Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 06/10/2010 - 24/01/2011

House of Representatives is hosting the central bank governor and his advisers

Hosted the House of Representatives at its ninth regular meeting, chaired by Mr. Osama al-Chairman of the Board of Deputies today Saturday, 04/12/2010 Central Bank Governor and his advisers.

Mr. Najafi apology on behalf of Council of Mr. purity of net debt and the Minister of Commerce against the backdrop of not attending the meeting host, adding that the minister was on an official mission in the province of Basra, declaring that he would attend at a subsequent meeting to answer questions from the MPs, from his part, Mr. purity of net debt Minister of Trade and Agency thanked the spirit shown by the Council, and hoped that the relationship between the government and the complementary relationship.

And the President of the Council on behalf of the MPs heartfelt sympathies to all of the MP Sadiq gum of the death of his mother and MP Qais helter-skelter of the death of his father and Qusay Abadi, deputy of the death of his uncle.

At the beginning of the meeting initiated by any of the above al-Hakim, said the President of the Council that the general budget of the State and reached the House of Representatives on Thursday was guidance distributed to all members of the Council, calling for quick formation of the Finance Committee to study the budget and to report and discuss relevant and host formal House of Representatives, stating that he will ask the Governor of the Central Bank being responsible to the Council.

In the paragraph devoted to host Mr. Shabibi Iraqi Central Bank Governor Mr. conservative fiscal and monetary policies and the Bank's relationship with the government and management of reserves, national banks and the country's reserve of hard currency.

He said Mr. Shabibi said the central bank is the only party responsible for the level of stability of prices and to maintain the purchasing power, pointing out that the foreign reserves is a cover for the work of the Central Bank of the precautionary to the economy of the country, adding that the bank was able by means of fiscal policy against inflation situation in the country, which Ankhvz average of 34 percent to 3 percent, stressing the bank aims to build a coherent monetary policy, rational, and recalling that the bank has achieved significant results in very harsh conditions, and was subjected to two Arhabyitn Twthera but did not do the job.

And ask the MPs a number of questions and inquiries and interventions specific to the Central Bank, as deputy wondered Habib Terminal on the feasibility of the process of deleting the zeros and its impact on the market, while MP Sabah al-Saadi to reveal the nature of the documents missing from the central bank, while she asked Rep. Najeebeh Najib about the possibility of opening a branch of the Commercial Bank in Dahuk.

For his part, drew MP Mansour al-Tamimi to what action was taken regarding the presence of banks have gone bankrupt, MP Qasim Mohammad Qasim view observations concerning the old currency and obstruction to facilitate change currency to the people of the Kurdistan region during the former regime, and wondered about the extent to compensate citizens for their possession of such currency, considered as placeholders filled Saadi said the banking sector is still weak and suffering from problems, wondering about the reasons for bad debts, while the deputy asked Abdel Salam al-Maliki for monetary policy in place to face any financial crisis.

MP Faleh force demanded by the monetary policies to be taken to reduce the fiscal deficit, which accompanied the budget in addition to the nature of the relationship with the World Bank either Rep. Susan Saad called for a report on bank deposits and taking advantage of regional expertise with MP Mutashar Hussein to find a solution to the issue of bank interest While MP Adnan al-Janabi, the importance of careful House of Representatives on the independence of the Central Bank, for its part pointed MP Ahmed Hassan Faizullah to the Central Bank's role in economic life and dealing with inflation, wondering about the reasons behind the borrowing of Iraq's $ 250 million from the World Bank in spite of and a growing economy in the country.

He also called Haider Mulla governor to clarify the nature of monetary policy realism in the areas of financial number to support multiple sectors from his part expressed his deputy secretary Farhan interest in knowing the precautions taken by the bank in the event out of Iraq under Chapter VII, while inquired MP Walid al-Hilli on the action taken by the government on what issued by international courts.

It was also MP Haydar Abbadi Notes on the Bank's role is important for the award of the national economy under the current circumstances and the importance of linking the dinar to a basket of currencies instead of dollars, while a student deputy governor Zamili know the fate of the money that was put under the names of companies and fake names in the era of the former regime MP Nassar al-Rubaie introduced a number of questions, notably the nature of the cash cover is located and how secured, for the independence of the national economy with MP Ahmad al-Alwani, asked for a failure to diversify financial cover Tzbb because of the dollar exchange rate.

Was answered by Mr. Shabibi central bank governor questions the MPs, where he stressed the need for stability and the conditions of dolly to the process of deletion of zeros that are related to time which will be determined later, noting that the issue of reserve Aougueta currency comes at the request of the government or the Ministry of Finance on the dinar, which was produced by the central bank, pointing out that the size of the reserve is important support, because the currency in circulation has been affected by the reserve will affect the fiscal balance.

