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

President: Iraq progress depends on sustainable security
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, June 19, IRNA

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that establishment of a democratic government in Iraq which is outcome of national resolve and solidarity among different political parties is a great event in history of the nation.

In a meeting with Chairman of United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) and leader of Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) Abd al-Aziz Hakim, President Ahmadinejad said that progress and welfare of Iraq depend on national solidarity and sustainable security in the country.

He paid tribute to the Hakim venerable household and said that the Hakim family have always been on the forefront of the Iraqi people's struggle against dictatorship and setting up united front to establish an democratic government in that country.

Ahmadinejad said that Iraq's democratic government is capable of making optimum use of national capacity to restore security and remove the obstacles in the way of withdrawal of occupation forces from Iraq.

He said that the Islamic Republic of Iran favors independence, security and progress of Iraq, adding that the two countries are expected to raise the current level of economic cooperation given their religious and cultural amity, extensive relationship and their long border line.

Hakim appreciated Iran's support for the political process of Iraq and establishment of the democratic government and briefed the president on political process in the neighboring country.

He said that Iraqi political parties membering UIA are aware of the sensitive situation in Iraq and the need to reinforce national solidarity.

Hakim's visit to Tehran is taking place with the aim of following up seven agreements already signed between Iran and Iraq in the fields of energy and reconstruction of Iraq and to exchange views ahead of the upcoming meeting on Iraq of foreign ministers of Iraqi neighbor states and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) scheduled to be held in Tehran from July 8-9.

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Coalition Said to Hand Over Security Duties Soon in Southern Iraq
By VOA News
19 June 2006

Iraq's prime minister says Iraqi forces will take over security in the southern province of Muthanna next month.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters Monday, his government has a plan to transfer security from British, Australian and Japanese troops to local forces.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed a handover would take place, but did not say when.

Iraqi and British officials recently said a handover was likely in July. It would be the first of Iraq's 15 provinces to be under full Iraqi control.

British Defense Secretary Des Browne said Monday, a new security plan is also being developed for the southern city of Basra to prepare for the eventual handover of security to Iraqi forces.

West of the capital Monday, U.S. military aircraft flew over the volatile city of Ramadi as U.S. and Iraqi forces expanded efforts to isolate insurgents.

Military officials say they are setting up checkpoints to prevent insurgents from getting supplies and reinforcements.

Separately, the military says it is continuing the search for two American soldiers missing since Friday after their team came under attack just south of Baghdad.

The military said the soldiers are still listed as "whereabouts unknown" despite some media reports they were captured alive by insurgents.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Hi,

Whats happening, no posts since Raditz at 7.47am- I know tiffany and choochie arent awake yet but I would have expected something since then- is it all going quiet or is something about to happen.

Originally Posted by abbey56

Hi,

Whats happening, no posts since Raditz at 7.47am- I know tiffany and choochie arent awake yet but I would have expected something since then- is it all going quiet or is something about to happen.

Morning Abbey!

It's about 8:00am here...and HOPEFULLY something is about to happen! lol! From what I gather there are to be meetings today in Iraq...we shall see~!

Hoping to hear from OS-W and Adster this morning to see if they've heard of any changes.

Raditz is on the prowl for articles and info...good one's so far, Raddie!

Must get one of my cherubs off to school!

Tiff

Hi,

I understand banks will be happy to cash in, but remember they will take a larger share. If you go to an international airport this would be so much better. Or am I wrong here.

Free

Text of interview with Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Baban, by Khayyun Ahmad Salih, in Baghdad; date not given, headlined "Planning minister tells Al-Zaman: we are living in atmosphere of chaos", carried by Iraqi independent newspaper Al-Zaman on 17 June

[Baban] The ministry has many plans and projects, and I believe that restructuring it and assessing its tasks will be the basis of our work. Restructuring will include three key sectors. The first is the sector of international cooperation and foreign investment. We seek to benefit from foreign loans and grants that are offered to Iraq and to rationalize their use to provide the best returns. We also seek to promote foreign investment and open the doors of Iraq to it and to offer all facilities to foreign investors to be able to come to Iraq, invest their money, and carry out projects to alleviate the economic suffering of the Iraqi citizens. This will also provide more job opportunities. We are thinking about appointing an under secretary for international cooperation and foreign investment affairs. This sector will be one of three key sectors, which make up the new structure that is planned for the ministry soon. We hope that we will make the best of international cooperation.

Our assessment of the previous stage is that despite the efforts made by the ministers who have assumed this ministry since the change occurred in 2003 and the good actions they carried out to reap the benefits of this international cooperation, we probably will not receive what we had expected out of these foreign relations and aid. This is perhaps due to the method by which this aid was offered, and not due to the Planning Ministry. The ministry did its best, but I think that the way that these loans and grants were offered in the previous stage, especially by some countries, was not up to the required level and did not achieve what Iraq had hoped for. This is especially true given the fact that some of these countries are responsible, one way or another, for the deteriorating economic situation experienced by Iraq because of the wars that were waged on it and because of the economic embargo that had been imposed on it over the past years. Therefore, we wish that the international commitment towards helping the Iraqi economy will continue in the next stage and that we, as ministry and government, will succeed in getting what we want out of this assistance. We also want the Iraqi citizens to see the fruit and results of this international cooperation. The citizens hear a lot about this cooperation, but they have seen very little results so far.

