Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 28/03/10 - 21/06/10

Central sells 704 million dollars in the auction this week

Sales from the central bank auction for the sale and purchase of foreign currencies during the current week the amount of 704 million dollars, based on a fixed exchange rate was 1170 dinars per dollar, amid the stability of exchange rates in the local market.

Sales from the Central Bank of foreign currencies during the current week the amount of 704 million and dollars and 820 thousand dollars at the exchange rate stable basis since mid-January last year reached 1170 dinars to the dollar, through the holding of five sessions of the auction from Sunday to Thursday.

And records the amount of sales up from last week, the dollar and the recorded volume of sales reached 580 million and 74 thousand dollars.

The owner of one banking offices in Baghdad that the U.S. dollar exchange rate stable in the local market on the price of 118 000 dinars per cent against the dollar as the price of the citizen to buy the selling price and most of a thousand dinars of the purchase price ie 119 000 dinars per hundred dollars.

He noted that the stability of the exchange rate stems from the stability of the exchange rate of dollar against the dinar with the Central Bank, where the local market entrenchment of a jolt as possible to get done on may adversely affect or reduce the price according to the whims of speculators.

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2010-04-30

Despite the passage of 7 years after the fall system, but that the Iraqis are suffering from debt overhang

Despite the passage of seven years after the fall of the former regime, Iraqis are suffering from the accumulated debt of the country and its implications as a result of adventures that system, at times with people and other times with neighboring countries.

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2010-04-29

Commission declares that the recount will begin on Monday and will take 3 weeks

Said head of the electoral district in the Office of the Independent High Electoral Hamdiya Husseini The process of re-counting will begin on Monday, indicating that the estimates indicate that it would take two to three weeks, but these estimates are not fixed.

She Alahasini to manually recount more than 2.5 million voter registration cards in Baghdad, which accounted for more than five seats in parliament, which is the number of seats 325 seats will also include the voices of Iraqis abroad, the army and police and prisoners and the sick.

For his part, Chairman of the Electoral Commission for elections Faraj al-Haidari said observers from the United Nations and the European Union are willing to provide advice to the Office during the recount.

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2010-04-30

Iraqi Airways boss in London court over Kuwait dispute

The chief E.xecutive of Iraqi Airways was due to appear in court here on Friday after the first commercial flight from Baghdad to London ended in a legal nightmare for the airline.

Kifah Hassan had his passport seized and the plane he arrived on was impounded at Gatwick Airport on Sunday in a long-running legal dispute with Kuwait Airways.

In London's High Court, Hassan will be pressed by lawyers for the Kuwaiti airline, which says it is owed 1.2 billion dollars (900 million euros), to produce a statement under oath of his airline's worldwide assets.

The dispute dates back to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, when, according to the oil-rich emirate, 10 of its planes and aircraft parts were plundered after its airport was seized.

Chris Gooding, of law firm Fasken Martineau acting for Kuwait Airways, said the airline's patience "has run out" after a legal battle stretching for almost two decades.

"To fly into this jurisdiction where they owe 1.2 billion dollars was innocent at best and arrogant at worst," he said.

"The obligation is on him (Hassan) to provide an affidavit of the assets of Iraqi Airways worldwide."

Six years ago, the London High Court authorised Kuwait Airways to seize Iraqi Airways' assets.

Iraqi Airways response to the order "has been to do nothing", Gooding said.

Akil Kawthar, spokesman for the Iraqi transport ministry, hit out at Kuwait's actions, which he said had damaged Iraqi efforts to "reduce the suffering of its people by providing them with the best possible (air) services."

Iraq has previously said that four of the Kuwaiti aircraft taken after the invasion were destroyed in the northern city of Mosul in an allied air strike in January or 1991, during the Gulf War over Kuwait.

The Baghdad government maintains that the other six aircraft were sent to neighbouring Iran who returned the planes directly to Kuwait in 1992.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidAN...wait%20dispute

Iraq in talks to buy Hawk jets from UK

The Iraqi government is in talks to buy Hawk trainer jets from the UK in a deal that could be worth up to £1bn and would be a boost for BAE Systems, the defence contractor that manufactures the aircraft.

It would be Iraq's biggest arms purchase from Britain for more than two decades. It is understood that officials from the Iraqi Air Force will be visiting the UK next month to test the Hawk, which is used to train fast-jet pilots.

