Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

All the auction details on the Historical Exchange rates on the CBI site have now been filled in, although there is no market price on the 22nd. No reval today folks.

Originally Posted by Dinar Duchess

All the auction details on the Historical Exchange rates on the CBI site have now been filled in, although there is no market price on the 22nd. No reval today folks.

Actually, there was a market price look at my post above.

Originally Posted by Caviar Dreams

Sorry guys, but no change at the CBI. Actually it went the wrong direction today.

Announcement No.(794)

D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control

The 794 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Sunday 2006 / 10/ 22 so the results were as follows :
Details Notes
Number of banks 11 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1473 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ----- -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 50.220.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) -----
Total offers for buying (US $) 50.220.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ----- -----

1. Cash amounts sold to the bank and its customers were USD(45.640.000) at a rate of(1473+1+10=1484)IQD\USD .
2. The amount sold to make transfers abroad was USD (4.580.000) at a rate of (1473-2)+ one dinar as a bank fee and exempt the transferred amount from conversion fee.

Somthing definetly went on when they were down, and as of now it doe's not appear to be RV.

I have a hard time believing the site was down for just maintenance.

In speaking with my friend across the pond, he says still no 10K for the Iraqi's, no blackout, and prices are still about the same as they have been.

Doe's anyone need a question asked? He's very helpful, I've just run out of things to ask him and we start most most conversations with him saying, " nope, not yet"

Morning folks, not got the time to go back all the pages here, is there any news??

The news I've heard is that Bush is facked off with the delays and will implement his own shiite very soon unless Maliki can get a grip with the insurgents....

IF these articles have already been put on then apologies, they're pretty big and good news IMO so no harm in seeing them again/and if anyone has missed them first time round......

This is really big IMO, they hate each other! For Saudis to be getting involved they know the gold is at the end of the road!!! Next get their debt forgiven, next stop r/v time......



Saudis to Invest Over SR2 Billion in Iraq
RIYADH, 22 October 2006 — Many Saudi businessmen are now getting ready to establish a number of development projects in Iraq after the Iraqi Parliament approved its foreign investment law, the Al-Eqtisadiah daily reported.

Iraqi authorities are studying the projects and providing the necessary guarantees to attract investors and attract more Arabian capital. Thaeer Al-Feili, consultant at the Iraqi Ministry of Housing, said that there are three big projects that Saudi investors tend to launch in Iraq. The projects include industrial, housing and agricultural investments. The total investment of these projects are estimated at more that SR2.2 billion ($587 million). Al-Feili said that the biggest of these projects is the agricultural project, lead by big Saudi investors. The project will take large space of land and will improve the Iraqi agricultural production. He said that these investments would be the first step toward many Saudi investments coming to Iraq. He said that the General Iraqi Investment Committee has received many investment applications from Arabs and foreigners. He said that many Saudis applied for investment in Iraq and their requests is under study at the moment and soon it will be done within weeks.

He said, “Saudi investors have great experience in business investment especially investment abroad. They will help in developing the infrastructure of Iraq and their money investment will be a great benefit to Iraq.” The investment projects will receive many incentives like tax free for ten years and the option to transfer the money abroad after paying the Iraqi government. The law will provide the investor, regardless of his nationality, all incentives and guarantees including living in Iraq.

Al-Feili said that Saudi businessmen supported Iraq in the past by exporting food to Iraq and other necessary products. He pointed out that a business forum would be held in the following two months in Kuwait where Iraqi businessmen will meet with Arab businessmen to reveal investment opportunities in Iraq. About 500 Saudi companies are expected to attend the gathering.

Arab News Newspaper

Lets hope we see some more positive things happening in Iraq now.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/wo..._r=1&th&emc=th

Following up from the above, sure I read one of their ministers was in Saudi this weekend......sorting debt out maybe...........hhmmmm, me likey!

Bush to Iraqis: you take over
October 22, 2006

AMERICA has responded to spiralling violence in Iraq by preparing an exit strategy that will allow coalition troops to withdraw by forcing the government in Baghdad to take responsibility for security.
The Pentagon is drawing up plans for a “forcing mechanism” that would set target dates for handing control to the Iraqis. American troops would pull back to their bases, leaving military advisers “embedded” with the Iraqi security forces.



