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

Originally Posted by tiffany

Good Read Raditz!

....And Yes Danny...it is most certainly disgusting. :-(

And very scary!! LOL

General Happenings Around Iraq
Prime Minister al-Maliki finally finished naming his officials in the government on Thursday:

In a stormy session, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki presented Shiite Jawad Polani as interior minister, Sunni Abdel Qader Al Obeidi as defense minister and Shiite Shirwan Al Waili to head national security.

All the candidates were approved by an overwhelming majority of the parliament after they read out their credentials and were subjected to questioning from parliamentary members.

I mention this not because it wasn’t covered, but because of an interesting statement made by the speaker of the parliament after the debate:

“We are doing like our uncle America; it is democracy speaking,” he said.

The Pentagon has released an unclassified version of its quarterly report on Iraq. Of particular interest is the section on Iraq’s security forces:

The report says the Iraqi army and police forces are growing in numbers and capability. It says 71 army units are taking the lead in combat, and 40 others are fighting in support of foreign troops. Iraqi units have taken primary responsibility for security in several parts of the country.

General Barry McCaffery was in Iraq in April of this year, and his conclusions about the situation are far different from what the mainstream media would have you believe:

1. The morale, fighting effectiveness, and confidence of U.S. combat forces continue to be simply awe-inspiring. In every sensing session and interaction - I probed for weakness and found courage, belief in the mission, enormous confidence in their sergeants and company grade officers, an understanding of the larger mission, a commitment to creating an effective Iraqi Army and Police, unabashed patriotism, and a sense of humor.

2. The Iraqi Army is real, growing, and willing to fight. They now have lead action of a huge and rapidly expanding area and population. The battalion level formations are in many cases excellent - most are adequate.

3. The Iraqi police are beginning to show marked improvement in capability since MG Joe Peterson took over the program. The National Police Commando Battalions are very capable - a few are simply superb and on par with the best U.S. SWAT units in terms of equipment, courage, and training. Their intelligence collection capability is better than ours in direct HUMINT.

Zarqawi isn’t the only top terrorist to be stopped in Iraq recently. On May 31, the Iraqis announced the arrest of a terrorist who claimed to have beheaded hundreds:

The Iraqi government, meanwhile, said its security forces had arrested a key terror suspect, Ahmed Hussein Dabash Samer al-Battawi, who it said had confessed to beheading hundreds of people.

Battawi was arrested by an Iraqi antiterrorist combat unit, which also seized documents, cellphones and computers that contained information on other suspected terrorists and Islamic extremist groups, the prime minister’s office said.

In addition, Hamzi al-Aini was also captured:

Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced Thursday it had arrested its second “high-ranking terrorist” in a week.

Hamza Khair al-Aini, accused of killing dozens of Iraqi civilians and security forces, was hiding in the town of Abu Saydah north of Baghdad, where police said they caught him. They found a bloody saw and clothes in his hideout, the ministry said.

Iraqi forces also arrested seven members of the “Mujahideen Shura Council,” a group closely affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq, after they fled to Baquba following the death of Zarqawi:

Iraqi Defense Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim pledged to launch attacks on insurgent hideouts in Iraq.

“In the coming days Iraqi and other security forces will launch multiple activities to chase terrorists and attack their cells and hideouts,” Jassim said in a statement.

This is part of a security plan that will be carried out soon.”

A police official from the northern oil hub of Kirkuk confirmed the arrest of seven members of the Mujahideen Shura council, a group of militant organisations led by Al-Qaeda.

The seven men had fled from Baquba after the killing of Zarqawi.

Other operations following Zarqawi’s death led to the capture of several important terrorists:

On Friday Abbas al-Mufraji, described as an aide to Zarqawi, was also arrested in security sweeps south of Baquba, an officer in the Iraqi army said.

Twenty-three other suspected followers of the Al-Qaeda leader were also picked up in sweeps throughout the villages south of Baquba.

Caldwell said Zarqawi’s death on Wednesday led to a number of operations on against his men.