Iraq is also considering aircraft from Korea and Italy as it begins to rebuild its armed forces after the recent conflict and the Gulf War. It is believed that an order would be for 24 jets, worth initially £500m but potentially worth up to £1bn once support and maintenance is included. Any agreement would be a government-to-government contract.

A deal for the UK would be a boost for BAE Systems' Hawk. The company already has an order from India and is in talks with officials about a follow-on order potentially worth £500m. That deal could be announced within weeks.

Alan Garwood, BAE group business development director, told the Financial Times earlier this month: "India is a market in which we see several substantial future business opportunities spanning the air, land, naval and security sectors. This includes the potential sale of a further batch of up to 60 additional Hawk training aircraft."

BAE on Thursday declined to comment on the potential Iraq order. The main rivals to Hawk are Korea's T50, a supersonic aircraft, and Italy's M-346.

The Hawk was introduced in 1976 but the Royal Air Force is flying the T2 version, which had been introduced last year and is an almost entirely new aircraft.

BAE's predecessor British Aerospace was in talks with the Iraqis in 1989 to sell 50 Hawks. This deal was blocked by the UK government amid concerns the aircraft could be converted for combat missions.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...ts%20From%20UK

Iran-Iraq Oil Pipeline Closer to Construction

Negotiations between Iran and Iraq to build an oil pipeline between the two neighbors may come to fruition within a month. Iraq is planning to establish a pipeline between the southern Iraqi city of Basra and the Iranian city of Abadan to expand its exports capacity, Econews reported.
The primary agreement was signed in 2005. Ali Heidari, the trade attaché at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad said Iraqi officials are studying the reformed version of their oil exports.

"We have offered the draft deal to the Iraqi party" Heidari said, adding it is in its final stages and is expected to be finalized in a month.

Iran and Iraq first signed a Memorandum of Understanding back in February 2004 to construct the Basra-Abadan pipeline. Upon completion the pipeline is expected to carry around 150,000 barrels per day of Iraq's crude, through a twin pipeline system, to the Iranian refinery in Abadan. Furthermore, the pipeline is expected to send Iranian refined products back to Basra.

When progress is made, and a tangible asset to the industry finally introduced, it is expected to significantly benefit both parties involved. For Iraq, the line will aid its inability to meet local demand with domestic crude production.

For Iran, meanwhile, the pipeline will allow the country's oil industry to benefit from processing Iraq's cheaper crude, which would in turn mean higher profit margins on petroleum output sales. Furthermore, using Iraqi crude to provide an increased percentage of the feedstock at Abadan refinery, which has the capacity of 400,000 barrel per day, would allow Iran to export a larger share of its own crude. At present, the refinery has a production capacity of around 400,000 bpd.

From the Iraqi standpoint, the economic justification for the yet to be built Basra-Abadan pipeline, is reliant upon its own hopes for its refining sector.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...20Construction

Chinese firm begins work in power station in Wassit

A Chinese firm has started work in Wassit province to e.xecute a power station north of Kut city at a total cost of $924 million.

“The station will consist of four units, each with a 330 Mwatt capacity,” a provincial media source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

He said that the station will include two additional units for future expansion in electricity consumption.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=131052

Fiddling with election results catastrophic for Iraq, says official

The delay in forming the new government is raising fears of a return to sectarian violence.

Political blocs which have emerged the winners, particularly those of outgoing Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi, have failed to agree on forming a national government. Allawi leads Maliki by one deputy.

Smaller but powerful blocs with up to 40 deputies have now more say in forming the government than the big fish. But their condition to join a government by either Allawi or Maliki are too tough to meet.

Maliki banks on Iraqi Kurds who can field more than 40 deputies, but again their terms to join are not palatable to smaller groups within his block.

Maliki and Allawi’s blocs are diversified and bridge the sectarian divide in the country.

But many in Iraq would like to see a new government and preferably one lead by Allawi, who, though a Shiite, seems to have won the minds and hearts of Iraqi Muslim Sunnis who make up the backbone of the forces resisting U.S. occupation forces and the current government.

Iraqis are desperate for a new government following the landmark general elections held in March. They are worried that the relative quiet and security they have obtained might vanish as politicians bicker over who is to lead.

But there will be no new government in Iraq at least for five more weeks. Baghdad ballots will have to be recounted manually first.

This recount is now seen as a grave and serious step that might derail the relative quiet and plunge the country into another cycle of violence.

A senior politician within Allawi’s bloc, Osama al-Nujaifi, has already warned of “catastrophic consequence” if Baghdad ballot recount alters the current balance.

