Iraq's ailing farm sector more crucial than ever
Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:41am GMT
By Missy Ryan
AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq, once a bread basket for the Middle East, should look to farming as a lifeline as a sharp plunge in oil revenue threatens efforts to rebuild from years of war, Iraqi officials say.
But while the agricultural sector is Iraq's second biggest industry after oil, it accounts for just 8 percent of overall economic output after decades of neglect, international sanctions, underinvestment and decay.
Iraq's farm sector was once the envy of many of its arid neighbors in the 1950s. Today it imports the bulk of its food.
Farmers lack suitable irrigation, proper seeds and modern equipment. Farm labor has been drained by flight to cities, high soil salinity stifles productivity, and sectarian bloodshed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has hindered improvements.
The heart of the ancient world's fertile crescent, as it turns out, is not so fertile any more.
To make things worse, Iraq is suffering from a major drought that has crippled production in rain-fed wheat and barley areas. This prompted the United Nations to name Iraq one of 32 countries requiring external aid in food supplies in 2009.
Despite all this, the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will need a far more robust farm sector if it is to create broad-based growth and stave off a renewed insurgency, which in the past has drawn heavily from unemployed youth.
The violence of the past six years has finally begun to ease and the U.S. forces which toppled Saddam Hussein are preparing, gradually, to leave.
But the growing stability is fragile and could easily be reversed if the demands of ordinary Iraqis for jobs, better living conditions and prosperity are not met.
Maliki and other officials are making increasingly urgent calls to diversify Iraq's economy, which depends almost entirely on a single commodity -- oil -- to fill state coffers and pay policemen, pave roads and keep the lights on in hospitals.
When oil prices are high, as they were last summer at $147 a barrel, that seemed a blessing. But with oil hovering around $40 a barrel, it has become an emergency.
"We have become dependent on oil and gas because of the massive setbacks in the agricultural and industrial sectors," Maliki said during an oil conference on Friday.
SPENDING CUTS
Iraq has cut 2009 spending plans from $80 billion to $62 billion due to falling oil prices. Even the current plans may be unachievable as they are based on oil prices of $50 a barrel.
Maliki has launched a $200 million initiative to reenergize the farm sector. The government is subsidizing the sale of seeds and providing support for livestock and date palm industries.
Yet the sector may need far more money, over many years, and a host of tools like pivot sprinklers, cold storage, and crop varieties that can flourish in dry conditions.
"Much of the agricultural sector is dysfunctional or outright broken," said Jon Melhus, an agriculture adviser to the U.S. provincial reconstruction team in southeastern Maysan province.
"The lack of education and essential services, especially electricity, modern irrigation and drainage practices, transportation ... greatly limit Iraq's ability to compete."
Abdel Hussein al-Saidi, Maysan's deputy governor, called for greater aid from the central government, echoing the cries of provincial officials in every sector across the country.
"The farm sector is the foundation for developing the entire country. Everything else rests on it," he said.
Maysan, like other parts of southern Iraq, suffers from severe salinity, which turns vast expanses of land into white powdery salt, supporting only shrubby brush.
It has been a problem for thousands of years, but it is exacerbated by south-flowing irrigation that boosts downstream salt levels and flood irrigation that leaves salt on the soil.
Nassir al-Alami, Maysan's top farm official, said salinity had reduced productivity in some areas by three-quarters.
Iraq is now aiming to reclaim 6 million acres (2.5 million hectares) of salinated land.
Yet given the lack of resources, hopes of transforming the farm sector quickly into an engine of growth may be in vain.
"The combination of reduced budgets due to the decline in world oil prices, corruption, and bureaucratic inefficiencies poses enormous challenges," said Dan Foote, who heads U.S. reconstruction efforts in Maysan.
Budget to follow recommendations or country faces bankruptcy 04/03/2009 16:24:00
Baghdad (NINA) – The Iraqi Accord Front's Lawmaker Omer Abdul-Sattar al-Karbouli has said that the political factions have presented proposals over the country's draft budget, calling to adopt the recommendations of the parliament's committee.
(www.ninanews.com)
Iraq parliament cuts 09 budget by 7 percent
Thu Mar 5, 2009 4:43pm GMT
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament defied government objections and voted on Thursday to cut the oil-dependent country's 2009 budget by $4.2 billion, or nearly 7 percent, due to slumping oil prices, a lawmaker said.
The drop in global oil prices from a high of $147 per barrel last summer to close to $40 now has slashed Iraq's income from oil exports, its main source of revenues, just when it desperately needs money to rebuild after years of war.
The action by parliament would reduce the proposed gap between income and spending this year to 27 percent of total spending from 32 percent previously, said lawmaker Sami al-Atrushi, a member of parliament's finance committee.
"I think this budget is acting firmly in dealing with falling oil prices," said Atrushi, a Kurdish parliamentarian.
"Now the government will be committed to acting in accordance with this vote and the finance ministry will have to find ways to accommodate the new budget." He said the new budget set spending at $58.6 billion at current exchange rates.
Dependent on oil exports for more than 95 percent of its revenues, the Iraqi government is being starved of funds just as the violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion begins to die down and hopes grow for investment and economic growth.