He said the governor said the central bank responsible for monetary policy, a total as signs of the Central Bank on founded by moving banks adding that the bank do not deal with the public, but banks are determined by interest rates, although it puts the policy interest rate and the discount is determined by those banks, indicating that the process replace the old currency had a specific time and in contravention of these appointments lead to an imbalance in the supply of money and part of the discipline of monetary policy to keep a date replacement.

And between the governor said the impact of the global financial crisis on Iraq was part of oil prices as the market of Iraq and promising to invest this from the positive effects of the global crisis, adding that work at the Central Bank has not affected the operations of terrorist suffered, assured the MPs not to lose data and important documents from the bank especially with the storage and the presence of deep ties with the international banks were willing to grant the bank a document may be lost for pointing out that the central bank not mind to open banks in any region as providing a number of recommendations in this matter, expressing his conviction to the availability of the stability of the exchange rate, exchange rate, the presence of force cash reserve, calling the private sector and government to take advantage of the ground and the proper environment and provided to the Central Bank in the development of all fields.

On the issue of lending to the central bank money to the government according to the governor said the central bank to Aikarz government funds cover cash but Istita provide important ways for the government to finance the deficit through borrowing from the market and to issue money orders Treasury to provide money for the budget and expressed the bank's readiness to cooperate with the government beyond the borders in lending by banks, adding that the central bank recognizes the need for government money in the development plans, but the case regarding the elaboration of the general budget.

In turn, demanded the appearance of Mohammed Salih, adviser to the CBI that the House of Representatives re-cost the public budget and its implementation mechanism, warning of the withdrawal of $ 5 trillion dinars from the central bank reserves because of its negative reflection in front of the international economic community.

Presented by Mr. Walid Idi Director-General in the Ministry of Finance, the developments in the banking sector in several areas, notably the expansion of the opening of branches of banks in the various governorates and the adoption of modern methods in the field of banking and mechanisms of work in the banks and the establishment of a special office to combat money laundering.

In the second paragraph completed the House of Representatives to discuss the issue of unemployment and methods of treatment have proposed MP Zeinab Abdel Ali develop a database to determine the special grades and detect hidden unemployment MP Thamer al-Alwani was asked to develop a plan for each ministry to accommodate the workforce according to the specialization and efficiency, while MP Hussein Nermo to allocate amounts of oil imports or taxes to support the unemployed while their access to jobs, while the proposed MP Muhammad Ali because he is supporting small-scale projects and the opening of institutes for the unemployed.

As for Mr. Safa al-Din Safi Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs has stressed the State's keenness to tackle unemployment, noting that there are a large number of staff borne by the State wages, leading to the depletion of resources of the state, revealing the existence of plans by the Government to address unemployment through the creation of investment opportunities and find balance between the investment activities and non-investment in the process of finding jobs, pointing out that the role of the House of Representatives is important in providing the funds necessary to tackle unemployment.

For its part, called placeholders safe Saadi to the distribution of funds for small enterprises with a control on the performance of these projects while MP Abdul Hussein al-Hussein on the need to absorb part of the unemployment in the investment process MP Hamid Buffy has felt the importance of developing programs five-year or a decimal to tackle unemployment, criticizing bring foreign workers into the country with high unemployment, while MP Adel al-Maliki called for enactment of a law of military service and speed up the establishment of the Federal service.

And MP Mahmoud Othman said that encouraging the private sector and increase productive investments will contribute to solving the problem of unemployment as demanded MP Nahida increased the allocation of agricultural land for the unemployed are supported without the benefits or restrictions, while urging the MP Abdul Khader Mahdi to benefit from the experiences of neighboring countries in addition to the experience of the Kurdistan region in addressing this problem, for his part, MP Mahma Khalilzad on the need to benefit from the implementation of the project to build one million housing units in addressing this issue, as MP Kanna that unemployment is a major cause of migration outside the country, alluding to the role of government and the private sector in finding solutions to the problem of unemployment while MP morning Saadi on the right of the citizen through the distribution of wealth share of the oil it.

And then rose to the meeting on Monday, 06/12/2010.

Media Department
Iraqi Council of Representatives

http://parliament.iq/Iraqi_Council_o...tails&sid=3667

Central Bank warns of withdrawal of $ 5 trillion dinars from the reserve

Speaker announced that the general budget of the State and reached the House of Representatives on Thursday was guidance distributed to all members of the council, calling for quick formation of the Finance Committee to study the budget and to report and discuss the official concerned and the host in the House of Representatives.

He reviewed the Central Bank Governor Sinan al-Shabibi central bank governor during a session hosted by the House of Representatives fiscal and monetary policies and the Bank's relationship with the government and management of reserves of national banks and the country's reserve of hard currency.

