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

Originally Posted by Inscrutable

Sorry, this was the one from Friday.


Iraq-Kurds talks on budget and oil fail



I don't think 13 is a lucky number for the Iraqis.

"The government was intending to grant 13 per cent from the budget to the province but we told them that was not enough," he said.

After reading both articles I think Iraqi updates just rehashed Dec 8th's article. I think I can sleep alot better tonight. Thanks.

Originally Posted by cigarman

After reading both articles I think Iraqi updates just rehashed Dec 8th's article. I think I can sleep alot better tonight. Thanks.

when did we see the article about them dropping their demnds and playing nice?

Originally Posted by bob1940

elf wizzard -----One shot One KILL .

Are you referring to me?

OSOK

Originally Posted by cigarman

After reading both articles I think Iraqi updates just rehashed Dec 8th's article. I think I can sleep alot better tonight. Thanks.

Kinda hoping this is a cover/misinformation for the coming RV....we all knew it would get sticky at the end.

IMO I think the gov. in Iraq needs to be locked in a room, fed bread and water and not allowed out until everything is done. Also only give them a few hrs. a/c on and a few hrs with a/c off. I think after a few days the stank alone would make them hurry.

.:: Peyamner Daily NEWS::.
National

Iraqi MPs: Some oil income should go to the people

[13:34 , 11 Dec 2006]

PNA-The Iraqi government to allocate 30% of its oil income to the people.
Some Iraqi parliament members are proposing a project that would require the Iraqi government to allocate 30% of its oil income to the people, local media reported.
"The basics of this project will be discussed with the Minister of Planning and the chairman of parliament's Economic Committee. It is expected to be submitted before parliament prior to the end of this year," Noraddin Al Hayali from the Iraqi Accord List said.

According to economists, annual income in Iraq from oil is more than $30 billion. The project being proposed by the parliament members requests that $10 billion be distributed to the people.

(Sadr, just shut up! Unless you have a better Ides!)

Originally Posted by bob1940

elf wizzard -----One shot One KILL .

Who me?

Sorry if already posted.


Found this but don't know what time it was printed, but has todays date.






Iraqis Near Draft Law on Dividing Oil Revenue
by Edward Wong, The New York Times Media Group International Herald Tribune Monday, December 11, 2006


A group of Iraqi politicians and ministers is close to finishing a draft of a national oil law that, if enacted, would be the most significant legislation passed by the government so far and help narrow some of the country's major political schisms, Iraqi and American officials say.
The officials said the authors have reached agreement on one of the most divisive issues in Iraq: How revenues from the oil industry should be distributed. The working draft calls for the central government in

Baghdad to collect oil revenues and distribute them to provinces or regions based on population, the officials say. The measure could calm some Sunni Arabs who oppose regional autonomy because of fears that Sunnis would be excluded from a fair share of oil wealth, which is concentrated in Shiite and Kurdish regions.
The law could also encourage foreign investment in the oil industry, although security would remain a major concern for companies operating outside the relatively safe region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The national oil law lies at the heart of debates about the future of Iraq, particularly the issue of having a strong central government or robust regional governments. The question of oil hasE also exacerbated sectarian tensions, because of the worries of Sunni Arabs, who are leading the insurgency, over the potentially lopsided distribution of oil wealth.

General George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander here, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, have urged Iraqi politicians to put the oil law at the top of their agendas, saying it must be passed before the year's end.

The report released this week by the Iraq Study Group said an equitable oil law was a necessary cornerstone to the process of national reconciliation, and thus to ending the war.

A final sticking point over approval of oil contracts remains, so there is a chance that parts of the working draft could be scrapped. But a deal could be reached within days, according to officials involved in the writing. The law would then go to the cabinet and Parliament for approval.

The Kurds, who already have an autonomous region in the north, had put up a fight to have regional governments collect and redistribute oil revenues, particularly ones from oil fields yet to be exploited. They had also proposed that revenues be shared among the regions based on both population and crimes committed against people under Saddam Hussein's rule. That would give the Kurds and Shiites a share of the oil wealth larger than the proportions of their populations.