If the government fails to restore services, equip its armed forces and improve the lives of Iraq's 28 million people, there could be a resurgence in bloodshed, some analysts warn.
Finance Minister Bayan Jabor on Wednesday tried to persuade legislators to pass the budget as it was. They could review spending in June if oil prices remained depressed, he said.
But lawmakers say the government is squandering money and budget cuts can be made without affecting investment spending.
Some may be interested in trying to shackle Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead of national elections late in the year, after the success that allies of the once obscure but increasingly assertive leader scored in recent local polls.
"These blocs were unhappy with the results achieved by Maliki's list during the last provincial elections," said a lawmaker from Maliki's Dawa Party, asking not to be identified.
"They want to handicap the government," he said. Reducing its funds would be one way to do that.
The 2009 budget has already been cut twice, from an initial $80 billion. But the last version was still dependent on an average oil price of $50 per barrel, above current market rates.
Sinan al-Shibibi, governor of Iraq's central bank, said in an interview a day before the vote that the slump in oil revenue would force the government to make more sober budget decisions.
"There will be a difficult transitional period, but it should give us an idea of how to take a more realistic attitude toward allocations and demands from the various sectors."
"Of course, this occurs at the wrong moment because of the fact that Iraq actually needs to embark on huge projects and it will affect that," he said.
Maliki has called on Iraq to reduce its dependency on oil, but the government has few options for an immediate short-term increase in revenues, as there is little taxation.
Iraq has the world's third biggest reserves of crude and is seeking foreign investors for its antiquated oil infrastructure.
7.5 pct GDP growth in 2009 optimistic but attainable
3/5/2009
* Oil price slump starves Iraq of funds
* Inflation slips to 9.2 percent
* 7.5 pct GDP growth in 2009 optimistic but attainable
* Iraq undecided on new IMF standby arrangement
By Missy Ryan and Wisam Mohammed
BAGHDAD, March 5 (Reuters) - The slump in oil prices will force Iraqi officials to make more sober budget decisions at a time the country is seeking to rebuild from years of war and fuel broad-based growth, the central bank governor said.
Iraq relies on oil for more than 95 percent of revenue and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government is already grappling with tough decisions as it looks for ways to reconcile today's oil price outlook with spending priorities crafted last year.
"There will be a difficult transitional period, but it should give us an idea of how to take a more realistic attitude toward allocations and demands from the various sectors," Sinan al-Shibibi said in an interview late on Wednesday.
"Of course, this occurs at the wrong moment because of the fact that Iraq actually needs to embark on huge projects and it will affect that. There will have to be reshuffling of the budget, and between investment and consumption."
An original plan to spend $80 billion in 2009 has already been shaved to $62 billion, but further cuts are likely needed.
Lawmakers have been sparring for weeks on ways to cut costs without jeopardizing plans to undertake urgently needed reconstruction projects and provide basic services -- all while avoiding stoking instability by cutting public sector pay.
INFLATION DROPS
As Iraq emerges from the worst of the sectarian and insurgent violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, it is now focusing on creating jobs and plans to rebuild a shattered economy. Shibibi said core inflation, which shot as high as 35 percent in the chaos after 2003, had dropped to 9.2 percent now.
The bank has pursued a strong dinar policy, Shibibi said, in order to curb core inflation, which excludes fuel and transport. Iraq holds currency auctions through which it sets the exchange rate.
Iraq is also striving to reverse the dollarization of its economy since 2003. Today, the dinar is "very much in demand, and we think this is good for the economy and good for combating inflation," he said. As inflation subsides, the bank has cut its policy interest rate to 11 percent from 14 percent in January, Shibibi said.
But with retail lending still scarce, the bank's policy rate is seen mainly as a signal to banks in setting their own rates rather than the transactional tool it is elsewhere.
"We want now to encourage investment and lending in general but (the policy rate) will depend - I don't want to give an idea of the direction - on the results of inflation every month."
Shibibi said lending in Iraq's banking sector, still largely isolated from the rest of the world, was picking up, mostly in financing trade and some personal loans excluding mortgages.
Increasing the availability of credit will be one key element for creating growth outside the oil sector, by far the biggest in dollar terms but which generates relatively few jobs.
Shibibi said the International Monetary Fund's December forecast for 2009 gross domestic product growth of around 7.5 percent was "probably optimistic" due to the global oil trend. "On the other hand, it will be attainable because there will be a big endeavour ... to increase (oil) production," he said.
Iraq has been courting major investment in its oil fields, which contain the world's third largest proven reserves, but short-term help is urgently needed to update aging facilities and boost output that remains below pre-invasion levels.
NO IMF DECISION YET
Shibibi said growth outside the oil sector, which the IMF expects will be 6 percent in 2009, "needs a lot of work". Iraq has been spared much of the impact of the financial crisis due to its relative financial isolation, but it may be hurt by a slowdown in oil demand. Shibibi said that the growth of money supply in Iraq had probably slowed more recently.
Iraq has yet to decide whether it will seek another stand-by arrangement from the IMF, Shibibi said, but said such a decision could come when Iraqi officials meet shortly with the IMF.