Shabibi noted that the central bank is the only party responsible for the level of price stability and to maintain the purchasing power, pointing out that the foreign reserves is a cover for the work of the Central Bank of the precautionary to the economy of the country, adding that the bank was able by means of fiscal policy against inflation situation in the country, which fell an average of 34 percent to 3 percent, stressing the bank aims to build a coherent monetary policy, rational, and recalling that the bank has achieved significant results in very harsh conditions, and was subjected to two Arhabyitn Twthera but did not do the job.

The deputy wondered Habib Terminal on the feasibility of the process of deleting the zeros and its impact on the market, while MP Sabah al-Saadi to reveal the nature of the documents lost by the Central Bank for its part pointed MP Mansour al-Tamimi to what action was taken regarding the presence of banks have gone bankrupt, MP Qasim Muhammad Qasim Showing observations concerning the old currency and obstruction to facilitate change currency to the people of the Kurdistan region during the former regime, and wondered about the possibility of compensating citizens for their possession of such currency and confirmed Shabibi the need for a stability and conditions of dolly to the process of deletion of zeros that are related to time which will be determined later, noting that Aougueta reserve currency issue comes at the request of the government or the Ministry of Finance on the dinar, which was produced by the central bank, pointing out that the size of the reserve is important support, because the currency in circulation has been affected by the reserve will affect the fiscal balance.

Indicating that the process of replacing the old currency had a specific time and in contravention of these appointments lead to an imbalance in the supply of money and part of the discipline to keep monetary policy on the date of replacement.

And between the governor said the impact of the global financial crisis on Iraq was part of oil prices as the market of Iraq and promising to invest this from the positive effects of the global crisis, adding that work at the Central Bank not affected by terrorist actions suffered by, assured MPs not to lose data and important documents from the World especially with the storage and the presence of deep ties with the international banks were willing to give the Bank of any document may be lost for pointing out that the central bank not mind to open banks in any area he presents a number of recommendations in this matter, expressing his conviction to the availability of the stability of the currency and the exchange rate because of the power of a cash reserve calling on the private sector and government to take advantage of the ground and the proper environment provided by the Central Bank in the development of all fields.

In turn, demanded the appearance of Mohammed Salih, adviser to the CBI that the House of Representatives re-cost the public budget and its implementation mechanism, warning of the withdrawal of $ 5 trillion dinars from the central bank reserves because of its negative reflection in front of the international economic community.

http://www.almowatennews.com/news_view_12582.html

National Alliance: The Central Bank is a debate for the classification of the position of President

A source from the National Alliance, the central bank is a debate for the classification of the position of president within the sovereign portfolios, as has been calculated as intelligence chief security Kmensb.

The source denied the rumors about the National Alliance to seek control of the National Intelligence Service. He pointed out that there are directions to give the post to the Iraqi and the most prominent candidates for the device manager is the Attorney melon beauty.

http://alanenews.org/news.php?action=view&id=2800

World Bank: to provide $ 175 million to fund emergency projects for water supply in Iraq's cities

The Trust Fund administered by the World Bank a total of U.S. $ 175 million to implement the project for emergency water supply and sanitation in the city of Baghdad, and the project contingency for the reconstruction of water supply facilities, sanitation and urban development.

And provided IDA a total of U.S. $ 110 million to fund the project for emergency water supply.

According to a report posted on the website of the World Bank said the projects aimed to assist in the rehabilitation services, supply of drinking water and basic sanitation in 11 cities.

He noted that most Iraqis are suffering from poor access to these services, and the proportion of the services of drinking water supply low of 73% and 43% in urban and rural areas respectively.

According to the report of the World Bank has clearly demonstrated the consequences of that in urban centers where most Iraqis, and often is exacerbated by the low coverage frequent power outages for up to 16 hours a day.

It was about 25% of the population of Baghdad is connected to a network of water supply, and the levels of wastewater services is much less than drinking water in terms of coverage and quality of service and treatment, with the exception of Baghdad, the proportion of the population connected to the sewage less than 8%.

And formed the environmental and health risks associated with very low water quality and ill-treatment of sewage threat to the health of the population. In addition, it is seven years after the invasion in 2003, the main problem for the Iraqi government and the International Organization encountered in the provision of services and implementation of projects is the lack of security in Iraq.

In addition to security concerns, is one of the main challenges faced by the Iraqis in creating credible institutions, inclusive, and able to achieve stability and sustainable economic prosperity.

Allow ongoing study of the water supply and sanitation in Iraq - which deals with key issues relating to the provision of infrastructure facilities for water supply and sanitation to the entire population and affordability, sustainability and non-interrupted - an opportunity to work with the Iraqi government to develop a final strategy.

