Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 22/06/2010 - 04/10/2010

Advisor to the Finance Ministry : Attacks on banks would not affect her work or on the deposits of citizens

Said a finance ministry adviser for banks Zia Khyoun the positions of the state generally suffered from terrorist attacks , including the banks for being one of the cornerstones in the Iraqi economy and one of the vital institutions in the country, noting that the attacks would not affect the operation of banks or on the deposits of citizens.

The Khyoun in contact with the agency, the independent press (Iba) these attacks are proof of the existence of terrorist groups because they are unable to influence the work of banks or to constitute a threat to its coffers, because we have alternative sites that can get down to work through, and public funds reserved in the coffers of immune and losses Disadvantageously in the documents and the premises of banks can be compensated.

He pointed out that the state compensate the citizens for any loss affect his money in banks and can not be affected and their deposits with the attacks.

Sector was the country's banks to repeated attacks, the latest target commercial bank in the Mansour district on Sunday.

The Central Bank was organized in an attack earlier led to the burning of a number of government buildings, banks, and claimed the lives of dozens, which bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

The Khyoun attacks on the banking sector were not the first we do not expect that it will be the last of the presence of numerous parties, aimed at inflicting casualties among civilians and in most state institutions.

Regarding the possibility that the cause targeting the economic sector to significant losses through away investors and capital investment in the country, he said Khyoun known that the capital is coward in economic terms, and certainly these attacks will generate a reaction among investors , but do not expect to be significant.

Worried community economic potential target other economic sectors in the country other than banks by changing the terrorist groups to its objectives and the possibility that come into play on oil installations to cripple the economic capacity of Iraq, especially given that oil imports represent artery economic base of the country.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...onomy&id=26905

'Al-Qaeda’ wages war against Iraqi banks

Iraq’s al-Qaeda group is said to be directing its deadly and bloody car and suicide bombings against Iraqi banks.

In one week, attacks blamed on the group killed at least 35 people and injured scores as its suicide bombers are said to have targeted a state-owned bank and a private bank.

The first attack targeting the Central Bank on June 13 brought most of Baghdad to a standstill.

The government has blamed the daring attack in which at least 26 people were killed on Qaeda operatives despite allegations that Iraqi security personnel were involved.

There was heavy gunfire and plumes of smoke rose over Baghdad skyline but none of the attackers was killed or captured. Iraqi security forces had cordoned the area and stormed the bank.

A twin suicide bombing on June 21 targeted Iraq’s commercial bank. At least nine people were killed and many others wounded.

It is not clear why the latest attacks have banks as their major targets and why would Qaeda shift attention to the country’s financial institutions.

Iraqi troops and bodyguards assigned to protect senior politicians have previously been implicated in such attacks in which millions of dollars were stolen.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...06-21\kurd.htm

60 local, foreign companies take part in Ninewa International Fair

First Ninewa International Fair kicked off on Monday with the participation of more than 60 local and foreign companies specialized in industrial, trade, agricultural and constructional fields, according to a director of the Anmar construction company.

“The fair is considered the cornerstone and a starting point for holding fairs every year,” Zaid Othman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, expressing hope over overcoming the deteriorating security condition in Mosul.

“With personal efforts and with the support from the province, we managed to develop the fair, which saw a participation from Iraqi companies, as well as companies from China, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon,” he explained.

“This is only the beginning and the number of visitors in the first day was significant,” he concluded.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=133524

Iraq still lacks a Functioning Democracy

"As oil companies line up for contracts, legislators have yet to agree on how to share oil revenues among the country’s regional and ethnic groups. The Iraqis also lack a system of monitoring the oil companies, a situation that Hiltermann believes is a recipe for massive corruption. The Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which is certain to have chief responsibility for restoring the oil sector, overcharged the Pentagon by $200 million."

The March 7 elections that were to herald in Iraq’s new-born democracy instead deepened sectarian divisions and increased political instability. The final results, released March 27, showed former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s Sunni-backed secular coalition Iraqiya with 91 seats and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s predominantly Shi’i coalition with 89 seats. Neither bloc won a majority in the 325-seat parliament, but Allawi will have the first chance to put together a ruling coalition.

His job won’t be easy. Al-Maliki immediately demanded a hand recount of the votes, even though international observers claimed the election was fair. Another complication Allawi faces is that the coalition with the third largest number of votes, the Iraqi National Alliance, is dominated by hard-line Shi’i led by the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Ahmad Chalabi. Chalabi controls the unelected Accountability and Justice Commission, which before the election barred more than 500 Sunni candidates from running, announced it would disqualify six of the winning candidates, which means Allawi’s party would lose at least two seats. As the two leading parties compete for dominance, the Shi’i alliance may hold the balance of power, leaving a country that was intended to be a free-market democracy friendly to Israel, instead an ally of Iran.