Iraq is also due to begin repaying its remaining stock of Paris Club debt in 2011. Shibibi said he didn't expect that new obligation would pose a major problem. "I really don't think it is very dangerous ... Of course the amount at the beginning will be relatively big, but we will have to manage that unless we restructure again," Shibibi said.
"The Paris Club debt was cancelled 80 percent, so we're talking about 20 percent. A few countries cancelled 100 percent, but the remaining debt from other creditors, we have to deal with that and probably there will be another restructuring." (Editing by Toby Chopra)
7.5 pct GDP growth in 2009 optimistic but attainable - Source
(www.safedinar.com)
A top Egyptian diplomat says Egypt will press Iraq to repay some $2 billion in debt incurred during the reign of deposed leader Saddam Hussein.
(www.noozz.com)
Major parties reluctant to endorse oil law, says Jabir 09/03/2009 12:30:00
Baghdad (NINA)- MP Jabir Khaleefa Jabir, rapporteur of the parliament's committee on oil and gas, has described some parliamentary blocs' attitude over endorsing the oil law in the next legislative term as "featured by lack of enthusiasm."
(www.noozz.com)
In Iraq, 2008 carried over much of the beginnings of security improvements that began in late 2007. The decrease in violence, at least relative to the devastation of 2006-2007 is widely seen as enabling President Barack Obama to have the political space needed to call for the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq.
However, even these modest improvements in security have come with a high, but unseen price: Baghdad is encircled by and filled with over 100 miles of concrete walls that have divided the once-cosmopolitan city into ethnically “pure” enclaves, the allegiance of the Sons of Iraq to the U.S.-backed government is tenuous at best (and dependent on the government continuing to pay them), Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki is slowing building his own military force, and the Iraqi military is still highly dependent on U.S. military force for operational and logistical support.
Politically, many analysts argue that the results from the provincial elections indicate a path towards greater political stability in the country. However, several key issues remain unsolved: the continuation of competing sectarian divisions within the various components of government, the status of Kirkuk, disagreements over federalism among various ethnic and sectarian groups, and the development of Iraq’s oil law. The United States has been unable to break the deadlock on all of these issues, despite repeated attempts, and it is unlikely that U.S. influence will result in resolution of any of them in the future. Parliamentary elections slated for late this year could easily ignite tensions just as easily as they could move Iraq forward.
At bottom, Iraq remains a country occupied and at war. While violence has decreased and the government is stronger, fighting continues and the United States remains far too powerful in the country for it to be called independent and sovereign. Although Afghanistan is quickly gaining greater attention by the public, policy experts and grassroots movements, Iraq cannot and must not fall off of the agenda of the peace community. The lessons learned from Iraq should be taken to heart in Afghanistan, and pressure must be maintained to ensure that the partial withdrawals announced by Obama move quickly to complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops.
Legislative Openings
1) Congressional Approval of SOFA: Many analysts argue that the Status of Forces Agreement signed between the United States and Iraq falls outside the bounds of a normal SOFA agreement, raising it to the level of a treaty. Now that Obama’s plan for Iraq is public, and similar to the terms outlined in the SOFA, the Senate should move forward to ratify the SOFA as a treaty, especially as several key leaders in Congress have voiced concern about the size and structure of the forces Obama has proposed. Future funding of war supplementals should be made dependent on having such a treaty in place.
2) Demobilization of the Sons of Iraq: Long-term stability of Iraq depends on the integration and demobilization of the Sons of Iraq (SOI), the locally recruited and primarily Sunni security forces that are armed and supported by the United States at $300 per person each month. Legislation should be put in place for both requiring a plan and funding for integration and demobilization of these forces.
3) Address Refugees: There are approximately 1.5 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria, Jordan, and other neighbors of Iraq, as well as 2.7 million internally displaced persons within Iraq, making it one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. Legislation should include funding for humanitarian assistance and resettlement inside and outside Iraq, when necessary.
4) Reform the Oil Law: The proposed Iraq hydrocarbon law would take the majority of Iraq’s oil out of the hands of the Iraqi government and open it to international oil
Key Dates & Events
March: Obama Administration submits war funding supplemental ($75-82b)
March 19: 6th Anniversary of the War
March: Pentagon Quarterly Report June: Pentagon Quarterly Report
July 31: Iraq votes on SOFA Referendum
Aug 21-Sept 19: Ramadan
September: Pentagon Quarterly Report
Fall: Death toll reaches 4,500 U.S. soldiers Late Fall/Winter: Iraq Parliamentary Elections
December: Pentagon Quarterly Report
Other Events, Dates Unknown:
FY2010: Defense/State Authorizations
FY2010: Defense/State Appropriations (includes $130b for war funding)
Erik Leaver is the Policy Outreach Director for Foreign Policy In Focus and is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies
INIC to hold symposium Sun.
March 12, 2009 - 02:52:25
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Iraq National Investment Commission (INIC) will hold a symposium in Baghdad next Sunday to discuss ways to develop provincial investment commissions, according to a release issued by the National Information Center Wednesday.
“All journalists and correspondents are invited to attend the symposium,” said the release that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The event, to start at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday (March 15) at al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad, will be attended by undersecretaries in addition to representatives of chambers of industry and commerce.