These include the strategic medium-term action plan to rehabilitate the infrastructure for water supply and sanitation and expanded, and will also include policy reforms and institutions.

And requested the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works of Iraq also from the World Bank technical assistance to build consensus on policies and institutional arrangements in the sector improved water supply and sanitation. A series of workshops to consult with stakeholders prior to the finalization of the study to be made with the end of this year.

The Iraqi government has requested additional projects for water and sanitation, $ 400 million U.S. dollars.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...onomy&id=33150

Completion of drilling three new wells in oil fields sites Maysan Oil Company

Ended the Iraqi Drilling Company and under the supervision of cadres Maysan Oil Company drilling operations architecture / 5 to reach the required depth of 3790 meters and.

The general director of Maysan Oil Company Qubool Ali told the independent press (Iba) will be the completion of the completion and landing equipment palpation to determine the point of perforation, and then linked to national production system during the next few days.

He added: It is expected that the rate of productivity of the well (1500 - 2000) barrels per day, indicating that the method followed by drilling of the well drilling is a method profile

He Qubool that preparations are underway to begin drilling operations during the first half of this month to Halfayah field which was won by a coalition of business CNBC Chinese and Malaysian Petronas, where drilling is underway at two sites in that one after it has completed the installation of devices drilling at both sites with continuing operations seismic three-dimensional field in the amount of area (350 km 2).

He said the operations in this field Halfayah coincide with the completion of the construction operations of field camp, which will move the operating company has a staff of Iraqis and foreigners to stay and oversee its ongoing operations closely.

To that completed cadres Maysan Oil Company drilled two new wells in the field of light with continued drilling operations in a well light / 3 of the dig through the cavity IV, a cavity productive while the percentage of achievement in the drilling of the well approximately the (91%) and access to the required depth and deep (382) meters.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...onomy&id=33157

Iraq's Sunnis eye Kurdish-style autonomy

Iraq's Sunnis, many of them angry that their favoured political bloc failed to win the premier's post in a power-sharing deal, are increasingly turning to the concept of forming an autonomous region.

Distrust of Iraq's Shiite-led government remains widespread among Sunnis, and many of the minority community's leaders have begun voicing calls for their own separate territory within Iraq, much like Kurdistan in the north.

"Let the Kurds take the north, the Shiites take the south, let them select who represents them -- this is not our business," said Ahmed Dhiyab al-Juburi, imam of the Abdul Rahman mosque in Muqdadiyah, a town in confessionally-mixed but majority Sunni Arab province of Diyala.

"The Kurds benefit from the budget and the Shiites occupy the central government -- we do not get anything from the government but raids and arrests," the prayer leader moaned.

Sunni Arabs, who dominated all the regimes of Iraq from its modern creation in 1920 until Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, largely boycotted Iraq's first post-invasion parliamentary election in 2005.

In the following two years, a violent insurgency against government forces and US troops left tens of thousands dead across Iraq.

It was only quelled when tens of thousands of extra American soldiers were sent in to Iraq, and Washington co-opted Sunni tribes which had sided with Al-Qaeda.

On March 7, voters in Sunni-majority provinces in north and west Iraq such as Diyala, Salaheddin, Nineveh and Anbar helped propel secular Shiite ex-premier Iyad Allawi's bloc to win the biggest number of seats in parliament.

But eight months of stalemate led to the formation of coalitions that trumped Iraqiya and finally resulted in the incumbent Nuri al-Maliki staying on as prime minister after a power-sharing deal was forged last month.

"We voted for (Allawi's) Iraqiya to face down the marginalisation campaign against Sunni Arabs," said Talal Abdul Karim Hussein al-Matar, chief of the Albo Aswad tribe in Salaheddin.

"But if the incoming government continues with this, we want to use the provinces law to get more powers."

He was referring to a constitutional article, and subsequent legislation passed in 2006, that give Iraq's provinces the right to band together into sub-national regions, giving them an increased share of the national budget.

It would also allow greater autonomy over internal affairs.

The latest calls are a major about-turn for Sunni leaders, who rejected Iraq's constitution when it was put to a nationwide referendum, largely over the regions article, fearing it would lead to the eventual break-up of Iraq.

"We in Iraqiya reject the idea (of forming a Sunni region), but it is being discussed -- the elites are talking about it," acknowledged Abdul Karim al-Samarrai, an Iraqiya MP from Salaheddin's provincial capital of Samarra.

"It is important to think carefully about this issue ... Some in Salaheddin are thinking of forming a region, but this is risky, it may lead to the division of Iraq.

"But if political reforms are not implemented, people will think more about forming regions and, at some point, we will not not be able to refuse them."

Article 119 of Iraq's constitution stipulates that, in addition to the Kurdistan regional government, "one or more governorates shall have the right to organise into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum."

