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

Originally Posted by RollsRoyce

Mods . . . I cant figure where this belongs . . .

and I just spent an hour scrutinizing the forum & can't find anywhere I can start a new thread . . . move it if you wish, but please let me know where you're putting it . . .

Today, Friday, September 15, 2006 0900 hrs, Eastern / 1800 hrs. their time . . .

My Kurd . . . Indira finally got through to her Kurd Brothers & Uncle via satellite phone on their way north home from Baghdad . . . with the Army in their Hum/Vee . . .

Questions & Answers:

 (Q) Is the r/v ready to go? (A) Yes, finally! [Then some grumbling] / could have / & should have been announced by now, if not for the damn Politicians! . . .
 (Q) Has it been announced anywhere in country publicly? (A) No, only the *need-to-know’s* are supposed to knows about this. But leaks are inevitable . . .
 (Q) Do you know when it will be announced publicly? (A) Umm . . . last we heard Al-Gailani will make the announcement @ 10 hundred to 11 hundred hrs. Sunday morning. [That’s this Sunday @ 2 to 3 AM east coast US time] . . .
 (Q) Do you know the rate? (A) .93 -.95 Euro, [More grumbling / we wanted .98 but decided to compromise] . . .
 (Q) On your trip have you seen more *Oil - Survey* type crews or vehicles than usual . . . (A) Well yes, *BUT* why do you ask?
We have information that oil exploration has accelerated . . .
(Reply) Can’t keep any secrets over her / can we?
(Indira) Why do you say that?
(Reply) Well, information is flying around here that we may have 4-5 times the oil that were thought to have . . .

GO-SUSIE-GO / this pans your info out to the ounce!

I've been asked again, and again, my % read on all this . . . several days ago . . . I was a firm 85% / due mostly to being a bit over-cautious / and that my sources are third hand . . . I am now up to 92.5% . . .

My other 7.5% still nags @ me . . . because this is a huge leap on their part . . . Of course I will zip skyward to 100% when I see the CBI exchange rate . . .

Another point . . . perhaps we should not ALL try to access the CBI site Sun @ [ 3-5 am east coast ], I don’t know if their site could handle 10K people continuous clicking *re-fresh* a trillion times over a two hour period . . . perhaps 1-2-3 *night owl* people should do this and let us all know . . . Common interest / the last thing we want to do is crash their site . . .

And another point . . . we need eyes on the ground for final confirm . . . My Info is third hand / I think much of Susie’s is 3rd hand / and I’m sure she has a lot of 2nd hand / but it would be excellent if someone could drop by the CBI and peer in a window and see if they have a **GIANT RE-VAL-TODAY** fluorescent sign blinking away . . .

When I have more / you’ll get it . . . RR

PS: Indira translated *The Finance Minister / my mistake listing the "Former - interim-Minister" . . .

I think we can now put this rumor to bed. The CBI had business as usual. There was no announcement at 10:00 AM Bagdad time from the CBI on anything. Hopefully it was a last minute change in Iraq and there was at least some truth to all of the rumors from so many sources. I stayed up most the night too expecting this to come true but now it's time to come back to earth and get on with the day. Don't blame SGS , RollsRoyce or whoever for this. Anything can happen in Iraq as we see everyday. I guess the reason I put more stock in this rumor was the fact that RollsRoyce was actually talking to people in the know(the Kurds) and Shotgun was also confirming the same info. I still believe the Kurds will be the catalyst for a large reval of the Dinar. When is the HUGE question! Rolls and Shotgun please keep us posted. No blame should be given to anyone today.

I thought it was to wait until 5pm est for the FX to show. That is why I went to bed. Hummm, so it isnt over yet, right? Of course not. Maybe and just Maybe it is over for today.

Don't forget what Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. That the pessimists would be surprised on the 18. So I'm not putting this rumor to bed until tomorrow. I don't blame anyone for sharing their information with us. I'm glad they did. It's nice that people do share info on what they hear. Like I said I will wait until tomorrow Noon Alaska time to see what Secretary-General Kofi Annan .

Rolls what happened? Did they chicken out? Just kidding..........

Please report back..........................

Originally Posted by goldraker

Rolls what happened? Did they chicken out? Just kidding..........