Even after a government is formed there is no guarantee it will function effectively. “I’ve still seen no evidence that any [Iraqi] government can govern,” said Joost Hilberman of the International Crisis Group. Emad Gad, of the Ahram Center of Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, was even more pessimistic. “Free elections are the last step in a democracy,” he said. “Before that you have to have a democratic society that accepts the values of democracy. In Iraq we see religious conflicts, sectarian conflicts. These are elections without democratic values.”

Questions that parliament left unanswered before the election are yet to be resolved. The status of Kirkuk must still be decided, with Kurds demanding that the city and its surroundings be part of an autonomous Kurdistan, and Iraqi Arab residents strenuously objecting. As oil companies line up for contracts, legislators have yet to agree on how to share oil revenues among the country’s regional and ethnic groups. The Iraqis also lack a system of monitoring the oil companies, a situation that Hiltermann believes is a recipe for massive corruption. The Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which is certain to have chief responsibility for restoring the oil sector, overcharged the Pentagon by $200 million.

Unless these and other problems are solved, and vital services restored to the Iraqi people, the elections will have been no more than a face-saving exercise for former Bush administration officials who claimed the U.S. invasion and ousting of Saddam Hussain would turn Iraq into a free-market democracy and an example to other Arab nations. If this is democracy, many Iraqis may be wishing they could go back to the days of dictatorship—when they at least had clean water and electricity.

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/75665

Iraq Crude Oil Exports Rise in May, First Time in Three Months

Iraq, holder of the world’s third- largest oil reserves, exported 9.7 percent more crude in May than in April, the first increase in three months, an oil ministry official said.

Daily shipments rose to about 1.89 million barrels a day, or 58.7 million barrels in total, Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the oil ministry, said in an e-mailed statement today. That compares with April shipments of 1.77 million barrels a day, or 53 million for the month, according to the ministry’s Web site.

Dependent on oil for most government revenue, Iraq is seeking foreign investors to boost output after seven years of conflict and prior sanctions destroyed its infrastructure. The nation awarded 10 contracts to international companies in two oil licensing rounds last year, and announced a third bidding this year.

Revenue from oil exports in May rose to $4.34 billion as Iraq sold crude at an average price of $73.85 a barrel, Jihad said. April income stood at $4.2 billion at an average $79.66 a barrel, he said last month.

Most of the exports were through the southern port of Basrah, totaling about 45.1 million barrels, bringing in $3.35 billion, Jihad said. About 13.6 million barrels were exported from Kirkuk in the north, providing $988 million, he said.

The decline in crude exports in the three previous months was mainly due to bad weather and attacks on infrastructure by insurgents, Oil Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani said May 17.

Total Iraqi production is about 2.4 million barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ee-months.html

Virtue Party proposes the formation of a coalition of the four main blocs to get out of forming a government

Said the Islamic Virtue Party submitted a new proposal to break the deadlock over a new government.

The head of the bloc MP Hassan Shammari virtue at a press conference today in Baghdad, said the proposal had been sent to the masses the four winning elections.

And pointed out that the proposal includes three steps to overcome this crisis , the first expansion block National Alliance through the formation of a quadripartite alliance consists of the National Coalition and the rule of law , in addition to Iraq and the Kurdistan Alliance , which allows the elimination of the concept of the interpretation of the biggest bloc in number and those in dispute.

"Either the second step include the opening of the nomination for the post of prime minister for all the blocks were part of the four-party alliance , being within the alliance expanded the selection to choose the prime minister.

He said third step that is represented by the President commissioned the first winner of this vote to form the government, was unable to gain the confidence of parliament in the constitutional period by the President commissioned second winner .

Shammari said that his bloc's four blocks waiting for a reply to the proposal, calling for amendments to be made whether or proposals it.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...itics&id=26881

US cannot force Iraqis to form government

US Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill stressed that Iraqi politicians should agree to form a new government.

The United States cannot force leaders to form the government, Hill said.
In 2006 when the US had more power in Iraq, it did not pressure Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to form the government, and it will not do it now, he added.

Hill stressed the importance of realizing that the US and Iraq have signed a security agreement. The US will fully commit to the agreement, he continued.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News...overnment.html

Economist : targeting banks, a change in the tactics of terrorist groups

Economist said that the process of targeting government and private banks are changing their tactics by terrorist groups by hitting new targets, indicating that the targeting of the banking sector reflects an attempt to undermine Iraq's growing economy.