“There were certain personnel that we have been watching and monitoring that coalition forces had made the decision not to take down, because they had given key indicators at different points of time where Zarqawi might be—so they were monitored, watched and tracked,” Caldwell said.

“When Zarqawi went down, that enabled us to go in and conduct those operations,” he said.

The mainstream media mercifully couldn’t help but cover Zarqawi’s demise, but the amount of news they are still ignoring is staggering. The last few weeks have been hard on terrorists in Iraq, and al Qaeda in particular. In the end of May, three al Qaeda members were killed near Yusafiyah.

Near Lake Thar Thar, four terrorists were killed, and two detained.

In Tikrit, no civilians were injured by a planned multiple car bombing because of the quick thinking of Iraqi police. The police officers noticed two suspicious vehicles and began to clear the area. One car exploded, but the second was disarmed before it could go off. Two terrorists in the second car were killed. No civilian injuries were reported.

Near Abu Ghraib, three terrorists were killed while they were digging holes for IED’s.

Fifteen terrorists were detained in three separate incidents in Baghdad.

Six al Qaeda terrorists were captured at a gathering in Ramadi. Information about the gathering was gained from detainee interrogations.

Seven al Qaeda terrorists, and a pile of EID-making materials, were captured near Ramadi. One car bomb and several IEDs were destroyed at the location.

Two of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted al Qaeda terrorists are being held by the Kurds in northern Iraq:

Two Saudis on the kingdom’s most-wanted list of suspected Al-Qaeda militants are being held in Iraqi Kurdistan, a Saudi-owned daily reported yesterday.

Abdullah Mohammed Al-Ramian and Mohammed Saleh Al-Rushoodi were arrested in September 2003 as they crossed into Iraq’s Kurdish region from Turkey after transiting through Jordan and Syria, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said.

In Ramadi, three terrorist were killed, and one wounded, as they were transporting several IEDs.

In Balad, an IED terrorist cell was wiped out by Iraqi forces:

This cell is responsible for at least two attacks against Iraqi security and police forces in the Karada area. The first attack, in December 2005, resulted in no casualties. The second attack, in January of this year, killed several Iraqi police officers riding in a vehicle.

No Iraqi forces were killed or wounded during this operation.

Iraqi forces raided a compound in Baghdad and captured three members of a VBIED (military lingo for “vehicle-borne IED”) cell.

Members of the 6th Iraqi army division detained 19 terrorists during a raid planned and executed solely by Iraqi forces:

We are soon there!
Radz

This is great news guys and being from the US Ministry of State has to be true. Read it all but this part sticks out below. Up to now we've not known whether it has been fully convertible or not. This tells us it is now and ready to go. :0)


http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ifd/2006/67643.htm



CURRENCY CONVERSION AND TRANSFER POLICIES

The currency of Iraq is the Dinar (ID - sometimes referred to as the New Iraqi Dinar). Iraq's current exchange system is characterized as a free foreign exchange system, with no restrictions on purchases or sales of foreign currencies. The Iraqi currency is fully convertible and can be exchanged freely with any other currency. In addition, there is free movement of capital without restrictions on capital inflows and outflows. Iraq's foreign exchange regime is also a multi-currency system in which foreign currencies circulate in the market and are accessible to everyone.

The exchange rate is generally determined on the basis of supply and demand conditions in the foreign exchange market. Banks may engage in spot transactions in any currency, but are not allowed to engage in forward transactions in Iraqi Dinar for speculative purposes. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) also can intervene, when necessary, in order to maintain stability in the foreign exchange market. In addition, there are no taxes or subsidies on purchases or sales of foreign exchange.

The Government of Iraq's monetary policy since 2003 has focused on maintaining price stability and a stable exchange rate. In addition, the Central Bank of Iraq conducts daily foreign exchange auctions to limit the impact on base money growth of the sale of the government's oil export earnings.

Great to see others contributing with news/info/articles. Thanks and keep it up.

Thats great news Adster!
The party is getting closer folks!