Please report back..........................

:waiting: Oops....lost my post. He was up until 4:00 am watching the forex market so I do believe he is sleeping right now and will be back later.

Source: Easy Bourse

Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani is planning to visit Australia next week to meet officials and oil companies, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

"The minister will invite Australian oil companies to invest in the Iraqi oil and gas sector," Assem Jihad told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone.

Jihad gave no further details about the visit scheduled to start next Monday, Sept. 18.

Earlier Wednesday, Shahristani told reporters in Vienna that he hadn't begun discussions with oil companies on new contracts yet, although investors are already willing to begin discussions now, prior to the acceptance of the new hydrocarbon law which is expected to be passed by the end of this year.

Shahristani was speaking on the sidelines of an industry conference in the Austrian capital.

Posted by Lawk Salih


They are really busy over there getting things ready for a BIG BANG real soon

I highlighted some points. Sorry their was no link. but you can see it here.>> ISX-Data.com Editorial
The Unique Situation of the Iraqi Dinar
A backgrounder on the Iraqi dinar, including details on why the Iraqi dinar is positioned for a huge rise in value.

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By: Roger Isaksson (email)
Published: 09/11/2006
this author's past articles


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The Iraq Dinar is set up in a very simple, almost crude fashion. The set up was a quick fix after the invasion, seeing that the banking sector in Iraq was about as developed as a model T. Without a modern bank system in place, the "crude and simple" was chosen as a workable interim model.

A Brief History of the Dinar
With Saddam's face plastered all over it, the old dinar had to go. The Saddam dinar also was of very low quality, and could be easily forged on a simple copy machine.

After the invasion, new bills were immediately ordered, but due to the enormous amount needed, some of the old Saddam dinars continued to be printed and circulated until the new ones arrived.

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The new dinar bills started to arrive, and they brought with them all the modern safety features one would expect. A wide spread of denominations was chosen, both to make the daily handling easier, and to cover for value variations in it's exchange. Finally, a reasonable time period was granted in order to allow the citizens of Iraq to swap the old Saddam, and "Swiss" dinar in.

The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI)
The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) was set up as an auction system, with the CBI sitting on the newly printed currency, auctioning older outdated dinars and other foreign currencies with Iraqi banks for new dinars. Now that the currency exchange has been completed, the CBI also sends nearly half of it's daily auction of dinars to foreign banks in Kuwait, Jordan and beyond.

If you go to the CBI official website you will see the daily auction, the currency is now primarily sold in exchange for US dollars. The CBI is slowly but surely acquiring US dollars to help back the worth of the dinar. Everyday the amount of dollars in it's vaults increases. Got 79Million Yesterday Along

The exact number of dinars in print, in circulation or on hold at the CBI is exactly known. By doing some very simple steps, full control is achieved through:

Limit the amount a person can bring with him if he is leaving Iraq, to a very small amount (in this case, 100,000 dinar);
Knowing the exact amount sold to banks outside of Iraq.
Once you know the amount of dinars out there, viola, you have complete control over it's fate. The CBI simply sells more or less to hold the dinar in a position exactly where they want it to be.

Given this situation, the dinar will not strictly be pegged. It has been called 'pegged' by some, but in reality you will have some small fluctuations on the dinar value, which you have likely noticed if you have followed it over time. These fluctuations are a balancing act by the CBI.

Simply put, truly pegged currencies don't move from the currency it is pegged to.

This is the basic Iraqi dinar system. Now some may already be asking, that if the Dinar is endlessly sold, wouldn't it flood the market, making them worthless? No, because you have exchanged your US dollars for your dinar, which helps to back the dinar through the above explained CBI mechanism.

Now, this is a very temporary system. Interested readers will of course note that any currency that is not free flowing is a hindrance to full economic development. This fall, new Iraq investment laws are suppose to be passed by the elected Iraqi parliament, allowing international investment companies (read: Big Oil) to invest.

At this very moment, oil company survey and geological teams are crisscrossing the desert, testing grounds, staking claims and hopefully not giving each other a black eye. Again, this is not Iraq government, US government, US Government contractors, US armed forces, etc. running around, this is oil companies. The future mega investment in Iraq which will help drive the economy forward.