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
I suspect based upon the following article the Dinar will experience a revaluation of 1000/1. This is just my opinion of course.
__________________________________________________________
Iraq plans to boost currency, revive rebuilding plan through the crisis
Source: BI-ME , Author: BI-ME staff
Posted: 09-03-2009 Back Email Print RSS Feeds
IRAQ. A slump in oil prices, the result of slowing crude demand caused by the global financial crisis, has left Iraq short of money to rebuild its infrastructure after years of war, economic sanctions and violence, Iraq’s central bank governor said.
“It has a large influence on us as a result of slumping [oil] prices caused mainly by the current financial crisis,” Sinan al-Shabibi told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview in Amman, Jordan late on Saturday night.
Iraq, which derives more than 95% of its revenues from oil, earned only US$1.8 billion last month from oil sales compared with almost US$7 billion last July when oil prices peaked at a record US$147 a barrel.
The country, in dire need of cash to rebuild its infrastructure after the debilitating impact of war, economic sanctions and sectarian violence, has to cut its 2009 budget to US$58.9 billion, from US$80 billion.
But al-Shabibi said that his country hasn’t been hurt by the other symptom of the financial crisis - deteriorating bank credit - due to its relative financial isolation and undeveloped banking system.
The governor said the central bank has plans to improve Iraqi state-run and private banks, which have yet to meet international standards of operation.
“There is a large programme to improve our banks especially the private banks,” said al-Shabibi.
Recently the central bank, for the first time in years, authorised the country’s private banks to handle international payments and foreign currency letters of credit worth up to US$4 million each from only US$1 million in 2008.
Most of the letters of credit used to be handled by the state-run Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), he said. Private banks need to exert more efforts to widen their trade and financial businesses, he added.
Iraqi private banks, which number about 30, still lack an effective cross-border payment capability and most of these institutions are relatively small and can only support limited amounts of commercial trade businesses.
Al-Shabibi said the central bank has managed to reduce core inflation to 9.2% currently, from a record high of 34% in 2006.
“We are planning to reduce that inflation percentage further to a certain level that would improve the purchasing power of the Iraqi currency,” he added.
Al-Shabibi admitted that the central bank had pursued a very strong monetary policy over the last few years in order to curb core inflation which reached 70% during former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s regime.
“Our monetary policy used to be very strict but now we have eased it as inflation has dropped,” he said.
Al-Shabibi said the central bank has adopted a policy to boost Iraq’s currency, the Dinar. The Dinar has risen over the last few months to a record high against the US Dollar, thanks to trading by the central bank at its daily auction.
The Iraqi Dinar was trading Sunday at 1,170, after trading at around US$1,500 per dollar for almost three years after the US invasion. Before the war, the Sinar was trading at around 2,000 to 2,500 per dollar. The central bank sells an average of US$50 million to US$60 million every working day in Baghdad to private and state-run banks.
(www.bi-me.com)
Moscow signals harder position on nuclear-armed Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis
March 13, 2009, 1:37 PM (GMT+02:00)
Russian rocket expert Vladimir Dvorkin heeded also in the West
A Russian strategic arms control expert, Vladimir Dvorkin, said Thursday, March 12, that Iran could produce an atomic weapon in "one or two years," allowing Tehran to broaden its support for Hamas and Hizballah. Dvorkin, as head of the strategic arms research center at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and a former general of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, is a highly respected authority in the West.
This was the first time a Russian figure had predicted Iran would be nuclear-capable within so short a period, DEBKAfile's Moscow sources stress. Its correlative linkage to a heightened threat from Hamas and Hizballah has never been heard from Moscow, or even explicitly from Washington or Jerusalem.
Dvorkin put it this way: "The threat is that Iran, which has effectively ignored all the resolutions and sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, as a nuclear state would become untouchable, allowing it to broaden its support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hizballah."
Without mentioning Israel, this Russian warning implicitly put the Jewish state on notice, as the only country threatened by Hizballah and Hamas, that time was running out.
Dvorkin's prediction of "one or two years" was also Moscow's rejoinder to intelligence chief Dennis Blair's forecast Tuesday that Iran would have a nuclear bomb capability within "one to five years."
It was the second pointer to a tougher Russian stance on Iran's nuclear weapon aspiratoins. On March 10, the Russian news agency Interfax quoted an unnamed Moscow source as stating that "Russia may shelve delivery of its advanced S-300 air defense missile system to Iran."
Tehran wants this system to protect its nuclear sites against air or missile attack.
The Moscow source added: "Such a possibility is not excluded. The question must be decided at a political level…"
The final decision on the transaction has therefore been passed to president Dmitry Medvedev and prime minister Vladimir Putin, say our Moscow sources.
The Dvorkin statement and Interfax disclosure lay down a hard new Kremlin line on the impasse over Iran's quest for a nuclear bomb just ahead of the Russian president's first summit with US president Barack Obama in London on April 1.
They also suggest that Russia would show some flexibility in the interests of cooperation with Washington.
Moscow has not lost sight of a possible quid pro quo with Obama over the deployment of a US missile shield close to its borders versus Russian involvement in the Iran nuclear issue - although both sides deny this was proposed.
Remember that shoe throwing incident at President Bush by an Iraqi reporter. Italian news reports this story.