All that is required is that the request be approved, either by one out of 10 citizens in each of the provinces which aim to join to form a region, or a third of those provinces' provincial council members.

Opinion on the idea remains divided, however, with a crucial wedge between the so-called "Sunni triangle" of Anbar, Diyala and Salaheddin, and Nineveh and Kirkuk to the north.

Concerns in Kirkuk and Nineveh remain with regards to a disputed tract of land centred around Kirkuk that divides the Kurdish region from the rest of Iraq, with both sides claiming it as their own.

In those two provinces, the Arab-Kurd divide appears to take priority over disputes with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, while the opposite is true of the "Sunni triangle" provinces.

"Forming a Sunni Arab region would destroy us," said Rakan Saeed al-Juburi, Kirkuk deputy governor and a Sunni Arab himself. "That project would mean the end of the Kirkuk issue, and this is unacceptable."

And even if the proposal were put to a referendum, there is no guarantee it would pass -- a similar attempt to turn Basra province into a region was rejected in a landslide vote two years ago.

But according to one analyst, Iraq's problems could be fixed simply by creating regions along ethno-sectarian lines.

"Iraq's problem can be settled just by establishing areas according to national and religious identities," said Taha Mustafa Adel, a professor at Diyala University.

"We are like sons whose father died, and now we are fighting over his wealth. The fighting among the brothers can only be stopped if the wealth is distributed among them fairly."

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidAN...yle%20autonomy

Turkey, Iran battle for clout, deals in Iraq

http://af.reuters.com/article/energy...6B20LL20101208

* Iraq battleground for Turkey, Iran in markets, diplomacy
* Neighbours using investment to secure influence
By Rania El Gamal
BAGHDAD, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Turkish clothing and beer are hot sellers in the streets of Arbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish north. Far to the south, Iranian cars roam the streets of Basra and Iranian pilgrims flock to Iraq's holy sites.
Sunni Ankara and Shi'ite Tehran, old rivals turned friends, are vying for post-war economic clout in neighbouring Iraq to capitalise on an expected oil boom, and have been flexing their muscles in Baghdad's government formation talks, diplomats and politicians said.
Already one of Iraq's main trade partners, Turkey wants a bigger foothold in its southern neighbour through increased investment to counter Iran's growing influence and to boost its stature as a regional economic and political power.
Turkish companies are top investors in hotels, real estate, industry and energy in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, and increasingly in the Shi'ite south where Iranian influence had been almost unchallenged.
Iran is Iraq's main trading partner and has been one of the largest investors in its construction and industrial sectors since the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
"It is clear that they are competing, specifically in Turkey's effort to dam in Iranian influence. Iran has undoubtedly gained a significant role in Iraq since 2003, and from about 2007 on, Turkey has started to push back," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group.
"They are holding each other in balance."
Ankara, which spent years focusing its diplomacy on Europe, has turned its attention to the Middle East and an emerging role as a neutral mediator and economic power. It has lobbied for an inclusive Iraq government that does not exclude minority Sunnis.
Tehran, a regional Shi'ite power, made sure Iraq's majority Shi'ites tightened their grip on power by backing a merger between the country's main Shi'ite blocs, guaranteeing incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki another term, politicians said.
Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Turkey and Iran in October as part of a tour to gain regional backing for his bid to form Iraq' new government in exchange for investment deals.
Iraq's Arab neighbours and the United States are worried about Iran's growing clout in Iraq, particularly as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw by end of 2011, tempting anxious neighbours to vie for influence in Baghdad.
"They (Turkey) are doing this throughout Iraq, in Kurdistan as well as in Baghdad and even Basra, which is not usually an area of Turkish influence," said Hiltermann. "The presence of a Turkish consulate in Basra is very much part of a strategy to dam in Iranian influence in Iraq through investments and trade."
ENERGY, INVESTMENT DEALS
A day before Maliki's visit to Ankara, Turkish oil company TPAO won deals to develop two Iraqi gas fields, a sign of Ankara's ambitions to become an energy bridge between Europe and the Middle East.
TPAO also has small stakes in two Iraqi oilfields, among a series of deals Iraq signed with global firms in a bid to quadruple its crude output capacity to Saudi levels.
As Baghdad embarks on unprecedented energy development, foreign investors also are eyeing opportunities in industry and infrastructure. War-damaged Iraq is starving for housing and electricity investments.
Turkish construction firms are building houses in Arbil, Turkish goods flood the malls and many young Kurds spend holidays in Istanbul, where some learn to speak the language.
About 55 percent of the foreign firms in Iraqi Kurdistan - 640 of 1,170 - are from Turkey, which expects bilateral trade of about $6 billion last year to grow to $20 billion in four years.
Iran has invested in power plants, schools and factories in Iraq, and expects exports to rise to more than $8 billion in 2010 from $6 billion a year ago despite Western-backed economic sanctions aimed at curbing business with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian-made Saipa and Peugeot cars are common on the roads and some Iraqis favour an illegally imported Iranian liquor.
"It is best described as the latest manifestation of a latent and sometimes overt Iranian-Turkish rivalry that has existed in the region for decades and centuries," said Gala Riani, Middle East Analyst at IHS Global Insight.
"Iran and Turkey have each historically considered themselves as being the bigger political, economic and military power of the region. In Iraq, both sides are capitalizing on the vast economic opportunities that are present in both the south and the north."
KURDISH FEARS
Turkey and Iran also have an interest in a stable Iraq as they seek a solution to their decades-long conflict with separatist Kurdish rebels, who fight for an ethnic homeland for Kurds. Like Iraq, Turkey and Iran have large Kurdish minorities.
"Turkey remains justifiably somewhat wary of Iran and, to some degree, still a rival. However, Ankara's AKP-dominated government has sought to improve relations with Tehran, in part to reduce the likelihood of regional conflict," said Wayne White, a scholar at the Middle East Institute.
"In Iraq, both Turks and Iranians have no desire for greater Kurdish autonomy. Both seek greater influence in Baghdad, although Iran clearly holds the upper hand in that respect."
But Iraqi political analyst Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie said Turkey may win growing influence in Iraq, at least in the short term, as a more neutral party that can win acceptance from all sides.
"With the rising pressure of the international community and increase of sanctions and hints of military actions against Iran, the near future will witness a rise for the Turkish role," he said.
"The Turkish role has the blessing of the international community and is backed by Arab countries. It has not met any Iraqi objection, as happened with the Saudis, who faced objections from the Shi'ites, or with the Iranians, who faced objections from the Sunnis," he said.