Iraqis will have to hold their breath for yet another five weeks before the results of Baghdad recount are known.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...05-01\kurd.htm

BP discusses oil well in Basra

A delegation from British Petroleum (BP) is in Basra to discuss the issue of developing an oil well in the province.

“BP should improve the production of the Northern al-Rumaila oil well from 1.5 to 3m bpd per year,” a local source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Saturday.

He stressed that it is important that the company uses Iraqi manpower to e.xecute the project.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=131034

Most Iraqis endorse the US senate plan to partition Iraq

A longed-for non-binding draft resolution approved by the US senate to partition Iraq into three autonomous enclaves is the most logical and judicious plan ever proposed by any US administration to put an end to the escalating carnage and dissection among the ethnically, religiously and culturally dissimilar Iraqi components. It has been widely embraced by Iraqi people, especially by the Sunnis in the center and the Kurds in Kurdistan. Even though objected by trifling critics, the resolution will aid the conflicting Iraqi political groups to ultimately be able to settle their years old lingering territorial, administrative and governmental discrepancies.

Al-Maliki Shiite party�s antipathy to the resolution and his unilateral call for Iraqi parliament convention session is indicative of his egotism, inaptitude and his skewed decisions without recognizing the inclusive right of seeking consultation from other legitimate constituent members of his coalition government and no regard at all to the interests and rights of the overwhelming majority of Iraqi populace. The Sunnis Arabs have long lamented for being sidelined and subdued by the majority ruling Shiites.

The US senate resolution has been misconstrued. Contrary to some assertions, the all-encompassing adoption and implementation of this constitutionally enshrined decentralization and autonomy law plan will mostly benefit the Sunni Arabs and Shiite Arabs, rather than the ethnic Kurds. It will further legitimize and boost up Shiite-Sunni Arabs� clout and upgrade the economic situation in central and Southern parts of Iraq where the Arabs reside predominately by offering them more political and economic prerogatives.

Since 2003, due to pressure from the US, the Kurds have been goaded into forgoing most of their demands embodying: suspension on referendum on Kurdish Kikruk and disputed territories, hold on revenue and oil laws, compensation plans for displaced individuals, forceful merger of Kurdish military forces with Iraqi Army, acceptance of a federalist system of government and most significantly shying from declaring an independent Kurdish state, presumably jeopardizing US ultimate mission in Iraq.

Some Arabs states expressing antagonism to the late US senate�s partition resolution have contributed absolutely nothing positive to the worsening security and economic state of Iraq as well as the reconstruction of the country. Commentators by Arab media criticizing the resolution, attempting to portray United States intentions in Iraq as imperialistic are absolutely indefensible. The Iraqi Turkoman Fronts claim to seek Turkish military support or the unfounded statement by Muslim Scholar Association in Iraq to incite insurgents to take arms attacks against the Kurds implies their utter disbelief and disrespect to democracy.

Willy-nilly, Kurdistan is a de facto partitioned nation state with ample international support, recognition, economic prosperity and regional stability and authority. Kurdistan has exceeded the level of requisite potential to run its own affairs and could have long promulgated its national independence. What fretting Arab nations should realize is the fact that since 2003, every successive US administration has been more pro-Arab than pro-Kurdish, aimed at enticing Arabs to more dynamically join the national political process. It is the United States that has mainly persuaded the Kurds to coexist with Arabs in a united, federalist, pluralistic Iraq, contrary to the false general notion perceived in the Muslim and Arab world that the United States is encouraging the partition of Iraq and creation of an independent Kurdish state.

It is a warning sign for the Kurds that the moment the US forces shrink back, their freedom could be invaded by radical religious or other nationalist ethnic groups.

Till preceding the Gulf war, the Kurds as well as Arab Shiite did not hold any role in running governments. Due to the lake of practice in administration and imposition of foreign government politics and policies, the numerous Iraqi groups have not been able to reach conclusion on certain major issues. Therefore, a neutral mediatory role in attempting to bring the diverse people closer in resolving their dilemmas and accelerating future US troops� pullout is part and parcel, particularly for the United States, being the key role player.

Americans are the ones offering the most sacrifices in Iraq. Like Joe Biden, the U.S. vice president stated such a division could allow for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops without too much chaos. Therefore, what is crucial for the US administration to consider is the guaranteed security of US troops as well as ushering in of permanent stability to Iraq, not the irrelevant fears and claims of Arab and regional neighboring countries about a feasible disintegration of Iraq or loss of Iraq�s Arab national identity.

http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc050110BB.html