------------------------------
Iraq: Judges defend sentence for shoe thrower
Baghdad, 12 March (AKI) - The Iraqi journalist Montazer al-Zaidi, who was jailed for three years on Thursday for throwing his shoes at former US president George W. Bush, received a fair trial, the Iraqi magistrates' governing body told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"The sentence was passed by professional and independent Iraqi judges who were not subject in any way to political or government pressure," the Supreme Council of the Iraqi Magistrature's official spokesman Abd al-Sattar al-Birqadar said.
"The sentence is not final unless it is ratified by the Court of Cassation, which has a month to uphold or amend the verdict," he said, referring to the three-year sentence handed to al-Zaidi.
Iraq's Criminal High Court invoked article 223 of the Iraqi constitution in sentencing al-Zaidi. It sets a punishment of between three and 15 years in prison for assaulting a foreign leader on an official visit, al-Birqadar said.
Al-Zaidi hurled his shoes at Bush during a farewell media conference in Baghdad last December, calling Bush a "dog" and saying it was a "farewell kiss" from those who had been killed, orphaned and widowed in Iraq.
His actions were condemned by the Iraqi government as "shameful" although Bush - who managed to duck both shoes - shrugged off the incident.
But al-Zaidi's gesture made international headlines and turned him into a hero in the Arab world with shoe-throwing becoming worldwide symbol of dissent and protest.
In the most high-profile 'copycat' attack, a German protester threw a shoe at Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, during a speech at Cambridge University.
Political news between Iran and Pakistan as it relates to terrorism. This report comes from Italian news service.
--------------------------------
Iran: Energy, terrorism and trade top agenda during Zardari visit
Tehran, 10 March (AKI) - Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari travelled to the Iranian capital, Tehran, on a two-day visit on Tuesday. A stalled multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is expected to be at the centre of Zardari's talks with Iran's leaders, according to observers.
Zardari (photo) believes the gas pipeline project is of strategic importance and needs be concluded urgently, Pakistan's official news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
The 7.5 billion-dollar gas pipeline will run 2,600 kilometres and will transport gas from Iran to India through Pakistan. It is seen as crucial to India's energy needs.
The agreement has been delayed due to disagreements over transit fees and security concerns.
Other issues are the supply of power from Iran to Baluchistan and greater access to the Iranian market for its goods as the current balance of bilateral trade is tilted heavily in Iran's favour.
Iranian officials are also expected to raise the issue of sectarian killings of Shia Muslims in Pakistan. In the most recent incident, suspected Taliban-linked militants shot dead at least five Shia Muslims in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive southwestern Baluchistan province last Tuesday.
At least 15 people were killed and 20 others were injured in a bomb attack on a Shia mosque in Quetta in February, and in January at least five Shia Muslims died in a bombing in Dera Ismail Khan, in Pakistan' restive Northwest Frontier Province.
Issues of border security cooperation along the 980 kilometres-long Pakistan-Iran border will also come under discussion during the talks.
Zardari is also due to attend the annual Economic Cooperation Organisation summit while he is in Iran.
He is likely to hold meetings with ECO country leaders on trade, and counter-terrorism. The 10-member ECO consists of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Some business news from Italian news source on illegal money laundrying for Iran.
--------------
US: Italian bank may face charges over illegal Iranian payments
New York, 2 March (AKI) - New York prosecutors will present formal charges against one of Italy's largest banks, Intesa Sanpaolo, which is allegedly among at least 10 major Western banks to have illegally handled funds for Iran and concealed Iranian transactions routed through the United States. The cash may have been used to buy illegal arms, investigators allege.
US investigators and their Italian counterparts from the northern city of Milan allege that Intesa Sanpaolo's branch in New York handled international credit transfers made via banks with headquarters in Iran, and also Syria and Libya, where the companies' names have been concealed.
The payments were made by banks and companies slapped with US sanctions, investigators allege. Intesa Sanpaolo says it is fully cooperating with the investigation.
New York district prosecutors allege that these operations violate both US federal and state laws and will press charges against Intesa Sanpaolo in May.
Milan police involved in the inquiry say they have established that embargoed Iranian, Syrian and Libyan banks asked Intesa Sanpaolo to conceal their names on international credit transfers, which were made in US dollars.
The New York branch of Britain's Lloyds TSB in mid-January paid a 350 million dollar fine in order to continue to operate in the US after investigators found it had handled illegal credit transfers from Iran and other 'rogue' states.
Lloyds TSB admitted to having handled 300 million dollars from Iran and 20 million dollars from Sudan that was paid "to American banks".
According to investigators, Tehran purchased via the British bank nuclear centrifuges for its controversial nuclear programme and 30,000 tonnes of tungsten, a chemical element that can be used to build high-tech missiles.
The investigation, which is being carried out jointly with the US justice department, is also probing other major European banks, including Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, in western and eastern Europe and elsewhere.
If investigators prove that Intesa Sanpaolo is among the 10 or more banks that are illegally handling funds for Iran, the bank may be forced to close its New York branch. Other Italian banks are also being targeted by the probe, investigators say.
Another focus of the inquiry is the role of the Rome branch of Iran's Bank Sepah, which has been subjected to a US economic embargo since January 2007 and also subjected to United Nations sanctions and Italian sanctions.