The name Abd al-Hadi in contact with the agency, the independent press (Iba) was not aimed at the banking sector ahead of time and how much they enjoyed the protection of weak compared to the institutions and security centers or informal groups have been terrorist attacks on the target , becoming one of the easy targets for those groups.

The economic community that the targeting of public and private banks recently cost the country estimated losses in the millions through the departure of capital to invest their money in the country.

Abdel-Hadi, the instability in the whole country causing huge losses to the Iraqi economy by delaying investment projects and the reluctance of the owners of capital to run their money in a climate fluctuation and the disorder despite the unstable security situation larger than it was previously.

However, to say , but on the other hand, we find many investors familiar with the Iraqi situation and seeing some improvement in security especially since they do not look to the nature of the terrorist act or what to target as much as looked at the security and stability in general, pointing out that the targeting of commercial bank is no different than any terrorist operation Other

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...onomy&id=26909

Dana Gas Board to Discuss Buyback, Iraq: Week Ahead

Dana Gas PJSC, a United Arab Emirates-based energy company, will discuss buying back shares and will review its operations in the Kurdish region of Iraq and the U.A.E. at a board meeting tomorrow.

Dana gained 4.8 percent, the most in more than three months, to 66 fils on June 17 after it announced the meeting. The company’s shares have retreated 22 percent so far this year.

“Finally a company has stepped up and aligned itself with its shareholders who have endured losses,” said Sameh Hassan, director of research at Rasmala Investment Bank Ltd. in Dubai. The planned discussion of a possible buyback shows that “their cash is real and that the businesses are able to self-fund, and possibly grow, through internal rather than external means,” Hassan said.

Dana, which pumps most of its gas in Egypt, is seeking to sell stakes in its Egyptian gas blocks to raise cash. The company is developing gas deposits, production and transport facilities in Iraq, and it also is working on an offshore gas project in the U.A.E. emirate of Sharjah, where it has its headquarters.

Dana posted a profit of 33 million dirhams ($9 million) in the first quarter as output and energy prices rose. This profit compared with a loss of 32 million dirhams a year earlier.

Buy-back ‘Incentive’

The company has “a huge incentive” to buy back its shares, given the recent slide in the value of its stock, said Angad Rajpal, a senior analyst at Prime Securities, a brokerage based in the U.A.E. emirate of Abu Dhabi. Dana has “unlocked a lot of value in Egypt” and is likely to post higher earnings as it produces more gas. The shares have retreated 43 percent since reaching 1.18 dirhams on Oct. 14, the highest level in the past year.

In Iraq, Dana Gas is a shareholder with U.A.E.-based Crescent Petroleum Co. in a project in that country’s Kurdish northern region. The venture, Pearl Petroleum, experienced a delay in reaching its output target of 300 million cubic feet (8.5 million cubic meters) a day for the first half of 2009, Crescent said in February. A Crescent project director said at that time that Pearl was producing 120 million cubic feet of gas a day and did not expect to achieve its target until the third quarter of this year.

Rajpal said Dana faces “an overhang” of risk in Iraq. “It has made sales and has not received payment yet from the government.”

At the same time, he said, Dana’s Iraqi venture is “very lucrative,” and it’s a matter of time before the company resolves issues with the Kurdish regional government in Iraq.

“Generally, we have a positive outlook and expect a year- on-year gain of 20 percent in hydrocarbon production, and improved oil prices by the end of the year,” Rajpul said. “This will help sustain the good earnings.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...-correct-.html

Kuwait's lost treasures: how stolen riches remain central to rift with Iraq
Hundreds of artefacts were plundered during Gulf war, and project to repatriate them is ongoing

In a spacious but frugal office in Kuwait, a glossy catalogue lists the dozens of reasons why Kuwait and Iraq are still at daggers drawn after all these years.

Sheikha Hussa Salem al-Sabah thumbs through the pages of the booklet, pointing out the most egregious cases – page upon page of priceless treasures looted by Saddam Hussein's invading army 20 years ago and still missing: a dazzling 234-carat emerald the size of a paperweight; a slightly smaller gem inscribed with exquisite Arabic calligraphy; Mughal-era ruby beads.

"The Iraqis still don't understand the damage they did to us, not just financially, but for our souls," says the daughter-in-law of Kuwait's emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who maintains the dynasty's heirlooms. "It was emotionally wrenching and still is."

Though many of the priceless treasures have been returned to the collection in the bitter decades since, up to 57 remain missing – perhaps lost for ever. At the National Museum across town, they report that the whereabouts of another 487 treasures remain unknown.