As U.S. Leaves, Iraqis Suffer Economic Toll
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/wo...6withdraw.html

TIKRIT, Iraq — Qahtan Kareem is a businessman whose main business — the United States — is leaving town. He made his fortune buying and reselling scrap and surplus from military bases. Now, as the American Army withdraws from Iraq, he is grim about the future of his company and its 430 employees.
“It’s going to be a disaster,” he said, sitting in an office lined with framed photographs of him with American officers. “There are no jobs outside American camps.”
While the political and security consequences of the American withdrawal have yet to be fully resolved, its economic effects have already taken a sharp toll on the tens of thousands of Iraqis who earned their livelihoods, sometimes at great risk, working for the military and the legions of American civilian and defense contractors.
They are now stranded between worlds, struggling to find new jobs in a country where about one in four people is unemployed, and scorned by those who view working for Westerners as treachery. Dozens have been killed, and few have been able to take advantage of American programs to relocate endangered Iraqi allies, discouraged by long waiting lists and tangled rules for applying.
“We’ve been left behind,” said Sayf Alaa Kamel, 22, who said he left school to work as a painter for an American contractor, but lost his job earlier this year.
The number of Iraqis employed by the American military has plummeted from 44,000 in January 2009, before the United States began to reduce its forces, to about 10,500 now, according to the military’s figures. The number of American-financed contractors and grant recipients fell by 22 percent just during the summer, according to a report by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
Those numbers are likely to keep falling as the United States continues what one military official called a “glide path” out of Iraq.
Layoffs and economic dislocation are natural consequences of the ebb of war, and their ravages in Tikrit, a sunbaked town 100 miles north of Baghdad best known as the home of Saddam Hussein, are mirrored in cities and towns across Iraq in varying degrees. High unemployment, especially among the young men who are favored insurgent recruiting targets, poses a security risk that threatens to undo hard-fought gains.
Contracts are expiring and reconstruction money is almost completely spent. The 49,700 remaining American troops need fewer Iraqis to paint gymnasiums, lay bricks or serve as links to local communities.
The newly jobless Iraqis say they are struggling to find work in the country’s anemic private sector or bribe their way into a government job. Some have moved their families to boom towns in the Kurdish north or the oil-rich south.
Those who fared especially well during the war are living on the money they saved. Others, awash in debt, have sold the refrigerators and the laptops they bought with American paychecks.
Mr. Kareem is planning to close two of his five junkyards, one near Baghdad and the other in Anbar Province in the west, putting about 120 people out of work. He hopes to build a $4 million recycling center near Tikrit, but is uncertain when he will break ground.
“We don’t know what’s in store for us,” he said. “Our business will close. Our employees will be out of work. They’ll be back to where they started, and terrorists will see this and take advantage.”
In Baghdad, the owners of the Zanubia transportation company said they once employed 55 drivers, engineers, electricians, security guards and other staff members to haul supplies for contractors working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the United Nations. Drivers were shot at and kidnapped, and the company’s owners received death threats. But the money rolled in. At its peak — “the golden age,” one of the owners said — Zanubia had contracts worth about $1 million a month.
“There were people who hated the Americans,” said Ayad Faraj, 34, a partner in the company. “We didn’t see them as an occupation. It was in our interest to work with them.”
Business has slowed to about $20,000 a month, and Zanubia has downsized its headquarters from a large house to a dingy office. The company has sold its trucks and surplus goods, and its owners say they are barely hanging on.
“It’s almost finished,” said Sami Nasir, the other partner. “Two years ago, we were so busy. Now, days pass without us doing anything.”
In the dusty and forlorn village of Asakr, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, an American military camp changed the fortunes of the town and its people.
Many of the 1,000 or so residents live in rows of nearly identical cinderblock homes that get about four hours of electricity a day. The streets are rutted dirt, there is no secondary school and the most prominent architectural feature is a pyramid-shaped bunker.
But since 2003, Camp Speicher, the headquarters of American forces in northern Iraq, has offered a rare opportunity. Residents said they would hitch a five-minute ride to work every morning and spend the day installing electrical cables, repairing cars or interpreting Arabic. Work at the base — a small town with its own airfield, soccer stadium, shops and American fast-food restaurants — paid reliably, and the Americans treated them professionally.
A former cleaner and laborer for American contractors, Ismail Esam Mohadeen, 26, sat in his living room, surrounded by a television, a gilded tea set, an armoire and stuffed animals his children had scattered. “This is all from the work I did,” he said.
Now, the base’s total population has fallen by more than half to 4,000, according to military officials there, and its former local employees are sorting out conflicted feelings of gratitude, nostalgia and frustration.
“The money was so much better, and the work was actually comfortable,” Mr. Mohadeen said. “We thought we’d have jobs. We were there for eight years. We didn’t see this coming.”
Some still have framed letters hanging on their bedroom walls, signed by Army officers praising their work and supporting them for American visas. They still remember the English they learned on base, but with no one to talk to, their vocabulary is fading.
Mohamed Jabar, 24, who recently lost his job as a driver earning $800 a month for an Iraqi subcontractor, is among those trying to scrub away the stigma of their former work.
A native of the restive, and heavily Sunni, Diyala Province, Mr. Jabar said that insurgents threatened him and interrogated his neighbors about his employers, driving him from the home he shared with his mother. But newly unemployed, he returned to beg forgiveness of local militants and ask that his name be struck from their hit lists. He said he promised them he was done with the Americans.
“I went through all that danger and risked my life,” he said. “It wasn’t worth it, but what was the alternative? I got a little money. Now life must go on.”

As U.S. Leaves, Iraqis Suffer Economic Toll
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/wo...6withdraw.html