Sources suggest troops will be concentrated in the most violent areas of Iraq, such as Baghdad and parts of Anbar province west of the capital. They could be reinforced with soldiers from pacified regions.

There is a growing consensus in Washington and London that an urgent change of direction is needed after America’s failure to curb violence in Baghdad. At least 30 people died last night in a mortar attack on a market in Mahmudiya, south of the capital.

President George W Bush consulted his military chiefs yesterday on a shift in tactics, saying he would make “every necessary change” to prevail.

American officials also held secret talks in Amman, Jordan, last week with insurgent leaders, including the Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the main Sunni militias.

The emerging exit strategy bears a strong resemblance to options favoured by the Iraq Study Group co-chaired by James Baker, the former US secretary of state, that is due to publish its recommendations in the new year. A senior US official said the new course was likely to be implemented after the group reports, giving the Bush administration “political cover”.

“We’re not going to pack up and go home, but the situation is grim,” the official said. “People here are desperate. There is a lot of deep thinking going on.”

A senior diplomatic source said there was talk of a summit between Tony Blair and Bush in January “to hammer out the detail” of a new course. Downing Street denied any plans had been made.

The Foreign Office is urgently reviewing its options for Iraq. Blair indicated to the Commons last week that it was government policy to hand over security to the Iraqis within the next 10-16 months.

A source close to the Baker group suggested the Iraqi government and security forces would be given “benchmarks” for taking control. Some could be political, such as convening a constitutional conference to devolve more power to the Kurdish, Shi’ite and Sunni regions.

Bush is losing patience with the inability of the government of Nouri al-Maliki to get a grip on security. “The approach will be closer to the British model,” said a senior British source. “Instead of the Americans saying, ‘Why should we hand over an area to the Iraqis?’, the emphasis will be, ‘Why shouldn’t we?’” Lieutenant-General John Sattler, the marine commander of the battle to retake control of Falluja in 2004, is in charge of developing the Pentagon’s new strategy. He is drawing up plans for target dates that would force the Iraqi government to assume control.

“You say to the Iraqis, ‘You’re going to take this over in a month’s time, it’s your problem. If you can’t handle it, tell us why’,” said a defence source.

The Iraq Study Group is believed to favour withdrawing troops gradually to neighbouring countries such as Kuwait. A rapid reaction force could be established to deal with potential crises. If America withdraws in this way, Britain would be likely to leave Iraq entirely, according to a senior British source.

Baker has also suggested that America might have to abandon its long-term ambition of bringing democracy to the Middle East in favour of “representative government, not necessarily democracy”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/articl...2416016,00.html

Sounds like Bush has had enough, now setting benchmarks. Sounds to me he's saying if you don't r/v soon I will..........


Bush to Hand Iraq a New Timetable on Security
Published: October 22, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 — The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said.

On Baghdad Streets, a Police Partnership Falters (October 22, 2006) Details of the blueprint, which is to be presented to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki before the end of the year and would be carried out over the next year and beyond, are still being devised. But the officials said that for the first time Iraq was likely to be asked to agree to a schedule of specific milestones, like disarming sectarian militias, and to a broad set of other political, economic and military benchmarks intended to stabilize the country.

Although the plan would not threaten Mr. Maliki with a withdrawal of American troops, several officials said the Bush administration would consider changes in military strategy and other penalties if Iraq balked at adopting it or failed to meet critical benchmarks within it.

A senior Pentagon official involved in drafting the blueprint said that Iraqi officials were being consulted as the plan evolved and would be invited to sign off on the milestones before the end of the year. But he added, “If the Iraqis fail to come back to us on this, we would have to conduct a reassessment” of the American strategy in Iraq.

The plan is being formulated by General George W. Casey Jr. and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the top military and civilian officials in Iraq, as well as by Pentagon officials. General Casey has been in close consultations with the White House as the debate over the way forward in Iraq has intensified in recent weeks. And he took part by videoconference on Saturday in a strategy meeting with President Bush and senior administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top American commander in the Middle East, and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We’re trying to come up with ways to get the Iraqis to step up to the plate, to push them along, because the time is coming,” a senior Bush administration official said. “We can’t be there forever.”