A Question of Priorities
Some may ask if we shouldn't take care of the violence first. If Joe Everyman is building a house, is it relevant that his young children are fighting? The short answer is that 'Big Oil' is operating in many areas of the world where violence is the norm, not the exception.

By last June it was announced that no more printing of the dinar is necessary, meaning that we are most probably in the end part of the 'first stage', and are ready for the dinar revaluation. It would be an suicidal economically to leave the dinar in it's current low range, and let the oil companies come in 'on the cheap'. The dinar MUST have a much higher value at that time, otherwise Iraqi will be sold off for literally pennies, or dinars, on the dollar.

While the exact arrangement of the investment law is not yet settled, deals have already been made in how the oil revenue will be shared amongst the different regions and groups in Iraq. So things are moving forward.

It is not yet known if the revaluing of the dinar will be an overnight thing, with no previous announcements, or if it will be a gradual increase as necessary. It should be pointed out that the value of many oilfields in Iraq is also not fully known, because actual modern geological surveys have not been done for decades, if at all, but even with this lack of recent study, the known reserve in the ground rivals that of Saudi Arabia. It is hoped that in the next decade, Iraq will achieve the same oil output as its southern neighbor. Nobody can deny that the potential is there.

This is someone's Opinion, I might add a good one at that. Exspecially for it to be on this site.

Saturday, 16th September 2006 12:56

Text of G7 statement



The international community has a high stake in achieving long-term political and economic stability in the Middle East. In this light we support the Government of Lebanon's efforts towards reconstruction, development and economic reform. We welcome donors' commitments to help Lebanon, and look forward to a deeper involvement of the IFIs. We discussed economic prospects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and agreed to keep this under review. We also welcome the launch of the international Iraq compact.

We agreed to intensify our efforts to combat money laundering; proliferation network as well as terrorist and illicit financing by addressing global financial vulnerabilities particularly those associated with jurisdictions that have failed to recognize international standards.

We urge the FATF to focus on identifying and adopting appropriate measures within its mandate. We ask the IMF and the World Bank to work closely with the FATF to foster implementation of the relevant international standards. We also encourage all countries to publish their full evaluations.

See Full Article Here: Text of G7 statement

Khaleej Times Online - US denies plan for giant trench around Baghdad

US denies plan for giant trench around Baghdad
(Reuters)

16 September 2006



BAGHDAD - The US military denied reports on Saturday that Iraq plans to dig a giant ring of trenches around the city of Baghdad.


Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced earlier this week that it plans to set up 28 checkpoints that would allow controlled access to the city, while closing off other roads as part of a security crackdown.

The New York Times quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman on Saturday as saying the Iraqis would also dig a giant trench around the city of seven million people.

“We’re going to build a trench around Baghdad so we can control the exits and entrances so people will be searched properly,” Brigadier General Abdul Karim Khalaf told the newspaper. He said the trench would run across farmland and other open areas.

But Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said the description sounded like an exaggeration of a plan that mostly would rely on existing terrain features to ensure that traffic moved through the 28 checkpoints.

“No doubt there will be some trenches involved in this, but to say there is going to be a moat around the city is a bit of a stretch,” Johnson said.

“They’ve called it a trench around Baghdad. Really what this is, is there’s a series of obstacles that the Iraqi government are planning, and we’re working with them, to ensure movement through checkpoints, to keep terrorists and extremists and criminals from using those (other) routes,” Johnson said.

“So it’s not a trench. It will be a series using the natural terrain that already exists such as canals, and some obstacles.”

Baghdad is 60 miles in circumference and surrounded mostly by farmland. But the land is already crisscrossed by irrigation canals and mostly impassible for cars driving off roads.

7DAYS » No Sunni-Shia war

No Sunni-Shia war

Published on: Sunday, 17th September, 2006

Saudi King Abdullah ruled out yesterday the possibility of a sectarian war in the region between Sunnis and Shia, Islam’s two main sects. "The Arab region will not witness wars between Muslims for any reason, whether sectarian or non-sectarian. No sect will dominate the other. Contrary to what some analyses say, this is totally ruled out," King Abdullah said. The Saudi monarch also welcomed the decision by rival Palestinian leaders to form a national unity government.