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

Illiteracy program going strong in Mergasor


School bench in Kurdistan needs the international communities care and attention.

Schools are accepted legitimately for work in government establishments in Kurdistan Region.
Illiteracy eradication has begun in Mergasor, located north of Erbil, local media reported. A representative of the eradication of illiteracy in the Directorate of Education stated, "For this year, we have opened 26 centers where 360 students are currently studying in them; out of this number, 107 are studying in primary schools and the rest in secondary schools." Annually, certificates of such illiteracy-eradication schools are accepted legitimately for work in government establishments in Kurdistan Region.

Source: The Kurdish Globe




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Posted on Saturday, December 16

Two new schools open in Amedi


The American Forces office in Dohuk allocated $377,000 to build two schools.

After the reconstruction of villages of Christians in Bamarne district by the Kurdistan Regional Government, the American Forces office in Dohuk allocated $377,000 to build two schools there. The Education Directorate in Dohuk promised school supplies.
Source: The Kurdish Globe




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Posted on Saturday, December 16

22 million road projects to help Halabja


The city of Halabja, with a current population of about 75,000, is located in the province of Sulaimanya.

$22 million has been allocated to carry out road projects in Halabja.
Dara Yara, representing the Kurdistan Region President, told Hawlati Web site that $22 million has been allocated to carry out road projects in Halapcha by an order from the Kurdistan President with the compliance of the Council of Ministers. "The tenders will be distributed on the 15th of this month, and will be executed prior to the New Year," said Yara.

Source: The Kurdish Globe




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Posted on Saturday, December 16

300 billion Iraqi Dinars for Mosul municipality projects


Mosul Municipality Directorate has announced its constructional plan for the next year.

An official source at the mentioned directorate said that among the other important projects which are preparing to implement them are a tunnel bridge, al-Yarmouk Quarter Cross Bridge on the western side of Mosul with cost of more than ID36 billions.
Meanwhile, several bridge crossroads in different places in the province will be implemented with cost of ID3/4 billion, the source indicated that another crossroads will be established with cost of ID one billion.

The municipality cadres will pave and cover roads with cost of ID80 billions in addition to allocate ID20 billions for al-Muthana Quarter bridged crossroad.

Source: Al Sabaah




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Posted on Saturday, December 16

French company to remove garbage from Dohuk


Tamar Ramadan, the Governor of Dohuk Province, conducted a meeting with Jan Marine, who represents the French Alind Company that specializes in cleaning services and garbage removal. The goal of the meeting was to begin cleaning up Dohuk Province.

Both sides agreed that the garbage should be taken to Hunarok cave. It is expected that an agreement will be signed between the company and the governorate of Dohuk.
Source: The Kurdish Globe




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Posted on Saturday, December 16

Choman receives electricity


The Mayor of Haji Omaran and the Manager of Haji Omaran Custom received a delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran, headed by the first Secretary of Governor of Uremia, General Director of Electricity of West Azerbaijan and in charge of Naqada, Shino and Piranshahir.

"The aim of the visit of this delegation is to supply our area and Choman with electricity. The delegation that visited Iran earlier will again visit Iran to sign another agreement to supply Choman as well," a source from Haji Omaran told the media.
Source: The Kurdish Globe




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Posted on Saturday, December 16

Olive branch for Baathists at talks

BAGHDAD (AFP)
Iraqi leaders have offered an olive branch to former members of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein’s ruling party in a bid to kickstart a programme of national reconciliation, lawmakers said yesterday.
A small number of former Baath Party members are expected to attend the start of peace talks in Baghdad today, they said, as Iraq’s embattled coalition goverment seeks to drag the country out of a vicious sectarian war.
The move will raise hackles among hardline Shia militants, whose majority community was persecuted by Saddam’s Sunni-led regime, but is seen by many observers as a key first step in calming the violent insurgency.
Tens of thousands of Baathists and Saddam-era military officers were purged from public service in the aftermath of the March 2003 US-led invasion and many went on to swell the ranks of groups fighting the new Shia-led government.
Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has been cautious about revealing details of the peace talks, especially as some Shia politicians have threatened a boycott if senior Baathists “with blood on their hands” attend.
But there is a growing consensus that more junior party members not proven to have supported Saddam-era atrocities or the post-invasion rebellion should be allowed into the political process as a gesture of reconciliation.
Nasser Al Ani, a Sunni lawmaker and the official spokesman of the conference, confirmed that Baathists living abroad were among those invited. “Probably some Baathists will attend,” he said. “At the very least they will send representatives. The names of attendees will be announced during the conference.”
Saturday, December 16, 2006

OSLO, Dec 15, 2006 (Dow Jones Newswires)
Norway's largest independent oil company, Det Norske Oljeselskap (DNO.OS) has refuted fresh reports of conflict with the Iraqi central government and says it is on target to produce oil there unimpeded in the first quarter of 2007.

"Several articles in the press stating that there are poor relations between the company and the central government are incorrect," said DNO's chief executive Helge Eide in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.


"The political and security situation in Iraq has not affected our operations there," he said. "We have been in close communication with the oil ministry in Baghdad through our memorandum of understanding, MOU, signed in April 2005, and have got positive feedback from representatives from the oil ministry in Baghdad, also related to our (oil) project in the Kurdish region," Eide added.
DNO's share price fell around 4% as recently as last week on reports of a purported breakdown in relations threatening its progress in Iraq's Kurdish region. Earlier this year stock fell as much as 10% on similar speculation.