But the Kurds on the drafting committee have shelved those demands, said Barham Salih, a deputy prime minister who is a Kurd and chairman of the committee.

"Revenue sharing is an accepted principle by all the constituent elements of the Iraqi government, including the Kurds, and that is the unifying element that we're all hoping for in the oil law," Salih said in an interview.

An American official here who has tracked the negotiations said the Kurds were willing to make concessions because a national oil law could attract more foreign oil companies to exploration and development in Kurdistan. A large foreign oil company would have more confidence in signing a contract with the Kurds if the company were to operate under the law of a sovereign country rather than just the law of an autonomous region, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Furthermore, the official said, some Kurdish leaders believe that the concessions are a worthwhile price to pay for having a stake in the much larger revenue pool of the entire country's oil industry. The southern fields of Basra accounted for 85 percent of total Iraqi crude production last year, partly because northern production was hampered by insurgent sabotage. The south has an estimated 65 percent of the country's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves.

But the Kurds are still holding out on the issue of oil contracts. They insist that the central government should not have final approval over contracts signed by the regions to develop future oil fields, American and Iraqi officials said. The Kurds, who have recently discovered two new fields in the north after signing exploration contracts with a Turkish company and a Norwegian company, argue that the Constitution guarantees the regions absolute rights over such contracts.

"There are those among us who say we cannot go back to the former days of centralization, which were not conducive to good business practice and to the idea of federalism that is enshrined in the Constitution," Salih said.

Officials met Thursday night to try to resolve the issue, but could not reach an agreement. The committee includes politicians and ministers representing the major Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish blocs in government.

A possible compromise floated by the Kurds is to allow a proposed body called the Federal Petroleum Council, whose mission would be to set oil policy, to reject a regional contract only if it can muster a two-thirds vote, and only if the contract does not meet very specific criteria.

"The Kurds are afraid that if they left the contracting up to the central government rather than themselves, the center might defer contracts," said the American who is tracking the law. "For example, the government might find it easier to contract for production in the south or develop only the fields there."

As for revenue distribution by population, the American official said a national census expected to be taken next year should determine the share of revenue that goes to each province or region. But the proposed census and any talk of demographics are volatile issues here - Sunni Arabs often claim they are at least 60 percent of the population, not the 20 percent that is often cited, and so have the right to rule over the Shiites and Kurds. The Shiites are generally estimated to be 60 percent of the population, and the Kurds 20 percent.

If doing a census next year is too politically fraught, or if security conditions prevent it, then revenue percentage could beU determined by the household counts recorded in rolls used by Saddam Hussein's government to distribute rations in the 1990s.

The Kurdish National Congress of North America : On Iraq Study Group Report
.:: Peyamner Daily NEWS::.
[11:35 , 11 Dec 2006]
PRESS RELEASE
PNA-After a long wait for a fresh idea to the deteriorating state of Iraq, the so called expert analysis of the Iraq Study Group failed to offer any fair and just solutions.

The report failed to recognize that one goal of the war to bring institutional democracy to Iraq and the Middle East, while it recommend to review the Iraqi constitution which goes up against the basic principle of democracy and the vision of President Bush for new democracy in the region.

Members of the ISG did not visit Kurdistan Region which is considered a huge shortcoming by the Kurds. The report plays to the wishes of the Turkish and Arab governments and ignore the rights of their only ally in Iraq, Kurdish people. The group did not visit Kurdistan nor consult with the Kurdish leadership.

The report ignores the wishes of 80% of Iraqis who participated in democratic elections. It recommends reviewing of the constitution to appease minority Iraqi Sunni population and neighboring countries.

The Kurdish leadership wholly dismisses the report because it does not recognize the Iraqi constitution which is the major factor to keep Iraq together. Some major recommendations which contradict the rights of the Iraqi people and especially the Kurdish people are:

RECOMMENDATION 26: Constitution review. Review of the constitution is essential to national reconciliation and should be pursued on an urgent basis. The United Nations has expertise in this field, and should play a role in this process. This is against the core principle of democracy. The people of Iraq overwhelmingly voted for this constitution. Changing the constitution without going through the right process set up in the constitution is very dangerous and sets back the process of building a democratic society and culture in Iraq and consequently for the region.

