.

Recalled that the Economic Cooperation Organization, whose membership includes a number of East Asian countries and the countries of Belarus is considering the promotion of economic cooperation with the Iraqi side after the earnings from trade with Iraq, about 5 billion dollars.

http://translate.google.com/translat...adiodijla.com/

Basra autonomy referendum petition fails

A petition in support of a referendum to turn Iraq's oil-rich province of Basra into an autonomous region has failed to collect enough signatures, the electoral commission said on Wednesday.

"This project has not been successful," Qassim al-Abudi, administrative director of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) told a press briefing.

"Voters were not persuaded that this region should be get autonomy."
Some politicians and residents had called for a referendum to allow the economically developed region to gain a similar autonomous status to the three Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq.

Petioners were given until January 19 to collect signatures of 10 percent of the 1,409,393 eligible voters in Basra province and city, Iraq's second port along with Umm al-Qasr and the country's economic nerve centre.

The Iraqi constitution allows for any of the country's 18 provinces to hold such a referendum.

Although the motion in Basra failed in its bid to reach the required 10 percent, citizens could put the motion forward again by winning two percent of voters signature, Abudi said.

The commission, with the help of the United Nations, is staging landmark elections on January 31 in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces -- the first vote in the country since 2005.

Basra is Iraq's third largest city and is considered the country's financial hub, due to crude production and its harbour. More than 70 percent of Iraq's oil is produced in the region and its port is used for 80 percent of crude exports.

The region is however beset with rivalries among three main Shiite factions -- the former rebel Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the Fadhila party and Sadrists, those loyal to fireb.rand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidAN...tition%20Fails

Saddam's luxury yacht heads home to Iraq

A luxury yacht kitted out for Saddam Hussein with swimming pools, a mosque and a missile launcher will return to Iraq because the global economic crisis has thwarted attempts to sell it.

The 82-metre (270-feet) Ocean Breeze, which also sported a mini-submarine among its facilities, will be towed home from a Greek port, Iraq's government confirmed, saving it the cost of expensive berthing and maintenance fees.

The yacht was built for Saddam 28 years ago, but the Iran-Iraq war -- which saw it moved from the southern port of Basra to Saudi Arabia -- was among the factors that meant the dictator never savoured its ostentatious facilities.

The vessel became the subject of a legal wrangle when it appeared in the French Riviera city of Nice in autumn 2007, where a British boat dealer tried to sell it for 23.5 million euros (30.38 million dollars).

The Iraqi government, which has a right to recover the late dictator's property, managed in January 2008 to have a French commercial court block the sale until its ownership was firmly established.

Cayman island-based Sudeley Limited, part-owned by King Abdullah of Jordan, claimed to own the floating palace, but later renounced its claim, paving the way for its return to Iraq.

"The Iraqi government has authorised the transportation ministry to bring the presidential yacht to Basra province's port," an official government statement said, confirming the move from the Greek port of Piraeus. Iraq will also pay costs to a Greek company as part of an agreement to maintain the yacht since July 2008, the statement added.

"The Iraqi government decision to bring the yacht home will spare Baghdad the possibility of facing other claims and saves it docking and crew costs, since the Iraqi government will not be able to sell the yacht in the current circumstances with the world dealing with the financial crisis," the government statement said.

The vessel, which was built in Denmark in 1981, started life as the Basra Breeze. It was moved to Saudi Arabia for fear that the Iran-Iraq conflict would see it damaged.

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

Senegalese government to pay due debts to Iraq

Senegalese government accepted to pay its due debt to Iraq. Iraq Finance Minister Jaber Baker Al Zubaidi said that the memorandum included rescheduling the installments the overall value of which is $ 4 164 000. Zubaidi said that this achievement comes in the framework of Ministry of Finance efforts to bring back Iraq money from outside Iraq whether if they were debts to other countries or money trafficked by the former regime.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Economics...s-to-Iraq.html

US-Iraq pact implementation rolling

The High Committee supervising the implementation of US Forces withdrawal from Iraq held a meeting in the presence of Defense Minister Abdul Qader Al Ubaidi, heads of local committees and armed forces commander office director as well as US Forces top commander in Iraq General Raymond Odierno.

During the meeting, Al Ubaidi displayed the structure of main and local committee according to the responsibilities thereof. He called as well to intensify meting between Iraqi and US parties to discuss recommendations and action plans affirming that work should be in the framework of the pact’s timelines.

For his part, US Forces Commander asserted that this agreement will outline a strategic base for joint cooperation between the US and Iraq in order to withdraw US Forces according to timelines.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News...n-rolling.html

Q&A on Iraq's provincial elections

Iraqis go to the polls on January 31 for the first time in more than three years in milestone local elections that could redraw the country's political map.

Below are some facts about Iraq's provincial elections.

WHO IS VOTING?
* Iraqis in 14 out of Iraq's 18 provinces will vote to select members of provincial councils, whose duties include choosing provincial governors and provincial administrations.

* There are 440 provincial council seats at stake.

WHO IS NOT VOTING?
* Elections in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, which includes three provinces, are expected to take place this year, but no date has yet been set.

* Voting in the oil-producing, ethnically mixed province of Kirkuk was delayed over disputes between Kurds, who want to fold it into their semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, and Arabs and Turkmen who want to keep it under Baghdad's control. No date has been set.

WHO IS RUNNING?
* 14,431 candidates are registered, including 3,912 women. They belong to more than 400 parties or groups.

* In past elections, voters were only allowed to choose from party lists. This time, they must pick a party or group, but can also vote for an individual candidate from their selected group if they wish. A complicated formula will be used to allocate seats between lists and among candidates within each list.

* Parties that win three or more seats must give every third seat to a woman.

* Six seats nationally are set aside for candidates from Christian, Shabak, Yazidi and Sabean religious minorities.

WHY ARE THE ELECTIONS IMPORTANT?
* The elections will not only reshape local government but could set the tone for parliamentary elections in late 2009.

* The polls are also expected to change the balance of power among Iraq's Sunni Arabs, many of whom did not participate in the last provincial elections in 2005. Their marginalisation has helped fuel discontent and violence.

* The United States expects that many tribal leaders whose support of "Awakening Councils," neighborhood patrol units instrumental in reining in violence, will win power from other Sunni parties.

* The vote will pit Shi'ite parties that ran as coalition partners in the last Iraqi election against each other. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's small Dawa party will be fighting for influence in southern Iraq against the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), a religious party founded in exile in Iran when Saddam Hussein was still in charge.

* The elections could also help define the influence of Moqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shi'ite cleric who commanded a once-powerful militia that was weakened by government offensives last year. Sadr's political front is not presenting its own list in the election but will support individual candidates.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...=8860&Itemid=1