The second sector, which we want to receive the attention it deserves at the ministry, is the sector of information. It is common knowledge that the responsibility of this sector is divided among several parties and several ministries. We in the Planning Ministry want this sector to be part of the responsibilities of the ministry in the next stage. This should include all the details and activities of this sector, starting with courses, training, rehabilitation, dissemination of information, and ending with the e- government programme, which we hope will be achieved in the end. We also seek to promote the use of computers and other tools related to electronic knowledge at state institutions and in all walks of life in Iraq, and ending up with the promotion of research and development in the information field. We want to catch up with the information revolution, which has swept up the world, and we want to create an information society. Some people might disagree and argue that Iraq's current conditions indicate that this is not a priority in the time being. However, we think that we must catch up with this international development, even if we are lagging behind. We must take the first step. We must lay the foundations of a broad knowledge and information base in the country and we must promote and encourage the use of the tools of electronic knowledge to reap some of the benefits of the information and communications revolution. Therefore, we will see to it that this should be one of our most important activities in the coming stage.

The third sector, which will be part of the direct responsibilities and concerns of this ministry, is the sector of development and planning. It is the traditional sector, in which the ministry has carried out its activities in the past stage. However, the fact that it is a traditional sector in the work of the ministry does not mean that there will be no changes. There will be great concentration on human development and regional development and cooperation with the regions to achieve their development projects. We will listen attentively to the opinion of the Iraqi regions on preparing development plans. We will cooperate more closely with all Iraqi official agencies and civil society organizations. There will also be changes and replacements in the structure of the ministry to absorb these new tasks, which emanate from the new vision of the ministry and the strategy that will be adopted for its future action.

[Salih] As you know, the Planning Ministry has actively contributed to the creation of the employment scale that is currently in force, but many problems came up during the implementation. How can the ministry address these problems and does it have plans in this field?

[Baban] I think that coming up with general models and applying them to all ministries is a big mistake because every ministry has a special character in terms of the type of function and role it performs. This concerns the organizational structure of the ministry in question and the qualifications of its staff. Therefore, applying one model to all the ministries is not practical and is wrong. We at the Planning Ministry paid a heavy price for this standard employment scale. A large number of our staff were done injustice and were assigned a lower grade than the grade they had occupied previously. We feel that this employment scale should be reconsidered, at least at the Planning Ministry. Having one model for all the ministries is not practical. We will first seek to end the injustice done to our staff at the ministry. After that, we will seek to correct the employment scale, which we think is defective, for all agencies and institutions of the Iraqi state.

[Salih] The file of unemployment is one of the serious files, which must be seriously addressed. What are the actual measures that the ministry will adopt in this regard?

[Baban] Unemployment is really one of the serious and big problems in Iraq. However, unemployment cannot be addressed separately from the situation of the economy as a whole. The Iraqi economy is suffering from some serious problems, most important of which are the decline of the role of productive sectors and the failure of local and foreign investments to create job opportunities. We must address the performance of the economy as a whole before we think about addressing the problem of unemployment. We are now seeking to activate the productive sectors, including the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors so as to be able to create new jobs. We are also seeking to promote local and foreign investment. These matters are not separate from the political and security aspects because the political and security aspects affect everything and affect the performance of the Iraqi economy. We cannot reform the Iraqi economy before addressing the security situation and before we provide more stability and firmness to the political process in Iraq. In effect, the problem of unemployment cannot be radically addressed without promoting the Iraqi economy as a whole and without reforming productive sectors in it and promoting huge local and foreign investment in Iraq. We are currently thinking about creating a fund for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and about launching this project shortly. This will create job opportunities, but I cannot claim that it will solve the problem of unemployment because this problem is much greater than our capacity as a Planning Ministry. But we in the ministry are thinking of launching a fund for SMEs.
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/yb...87074&ID=black enterprise

...I'm liking the sounds of all of the "international cooperation and foreign investment" talk there Raddie!

Mike (OS-W),

I'm another one of those that always reads and rarely posts. A question for you: do you still think that a reval is right around the corner? Is there anything behind the scenes that might interfere?

Thank for any input...

Originally Posted by free2b

Mike (OS-W),

I'm another one of those that always reads and rarely posts. A question for you: do you still think that a reval is right around the corner? Is there anything behind the scenes that might interfere?

Thank for any input...

Interesting,

I must agree, it has been quiet and nothing has changed from what I am hearing, and if it had, I would have heard about it, as others here would have.

The point Adam brought up is exactly the same as I heard, there was a backlash over the subsidies being reduced again which would lead to another increase in prices of gas and oil internally to Iraq, and as he stated, the black market is thriving, as it always was, so this is a sticky point with neigboring countries since it is cutting into their profits on oil. Removing subsidies was one of the conditions to open up trade in region, and although this has begun to happen which will lead to more debt being forgiven from Arab world, it is still a sticking point.

Given it was announced subsidies were to be again reduced, which came out of last meeting, when it was announced, it got a lot of citizens angry, and for obvious reasons, it hits them all where it hurts, just as it has in US lately due to increased gas prices. I don't know anyone who isn't mad over sudden price increases, so think how it was impacting those in Iraq who make next to nothing as it is? Then we heard them backtrack on last subsidies reduction? All this adds up to one thing, we are real close, so close that they are trying to kill two birds with one stone, so as I see it, they will have to coinside the announcement of peg with the increase to try and offset any further unrest. The new government cannot afford to piss off residents at this critical time, just use logics and I think you can understand the sensitive nature of this sticking point.

Good luck to all, Mike

Originally Posted by frees40k

Hi,

I understand banks will be happy to cash in, but remember they will take a larger share. If you go to an international airport this would be so much better. Or am I wrong here.

Free

Not to worry,

When the time comes that it is exchanged freely at any bank, there will only be small exchange fees, just as there is for other currency exchanges, so nothing to worry about. In fact, some banks will exchange at no fee, or a small service fee, depends on how much business and what kind of accounts you have with bank. You will in most cases have to have an account, and it will take most a few days to set up exchange, so plan ahead.

Good luck to all, Mike