Bank Sepah's executive director, Hassan Ali Qanbari, told semi-official Iranian news agency Fars in December that the bank's Rome branch had "started up again."
The bank has denied financing illicit weapons programmes.
Because of economic sanctions and the small size of Iranian banks, the banks have long relied on big European multinational banks in their international trade and credit transfers. Many of those transfers have flowed through New York City.
Unassuming bureaucrat face of Iraq's political shift
Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:33pm GMT
By Khalid al-Ansary and Missy Ryan
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Yousif al-Habubi, a mild-mannered bureaucrat, drives his own car around the dusty city of Kerbala and unlike most Iraqi officials goes without a pack of bodyguards in flashy suits.
The no-frills style of this veteran local administrator is a sharp contrast to his runaway success in Iraq's recent local polls. But his victory may result in less than he, and many voters, hoped if his goals to capture a top post are cut short.
"How could 38,000 votes go to waste like this? Can this be called democracy?" the independent candidate asked weeks before Kerbala's new provincial council is seated, one that appears poised to shut him out of being governor or council president.
Habubi's victory in the January 31 vote reflects the changing face of politics as sectarian bloodshed fades and Iraqis demand the services they say established powers have failed to provide.
But his subsequent sidelining by larger powers highlights the challenges facing a nation just six years into a shaky new democracy, where historical feuds and recent bloodletting threaten stability and resurgent violence is a breath away.
Habubi won 13 percent of the vote, or 37,846 ballots, more than anyone else in Shi'ite Kerbala. But because new election rules favor big parties and coalitions, the candidate running on a one-person slate was assigned just one council seat.
The two second-place slates in Kerbala, one backed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, are expected to form a bloc and divvy out top posts among themselves when the council's 27 members meet to elect a governor and council president in several weeks.
That disappoints those fed up with major religious parties that since the U.S.-led invasion thrust them into power have used sectarian quotas and backroom deals to apportion key posts.
SERVICES, JOBS, RECONSTRUCTION
Several hundred people took to the streets of Kerbala on Saturday, demanding Habubi be named governor. 'We want an honest governor who serves Iraq,' one banner read.
Habubi, speaking in his well-appointed home in central Kerbala, emphasized a need for a more technocratic government to avoid repeating Iraq's past mistakes. "Scientists, theorists, people with experience -- they must be involved," he said.
Teeming with pilgrims visiting the golden-domed Imam Hussein shrine, Kerbala like all of Iraq needs investment to meet basic needs and create jobs for youths often courted by militants.
Many Iraqis bitterly complain that there is little to show for the billions of dollars in U.S. and Iraqi money spent since 2003 to improve services and rebuild a country shattered by war.
In Kerbala, where the streets are pocked by craters and trash dances in the wind, voters were drawn to Habubi's record of delivering as a bureaucrat and his unassuming style.
Such quotidian desires were also seen as helping propel Maliki, whom many Iraqis credit for the sharp drop and violence and whose Rule of Law coalition campaigned on a law and order message, to victory in many parts of southern and central Iraq.
Habubi, who blamed parliament for designing electoral rules benefiting larger parties, hasn't ruled out forming coalitions.
Safia al-Suhail, an independent lawmaker, warned the row may make wider ripples at a delicate moment for Iraq.
"This goes against voters' intentions in Kerbala and all of Iraq ... it could lead people to abandon the political process."
So it seems. Wish it was that, I Feel like I missed something. I enjoyed reading this blog but now get my info from the "other" site but its alot to go through. My guess is everyone will return if something major breaks.
Iraq sees first Western tour group since Saddam fell
Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:53pm GMT
BAGHDAD, March 19 (Reuters) - Iraq has received its first group of Western tourists since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said on Thursday.
The group of eight holidaymakers -- five Britons, two Americans and a Canadian -- arrived on March 8 and toured Iraq's landmark historic sites, including the Biblical city of Babylon, fabled home to the Hanging Gardens.
Their three week trip was organised by a British adventure tour operator, ministry spokesman Abdul-Zahra al-Telagani said, but he declined to name the company.
"This is the first group since the regime's fall," he said. "We expect these tourists will convey a positive message to their citizens back home that the situation in Iraq is good."
Their itinerary included the Castle of Arbil -- a relic of the medieval Ottoman empire in Iraq's northern Kurdish region -- as well as the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, in Mosul, a dangerous city still crawling with Sunni Arab insurgents.
They visited the al-Askari mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites of Shi'ite Islam, whose devastation in a bomb attack in 2006 unleashed a wave of sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war.
In the south, the tourists saw the holy Shi'ite shrines of Kerbala and Najaf, which are already popular with religious pilgrims from Iran, and the southern oil-hub Basra.
They will finish up this weekend with a visit to the Iraqi National Museum. The building was re-opened last month for the first time since looters pillaged it after the U.S.-led invasion.
Iraq, part of a region known as the cradle of civilisation, has countless archaeological and religious sites but decades of war have shut the doors to foreign tourist groups.
STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-DNO jumps after report on Iraq field
Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:52am GMT
STOCKS NEWS Reuters
09:51GMT 19 March 2009-DNO jumps after report on Iraq field
Shares in Norwegian oil company DNO International (DNO.OL) rise 15.5 percent after business newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv quotes Iraq's oil minister as saying DNO's Tawke field in the autonomus Kurdish region is ready for export.
"It is just to get started as soon as possible, without further delay," Hussain al-Shahristani tells the Norwegian daily.
Arctic Securities analyst Trond Omdal says this mirrors earlier statements from Kurdish authorities and advisors to the oil ministry in Baghdad. DNO's share price has in the past risen or fallen steeply on prospects for exporting its Iraqi oil.
"The oil minister is now saying it -- that they can start exporting from the Kurdish fields as soon as possible -- without a new oil law," Omdal says.
Washington Post is reporting from interesting developments in Iraq. Just what does this mean, I do not know. Any speculations?
---------------------------------------------
New Alliances Emerge in Advance of Iraq Elections
Negotiations Raise Possibility That Politicians Could Bridge Ethnic, Sectarian Divides
By Anthony ShadidWashington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, March 19, 2009; 6:01 PM
BAGHDAD, March 19 -- Six weeks after provincial elections, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has allied himself with an outspoken Sunni leader in several provinces and broached a coalition with a militant, anti-American cleric, suggesting the emergence of a new axis of power in Iraq centered on a strong central government and nationalism.
Negotiations are still under way in most provinces, distrust remains entrenched among nearly all the players and agreements could crumble. But the jockeying after the Jan. 31 elections indicates that politicians are assembling coalitions that cross the sectarian divide ahead of parliamentary elections later this year, a vote that will shape the country as the U.S. military withdraws.
"There is a new political map," said Anwar al-Luheibi, a Sunni adviser to Maliki, who is a Shiite. "And I anticipate this map will be far better than the one we had before."
The negotiations and deal-making mark a departure from politics that have hewed almost exclusively to ethnic and sectarian lines, fomenting the discord that brought Iraq to the precipice of civil war in 2006 and 2007. They represent the first round of a great game that may resolve a question unanswered since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003: What coalition of interests will find the formula to wield power in Iraq from Baghdad?
With his strong performance in the provincial elections, Maliki is the front-runner in forging such an alliance, a remarkable ascent for a lawmaker considered weak and pliable when he was put forward as a consensus candidate for prime minister three years ago.
Forgoing the slogans of his Islamist past for a platform of law and order, his party won a majority of seats on the council in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, and emerged as the single biggest bloc in Baghdad and four other provinces in the south, which has a Shiite Muslim majority. In most provinces, though, his party must make coalitions if it hopes to help determine who will fill the governorship and other key provincial positions.
Saleh al-Mutlaq, a leading secular Sunni Arab politician known for his nationalism and strident opposition to the U.S. occupation, said his supporters would ally with Maliki in four provinces: Diyala, Salahuddin, Baghdad and Babil. Mutlaq heads the Iraqi National Dialogue Party, but his supporters ran under different labels in provincial contests. Mutlaq said Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister who led a secular list in the campaign, would also join the alliances.
The convergence of their interests is a stark contrast to the alliances that followed elections in 2005, which Sunni Arabs largely boycotted. Their refusal to vote gave religious Shiites and Kurds disproportionate power in provinces such as Baghdad, Diyala and Nineveh, all with substantial Sunni populations. In predominantly Shiite southern Iraq and Sunni western Iraq, power coalesced around ostensibly religious parties, whose members built their appeal on clandestine organizations in exile, underground networks under Hussein, support from Iran and other neighbors and, occasionally, the end of a militiaman's gun.
This time, some coalitions seem to be based on ideology: a strong central government that Maliki, along with secular candidates such as Allawi and Mutlaq, have endorsed, as well as opposition to the kind of federalism espoused by Maliki's Shiite rivals, who favor a Shiite-ruled zone in the south, and Kurdish parties that control an autonomous region in northern Iraq. Both Maliki and Mutlaq have rallied support among Arab and nationalist constituents by opposing Kurdish territorial claims, particularly around the contested northern city of Kirkuk.
Mutlaq draws backing from among the still numerous supporters of Hussein's Baath Party in Sunni regions, and he has long pushed for reconciliation with its members. Despite his reputation as a Shiite hard-liner when he came to power in 2006, Maliki echoed the call this month. In a speech, he urged Iraqis to reconcile with rank-and-file Baathists, those he described as "forced and obliged at one time to be on the side of the former regime."
He declared that it was time "to let go of what happened" in the past.
Mutlaq said he told Maliki in a meeting two months ago that "there was a time when you stood against me on those issues. 'You should be happy I changed,' he told me." Smiling in the interview, Mutlaq joked that first the prime minister "stole the government from us, and now he's trying to steal our political speech from us."
Mutlaq said that Maliki had proposed an alliance for parliamentary elections, too. But, he said, "we're still studying the message." Since the fall of Hussein, religious Shites and Kurds had effectively served as the coalition at the heart of power in Iraq. Maliki's emergence has upset that formula, and virtually each component of the Shiite alliance has now gone its own way. The bloc that claimed to speak on behalf of long reticent Sunnis has splintered, too, unable even to agree on a replacement for the speaker of parliament, who resigned in December.