Many of the pieces, Kuwaitis believe, now form the core of private collections in post-Saddam Iraq and around the Arab world. To the victims of the 1990 invasion they remain the central reason of a failure to close the unfinished business of the first Gulf war – just as the second one is beginning to wind down.

In the seven years since Saddam was ousted, Iraq has been obliged to settle United Nations-prescribed debts of $43bn (£29bn), and compensations to private families totalling several hundred million dollars more, before being welcomed as a fully-fledged member of the so-called community of nations.

It is a burden that has proven difficult to bear for a brittle state still ravaged by war and chaos and deeply resentful of the fact that Kuwait was not invaded in the name of the current regime in Iraq.

To Iraq's wealthy southern neighbour though, neither 20 years nor the time after Saddam has diminished the desire to reclaim what was lost.

With a higher per capita income than most other Gulf petro-states, Kuwaitis remain sensitive to the claim that their residual hostility is all about getting even richer. "This is about principle," says Sheikha Hussa. "It remains a huge dilemma for us. The people here have a say in everything we do and the parliament does also. This is part of Kuwait's rights and we will continue to press them."

At the National Museum, which was ravaged by marauders who seemed to know what they were looking for as they packed items into cushioned crates before driving them to Baghdad,a plethora of irreplaceable pieces remain missing. The lost artefacts mainly date from the Moghul dynasty and include around 20 gold bracelets, necklaces and ankle rings, pottery, arrow heads and Korans.

Staff handed over a list of loot and mentioned a theory often discussed in Kuwait that much of what was stolen remains in a warehouse north of Baghdad, where it is being used as leverage in any eventual settlement between the two countries.

Three months of inquiries by the Guardian with officials in Iraq's government, military and police seem to rule out that there is such a central repository of loot in Iraq.

"Anything that was stolen was taken to Saddam's palaces and the offices of his high officials," said one Kuwaiti MP. "There were antique cars stolen by Uday [Hussein, Saddam's psychopath son] that were sold in Europe at auction, paintings and heirlooms. But after the American invasion it was a free-for-all. Everything was stolen again then and there was no control over who took it, or where it went."

Between the first and second Gulf wars, there were attempts by Saddam's regime to put things right, with Kuwaiti officials under UN supervision being invited to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad to reclaim some stolen Kuwaiti pieces that had been on display there.

The private art world also turned up the occasional treasure. In 1996, a jewel-encrusted Moghul dagger, which had been on the cover of a Sotheby's catalogue, was taken off the market and returned to the Dar-al-Athar collection. Financial compensation has been paid, according to Sheikha Hussa. Butthe far more important repatriation of priceless pieces has been rare.

Two years ago, parts of a giant archive of Kuwait's history, known as the Prince's Archive, were returned from Baghdad after being kept in the home of a civil servant who had little idea of the value of his souvenirs. Recently, a well-known Iraqi actor and her husband made contact with an Iraqi now living in Kuwait in an attempt to sell another part of the collection.

Iraq hopes that a steady repayment of the billions owed – $23bn has been handed over so far – will boost its credentials. It also appears to be hoping that a steady repayment of the debt will stop Kuwait from pressing claims through international courts for the seizure of Iraqi assets.

Twice in recent months the state-owned Kuwait Airways has moved to seize an Iraqi Airways plane that had landed in London as part of a new passenger route from Baghdad. That action has led Iraq to suspend the route only weeks after it was opened. Baghdad also says it is now looking at ways to privatise the airline.

Iraq's monthly repayments are pegged by the United Nations at 5% of its oil revenue. "Last month they paid $520m as part of the United Nations Compensation Commission obligations," said the chairman of a Kuwaiti public authority established to process compensation claims from Iraq's invasion. "They have been co-operating with us in meetings lately. But it takes time, it will need another generation to forget. There are also the remains of fallen soldiers and POWs yet to be returned."

In Baghdad, the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Ayad al-Sammaraie, said things were now moving quicker than at any other time since 1990. He said: "Both countries are willing to sort things. But there is a remaining bitterness. Resolving this is complicated and needs a realistic perspective. Our fishermen are worried at repeated interceptions by the Kuwaitis in the Gulf.

"Our farmers in the south are worried about border claims. And we are concerned about having good relations again."

Asked about the ancient treasures that in some ways hold the key to goodwill, he said: "There was no [sovereign] Iraq from 2003 for three years and we had no ability to look for them. But really, Iraq is sincere and willing to return them."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...ches-rift-iraq