DNO maintains that the production sharing agreement signed with the KRG for acreage in the Kurdish region in June 2004, including the Tawke area from which first oil is expected next quarter, will shortly come to fruition and is not being undermined.

"The validity of these agreements is confirmed by several articles in the new constitution of Iraq," Eide said. "One of these articles says that all commercial agreements signed between 1992 and 2004, before the interim government took control are to be honored," he said.

Market participants have suggested that DNO is being unfairly singled out as a relatively small part of a bigger debate, namely the tensions between governing bodies in Iraq over the drafting of a new national petroleum law.

They have said that a lack of transparency over the wider oil asset debate in Iraq and wide-ranging opinions on the matter have muddied the waters.

The company has a high profile as the first of the few western oil companies to have ventured into the politically and security unstable country. "We can be considered as a pioneer in Iraq. When we started the first well in November last year we were the first in that region for decades," Eide noted.

Despite its relative exposure to a potentially volatile political landscape, he said DNO's decision to invest there remains sound, although acknowledging that it still awaits the necessary permit from the central government to export oil from Tawke.

"This process is handled by our partner, KRG. Our job is to develop the Tawke oil discovery and we feel confident that the KRG will resolve these issues when we're ready to export oil," Eide said.

He added: "The cooperation with the Kurdish regional government (KRG) has been excellent and their contribution to the success of our project has been substantial."

Tawke oil will be processed at DNO's adapted offshore central processing facility before being shipped through an existing but near-empty pipeline in the north of the country via Turkey to the Mediterranean.

Precise volumes haven't been divulged, but the development has tested at a flow rate of 5,000 barrels of oil a day. The processing facility has a capacity of 50,000 barrels of oil a day and DNO expects to ramp up to that level by bringing other assets in the surrounding area into production.

Its growth plans in Iraq are centered on the Tawke area and a second called Khanke where drilling has already commenced. "We have a rather large area covered by our agreements. In addition to the high activity level both within exploration and development we will focus primarily on what we have got in the short- to medium-term," Eide said. Longer-term, the high profile position of DNO in Iraq which is currently viewed as unfavorable by some could facilitate growth, Eide said.

"Given our early presence in the area together with our success to date, DNO would probably be seen as a very attractive partner for new companies that will enter the area," he concluded.

DNO has an aggressive drilling program going forward outside Iraq; in Yemen where it plans 30 wells in the next 18 months and the Norwegian and U.K. North Sea.

"We have a very exciting exploration portfolio, with strong upside. Rig capacity is secured...for the next couple of years," Eide said. The focus on drilling leaves DNO little desire to grow through merger and acquisition but its size could leave it open to offers, a possibility for case-by-case assessment, he admitted. "Large oil companies are struggling to replace their reserves through exploration, so they may have to acquire to meet their reserve replacement target," he said.

DNO's own reserves have fluctuated in recent years. Following divestment of many of its Norwegian oil assets in 2003, its reserves tumbled to 28 million barrels of oil equivalent from 144 boe in the previous year. In the year to date, its reserves have lifted back to 138 million boe.

On the production front it has maintained a steadier profile at around 15,000 barrels of oil a day, although that is set to climb as assets in its Yemen and Iraq portfolio come onstream. It hasn't been all plain sailing in Yemen, with a setback at the Nabrajah field earlier this year as several new wells failed to add new production, but drilling will resume at the beginning of next year.

"We have an exciting portfolio there and we continue to have great hopes for Yemen," Eide said.

Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Originally Posted by PopaDinar

Can someone point me to the Arabic link to the 10,000 (6,600) article so I can email it to one of my buddies that are still serving in Iraq so he can print it out and show it around to the locals... I can't find anything but the english version...

Thank-You in advance

Hopefully the second hand information you get will match the first hand information Inscrutable got from his guy and lay the mystery to rest.

1 hour, 41 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said it was heartened by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's remarks at a national reconciliation conference in
Iraq, and urged attendees to work for stability and unity.


"We're encouraged by Prime Minister Maliki's speech this morning in Baghdad," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

"He reiterated his commitment to bringing militias and insurgents under control and halting the violence.

"He is clearly in favor of forming an Iraq based on national unity and not individual sects," Johndroe said, adding that Maliki also "repeated his desire for Iraq's neighbors to play a constructive role in rebuilding the country."

The spokesman said Washington urges the parties to "chart a course that brings stability and security to a unified and democratic Iraq."

Opening a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad earlier Saturday, Maliki urged former soldiers from
Saddam Hussein's defeated army to join Iraq's new security forces to fight the armed factions tearing the country apart.

The embattled prime minister also urged delegates to review the law which banned tens of thousands of the ousted dictator's Baath Party activists from working in the civil service.

"The Iraqi army opens its doors to officers and soldiers from the former army who wish to serve the country," Maliki said, adding that pensions for those not brought back would be paid.

He also called for a review of the de-Baathification process that lost so many Sunnis their jobs under the old regime.

These were key concessions and addressed a major grievance of the former military officers and government officials who were fired by the new government and went on to swell the ranks of the insurgency.

It was not clear, however, if any true representatives of the armed groups waging war against the government or any influential members of the ousted Baath Party turned up to hear the prime minister.

Maliki and his US allies hope the national reconciliation conference will encourage some hardline elements to join the political process while isolating those determined to continue campaigns of bombing and mass murder.

US 'encouraged' by Maliki's message of reconciliation - Yahoo! News