RECOMMENDATION 28: Oil revenue sharing. Oil revenues should accrue to the central government and be shared on the basis of population. No formula that gives control over revenues from future fields to the regions or gives control of oil fields to the regions is compatible with national reconciliation. This will take away the right of the regional government to exercise their rights according to the Iraqi constitution.
If the Kurdish leadership give up this right in drafting the new Iraqi national oil law where the Shiite and Sunni in agreement against the Kurds to give the power on the oil revenue to the central government then it will be another economic disaster for the Kurdish people to secure their future in rebuilding the Kurdistan region.

RECOMMENDATION 30: Kirkuk. Given the very dangerous situation in Kirkuk, international arbitration is necessary to avert communal violence. Kirkuk’s mix of Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen populations could make it a powder keg. A referendum on the future of Kirkuk (as required by the Iraqi Constitution before the end of 2007) would be explosive and should be delayed. This issue should be placed on the agenda of the International Iraq Support Group as part of the New Diplomatic Offensive. This is against the constitution and it gives in to the pressure from Turkey and the Arab countries also support the continuation of Arbaization policy.

RECOMMENDATION 50: The entire Iraqi National Police should be transferred to the Ministry of Defense, where the police commando units will become part of the new Iraqi Army. Similarly, the Iraqi Border Police are charged with a role that bears little resemblance to ordinary policing, especially in light of the current flow of foreign fighters, insurgents, and weaponry across Iraq’s borders and the need for joint patrols of the border with foreign militaries. Thus the natural home for the Border Police is within the Ministry of Defense, which should be the authority for controlling Iraq’s borders.

This will eliminate the Peshmarga as Border Police and the Regional Army force while they did ignore the fact they should eliminate the militias who fought against American forces and killed American soldiers Instead the ISG wishes to dissolve their allied forces. The Regional Army forces, which part of it has been assigned the task of protecting the borders, have been very effective in controlling and stopping terrorists from crossing into Iraqi/Kurdistan. This role should not be changed, on the contrary, it should be strengthened and have them better equipped and trained by the U.S., the Regional Army forces are the only protecting forces the Kurdish people have, and the Kurdish Regional Government must not give up the command of these forces to anyone until it see real stability and security in Iraq and especially in Kurdistan region, then the Kurdish parliament must approve such hand over of these forces.

Kurdish National Congress demands that the Kurdish voice be heard and direct talks must be held with the Kurdish leadership before any steps are taken to implement any part of these so called “expert” recommendations. Otherwise it will be a clear violation to the Iraqi constitution that gives the Kurdish people the right for self- determination. Although 98% of the Kurdish population voted for independence in a referendum, the KRG volunteered to remain part of Iraq to promote federalism and a peaceful coexistence. If these basic principles are ignored, Kurds in Iraq should utilize their natural right of self determination and declare independence of Southern Kurdistan.

Kurdish National Congress of North America Kurdish National Congress of North America - kncna.org
Our Mission:
The Kurdish National Congress is a non-profit, member-driven organization representing Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan living in the United States and Canada. Its objective is to unite Kurds living in North America to work for common goals, to promote the idea of a United Free Kurdistan, and to strengthen the voice of all Kurds living in the United States and Canada.

Originally Posted by Mike5200

Cigarman what is the date of the article- I saw the eaxact same headline somewhere but it had fridays date (dec 8)I"m in Iraq Updates right now in another window and do not see it in todays stories.

Here it is:

Iraq-Kurds talks on budget and oil fail
BAGHDAD, 08 December 2006 (Gulf Daily News)
Iraq-Kurds talks on budget and oil fail | Iraq Updates


Kurdish PM talks with counterparts concerning budget fail
MENAFN - 10/12/2006
MENAFN - Middle East North Africa . Financial Network News: Kurdish PM talks with counterparts concerning budget fail

Kurdish PM talks with counterparts concerning budget fail
11 December 2006 (MENAFN)
Kurdish PM talks with counterparts concerning budget fail | Iraq Updates