TIKRIT, Iraq — Qahtan Kareem is a businessman whose main business — the United States — is leaving town. He made his fortune buying and reselling scrap and surplus from military bases. Now, as the American Army withdraws from Iraq, he is grim about the future of his company and its 430 employees.
“It’s going to be a disaster,” he said, sitting in an office lined with framed photographs of him with American officers. “There are no jobs outside American camps.”
While the political and security consequences of the American withdrawal have yet to be fully resolved, its economic effects have already taken a sharp toll on the tens of thousands of Iraqis who earned their livelihoods, sometimes at great risk, working for the military and the legions of American civilian and defense contractors.
They are now stranded between worlds, struggling to find new jobs in a country where about one in four people is unemployed, and scorned by those who view working for Westerners as treachery. Dozens have been killed, and few have been able to take advantage of American programs to relocate endangered Iraqi allies, discouraged by long waiting lists and tangled rules for applying.
“We’ve been left behind,” said Sayf Alaa Kamel, 22, who said he left school to work as a painter for an American contractor, but lost his job earlier this year.
The number of Iraqis employed by the American military has plummeted from 44,000 in January 2009, before the United States began to reduce its forces, to about 10,500 now, according to the military’s figures. The number of American-financed contractors and grant recipients fell by 22 percent just during the summer, according to a report by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
Those numbers are likely to keep falling as the United States continues what one military official called a “glide path” out of Iraq.
Layoffs and economic dislocation are natural consequences of the ebb of war, and their ravages in Tikrit, a sunbaked town 100 miles north of Baghdad best known as the home of Saddam Hussein, are mirrored in cities and towns across Iraq in varying degrees. High unemployment, especially among the young men who are favored insurgent recruiting targets, poses a security risk that threatens to undo hard-fought gains.
Contracts are expiring and reconstruction money is almost completely spent. The 49,700 remaining American troops need fewer Iraqis to paint gymnasiums, lay bricks or serve as links to local communities.
The newly jobless Iraqis say they are struggling to find work in the country’s anemic private sector or bribe their way into a government job. Some have moved their families to boom towns in the Kurdish north or the oil-rich south.
Those who fared especially well during the war are living on the money they saved. Others, awash in debt, have sold the refrigerators and the laptops they bought with American paychecks.
Mr. Kareem is planning to close two of his five junkyards, one near Baghdad and the other in Anbar Province in the west, putting about 120 people out of work. He hopes to build a $4 million recycling center near Tikrit, but is uncertain when he will break ground.
“We don’t know what’s in store for us,” he said. “Our business will close. Our employees will be out of work. They’ll be back to where they started, and terrorists will see this and take advantage.”
In Baghdad, the owners of the Zanubia transportation company said they once employed 55 drivers, engineers, electricians, security guards and other staff members to haul supplies for contractors working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the United Nations. Drivers were shot at and kidnapped, and the company’s owners received death threats. But the money rolled in. At its peak — “the golden age,” one of the owners said — Zanubia had contracts worth about $1 million a month.
“There were people who hated the Americans,” said Ayad Faraj, 34, a partner in the company. “We didn’t see them as an occupation. It was in our interest to work with them.”
Business has slowed to about $20,000 a month, and Zanubia has downsized its headquarters from a large house to a dingy office. The company has sold its trucks and surplus goods, and its owners say they are barely hanging on.
“It’s almost finished,” said Sami Nasir, the other partner. “Two years ago, we were so busy. Now, days pass without us doing anything.”
In the dusty and forlorn village of Asakr, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, an American military camp changed the fortunes of the town and its people.
Many of the 1,000 or so residents live in rows of nearly identical cinderblock homes that get about four hours of electricity a day. The streets are rutted dirt, there is no secondary school and the most prominent architectural feature is a pyramid-shaped bunker.
But since 2003, Camp Speicher, the headquarters of American forces in northern Iraq, has offered a rare opportunity. Residents said they would hitch a five-minute ride to work every morning and spend the day installing electrical cables, repairing cars or interpreting Arabic. Work at the base — a small town with its own airfield, soccer stadium, shops and American fast-food restaurants — paid reliably, and the Americans treated them professionally.
A former cleaner and laborer for American contractors, Ismail Esam Mohadeen, 26, sat in his living room, surrounded by a television, a gilded tea set, an armoire and stuffed animals his children had scattered. “This is all from the work I did,” he said.
Now, the base’s total population has fallen by more than half to 4,000, according to military officials there, and its former local employees are sorting out conflicted feelings of gratitude, nostalgia and frustration.
“The money was so much better, and the work was actually comfortable,” Mr. Mohadeen said. “We thought we’d have jobs. We were there for eight years. We didn’t see this coming.”
Some still have framed letters hanging on their bedroom walls, signed by Army officers praising their work and supporting them for American visas. They still remember the English they learned on base, but with no one to talk to, their vocabulary is fading.
Mohamed Jabar, 24, who recently lost his job as a driver earning $800 a month for an Iraqi subcontractor, is among those trying to scrub away the stigma of their former work.
A native of the restive, and heavily Sunni, Diyala Province, Mr. Jabar said that insurgents threatened him and interrogated his neighbors about his employers, driving him from the home he shared with his mother. But newly unemployed, he returned to beg forgiveness of local militants and ask that his name be struck from their hit lists. He said he promised them he was done with the Americans.
“I went through all that danger and risked my life,” he said. “It wasn’t worth it, but what was the alternative? I got a little money. Now life must go on.”

New Iraqi government taking shape
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/...6561292006139/

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Iraqi lawmakers are beginning to sort out key ministerial positions in an effort to form the next government, leaders said from Baghdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in November secured enough support in Parliament to get the nod for a second term in office more than eight months after losing by two seats in a national election.

Khalid al-Asadi, a member of the Shiite National Alliance, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Iraq bureau that the Iraqiya slate of former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi would get the Oil Ministry while his bloc would take over the Ministry of Finance.

Kurdish officials, he said, would keep the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Halal Talabani, a Kurd, also retains his position as president in the new Iraqi government.

There will be three vice presidents in the new government and three deputy prime ministers. Lawmakers loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr told the Voices of Iraq news agency they would take one of the deputy prime minister posts. Kurds and Iraqiya would take the other two, Asadi said.

Allawi, who has threatened to pull out of the government, is expected to have a member of Iraqiya head a new national security council that could be tasked with checking the power of the prime minister.

Maliki, RFE/RL reports, said he imposed a deadline of next Wednesday on presenting the new government for lawmaker approval.