Until now, the Bush administration has avoided using threats of deadlines for progress in Iraq, saying that conditions on the ground would determine how quickly Iraq took on greater responsibility for governing the country and how soon American troops could withdraw. CBS News has previously reported that the Pentagon was studying these questions, but the broad scope of the steps under consideration and the benchmarks that are being contemplated have not been disclosed.

The idea of devising specific steps that Mr. Maliki would have to take was described by senior officials who support the plan but would speak only on condition of anonymity. Their willingness to discuss a plan that has not yet been fully drafted appeared intended at least in part to signal renewed flexibility on the part of the Bush administration, and perhaps also to pre-empt the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, a commission led by James A. Baker III and charged with formulating a new strategy in Iraq. The group is expected to issue its recommendations late this year or early next year.

The plan also moves the administration closer to an idea advocated by many Democrats, who have called for setting a date for beginning phased withdrawals of American troops from Iraq as a way to compel Iraq’s government to resolve its internal divisions and take on more responsibility.

Frustration is growing among senior American military officers and civilian officials in Iraq and at the Pentagon with Mr. Maliki for his failure to move decisively against Shiite militias and on a wide range of other fronts. Even the implied threat that the Bush administration would reassess its presence in Iraq may not be enough, senior officials said.

In Baghdad, Iraqi leaders have been watching the discussions carefully and expressing uneasiness over the growing political pressure in the United States for a troop pullout.

Tensions between Washington and Baghdad reached a new point on Monday when Mr. Maliki, who took office in May, used a telephone call with Mr. Bush to seek assurances that the United States did not intend to oust him. The White House said after the call that Mr. Bush had given the Iraqi leader a pledge of full support.

Mr. Rumsfeld alluded to discussions about benchmarks on Friday at a Pentagon news conference, noting that Mr. Khalilzad and General Casey “are currently working with the Iraqi government to develop a set of projections as to when they think they can pass off various pieces of responsibility.”

He emphasized the urgency of transferring more security and governing responsibilities to the Iraqi government. “It’s their country,” he said. “They’re going to have to govern it, they’re going to have to provide security for it, and they’re going to have to do it sooner rather than later.”

But Mr. Rumsfeld was quick to play down expectations: “There’s no doubt in my mind but that some of those projections we won’t make; it will be later, or even earlier in some instances. And in some cases, once we meet the projection, we may have to go back and do it again.”

Mr. Maliki’s government has already announced its own set of benchmarks, including the establishment of a mechanism to disarm private militias. This week, the government removed commanders of the special police commandos and the public order brigade, both widely criticized as being heavily infiltrated by Shiite militias, in the first broad move against the top leadership of Iraq’s unruly special police forces.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/w...=rssnyt&emc=rss

Old, but defo worth a read.....more good stuff folks.....


PRAGUE, August 31, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced to reporters in Baghdad on August 29 that the four-month-long oil crisis has ended. Al-Maliki said the Oil Ministry, under the leadership of minister Husayn al-Shahristani, has taken appropriate steps to contain the crisis.
While it appears that the government has a short-term plan to address the crisis, it remains unclear whether Iraq has a plan to meet the country's long-term oil needs.

Much will depend on the state of security in the coming months. According to recent press reports, the Oil Ministry intends to bring several new refineries online, while continuing to increase imports of refined products. Output has been a recurring problem due to dilapidated equipment and repeated insurgent attacks.

Prime Minister al-Maliki (left) and Oil Minister al-Shahristani on August 29 (epa)The new deals will not only help stabilize supply lines, they will also bring in much needed cash to the faltering economy. Iraq's Central Bank noted last week that inflation soared to 70 percent in July, with a concurrent surge in commodity prices. The bank attributed the rise to fluctuations in oil revenues due to sporadic exports.

Long-term development of Iraq's oil fields will take longer and depend largely on security and a transparent investment law. Oil executives recently told Reuters that they would not do serious business in Iraq until both conditions are met, the news agency reported on August 23. Smaller companies have begun prospecting in the Kurdish region, but bigger firms say that such activities are risky. Kurdish officials counter, however, that the region's new investment law and the Iraqi Constitution make investment virtually risk-free.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told reporters earlier this week that the government is now reviewing a new hydrocarbon law, which will be presented to parliament by the end of the year, Reuters reported on August 29. The law, which aims to restructure the oil industry, would open the door to foreign investment, he claimed. With the right investment climate, Salih predicted production could reach 6 million bpd by 2012.


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