Originally Posted by Raditz

Thats great news Adster!
The party is getting closer folks!

No problem, certainly is Raditz! Got a day off today, it's 9.45am in UK so will have a scout around to see what's going on and find more news/info.

Adster.

Im right behind you digging for more news!

Security challenges will inhibit the oil sector’s recovery, leading to a contraction of real GDP in 2005, but gradually expanding oil output should result in real growth of 6% and 7% in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Financing outlook

Iraq’s financing gap will narrow in 2006 before widening substantially in 2007, in line with trends in the current account. Capital inflows should meet most of the shortfall. Recent IMF data suggest that Iraq’s debt stood at US$113.6bn prior to the first phase of the Paris Club debt write-off in November 2004. The Economist Intelligence Unit now expects this to decline to US$62.9bn by end-2007.

Outlook for 2006-07: Exchange rates
The New Iraqi dinar (NID) was broadly stable in 2004, at NID1,453:US$1, but has been under some pressure in 2005. This is largely because of political and security concerns, but also, as the IMF reports, possibly because of an increase in the dollarisation rate in certain sectors of the economy. However, given the CBI’s commitment to maintaining what has become a de facto peg, and the apparent resort to foreign-exchange “rationing” (under other guises) in some instances in the CBI’s daily currency auctions, the average official rate had depreciated to only around NID1,475:US$1 by end-September, and has stayed at around that level since. The CBI appears reluctant to use its large accumulated foreign-exchange reserves (of around US$9bn) to satisfy dollar demand, and has not been minded to raise local-currency interest rates sufficiently to attempt to stem the pressure on the dinar. In the present security situation we expect pressure on the currency to remain high. Nevertheless, CBI intervention should maintain a relatively stable rate of about NID1,470-1,475:US$1 in 2006-07.

hmm, what you think about that statement?

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=1518

I believe Tiff found this a couple of pages ago, nice find Tiff!

Now let me explain my thoughts, the 15-20 cents is not the dinar but the government bonds and debt obligations, you might have remembered a few months ago when the bonds were being traded? Well, just a bit of background on the bonds. When a country is in debt, they get creditors to agree to a payoff amount.

Not all of Iraq's debts, but some, are bound up into a "bond issue"...much like a city or state in the US finances the building of roads and schools. Those are municipal bonds. These are Iraqi Debt Bonds, and they were sold in the London Debt Bond market a month or two ago. They are appearing as very bullish items in many emerging bond funds,..i think T Rowe Price offers them now as well. Well this news illustrates that the initial bullish expectations on them have come home in spades,...as demand for them grows, the actual bonds are sold and resold, each time the price goes up. People pay more for them, because they are more and more confident that Iraq will be around long enough to pay them a healthy return for them. A very good sign!...That's a layman's description,...I'm sure there are some more knowledgeable about the specifics than i am...Anyhow, this is a very good sign for the currency and the dinar will be in more of a demand than the bonds.

In fact, I'll go as far as to say that if the bonds are worth .15 to .20 I would estimate the real deal to be worth as of now about 1.50 to 2.00! IMO In the open market. All good folks, all good.






Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/12/2006

Martin Schubert and his investment boutique, European Inter-American Finance, in joint venture with Merrill Lynch and Aetna, pioneered the private trading of sovereign obligations of emerging market economies, including those in default. In conjunction with private merchant banks, such as Singer Friedlander in the United Kingdom, he conjured up liquidity where there was none and captured the imagination of businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

Today, his vision is vindicated by the proliferation of ventures similar to his and by the institutionalization of the emerging economies sovereign debt market. Even obligations of countries such as Serbia and Iraq are traded, though sporadically. Recently, according to Dow Jones, Iraqi debt doubled itself and is now changing hands at about 15 to 20 cents to the dollar.The demand is so overwhelming that Geneva-based brokerage firm Trigone Capital Finance created a special fund to provide interested investors with exposure to Iraqi paper.http://globalpolitician.com/article...9&cid=12&sid=52