Fayed al-Shammari, a leader of Maliki's Dawa Party in Najaf, who will serve on the provincial council there, said he foresaw a grand coalition for the December parliamentary elections that would join Maliki with influential Sunni leaders, elements of the U.S.-backed Sunni movement that turned against the insurgency and perhaps even Moqtada al-Sadr, a militant Shiite cleric whose followers witnessed a political resurgence in the January vote. Strikingly, it would not include Maliki's other Shiite rivals or Kurds.
A hint of that alignment emerged in Wasit province, where Maliki's supporters were reported to have joined with Allawi's list and Sadr's followers. "There's a great possibility for this," Shammari said, although even he questioned whether it could withstand the still-seismic conflicts over the very nature of the Iraqi state, namely its power in relation to the provinces. "With any coalition, you have an ambition for it to be permanent," he said. "But ambition doesn't always match reality."
Mutlaq envisioned three main groups competing in the December vote: A list that he led, Maliki's group and an alliance of Kurds and religious parties -- both the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Sunni-led Iraqi Islamic Party. One example of the third grouping has emerged in Diyala province, where the Supreme Council agreed to an alliance with the Islamic Party, said Ridha Jawad Taqi, a lawmaker from the Supreme Council.
Mutlaq, an agricultural engineer who grew wealthy under Hussein's government and is sometimes spoken of as a candidate for Iraq's presidency, said any future national alliance with Maliki would depend on cooperation in the provincial councils.
"We want to see what he's going to give," he said in the interview. "Is he going to behave as a real partner or is he going to try to isolate the others?" He said he was still skeptical. "We don't think Maliki is going to act in a democratic way. We're worried that he's collecting power in a dictatorial way."
Mutlaq said he understood that Maliki had already reached provincial alliances with an electoral list supported by Sadr's followers, a deal that Shammari, of Maliki's Dawa Party, called likely. But spokesmen for Sadr and the list of candidates he supported said negotiations were still under way. "We think they only want alliances in the provinces where they're facing difficulties. They reject us in the provinces where they feel comfortable," said Ameer al-Kinani, the head of the Trend of Free Independents, the list Sadr's followers supported. Sadr's supporters did especially well in Dhi Qar and Maysan provinces in southern Iraq, where negotiations are still under way to choose the top officials.
To help win their support, Sadr's officials have insisted Maliki play a role in freeing their supporters in prison. Hazem al-Araji, a Sadr spokesman, estimated as many as 1,500 remained in U.S. custody and 2,500 in Iraqi custody. Like other Sadr officials, he complained that security forces were still arresting their followers in southern provinces.
"There has been a step toward each other," said Salah al-Obeidi, another Sadr spokesman in Kufa, near the sacred city of Najaf. "But until now, Maliki's coalition refuses to give any kind of guarantees and any kind of details of the map they will follow in representing the provinces. This arouses many fears with out friends."
Earlier in his tenure, when his position was far weaker, Maliki courted the Sadrists as a source of support. Last year, though, he turned on them, dispatching the military against their militiamen in Baghdad and Basra. This time around, Sadr's supporters say, Maliki seems to be trying to negotiate from a position of strength.
"He's not in need of the Sadrists anymore?" Obeidi asked. "Maybe, maybe."
But like Mutlaq, he said they would watch the behavior of Maliki's officials in the provincial councils to determine whether they could enter a broader alliance in the next election. "Until now we haven't decided," he said. "Yes, there are big obstacles between us. They can all be bridged. But until now, Maliki has not acted on any promises he made us."
Asked if he trusted Maliki, he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't trust any political figure," Obeidi said.
Special correspondents Zaid Sabah and Qais Mizher contributed to this report.
Western tourists glimpse antiquity in Iraq
Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:21pm GMT
By Tim Cocks
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bridget Jones, 77, stares up at the ceiling of her Baghdad hotel and thinks carefully for a moment when asked whether she'll recommend Iraq to her friends.
"It depends on the friends. It wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea," the retired British archaeologist said after a two-week group tour of Iraq, the first Western group since mid-2003.
"For starters, their's no coffee, there's no alcohol, if you're a woman you've got to wear a headscarf, and the plumbing isn't brilliant," she said, not even mentioning the risk of being kidnapped by militants or blown up by a roadside bomb.
Jones, from north London, is one of eight Western holidaymakers -- five Britons, two Americans and a Canadian -- who arrived in Iraq on March 8 and have since toured many of Iraq's major historic sites, including the Biblical city of Babylon, fabled home to the Hanging Gardens.
Iraqi tourism officials hope their visit will herald a new era of antiquities tourism in a country known as the cradle of civilisation and which gave birth to such milestones of development as writing, codified law, the wheel and agriculture.
"I've always wanted to see Iraq, because it's where everything started -- the Land of the Two Rivers," Jones said, referring to the Tigris and Euphrates, whose floodwaters enabled some of the world's earliest farming and led the Greeks to coin the name "Mesopotamia" for the land in between them.
Jones used to work for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments and has long had a passion ancient history.
But was she not worried about security in Iraq?
"No, no I'm an optimist: I always think these things happen to other people," she said, adjusting her thin-rimmed spectacles. "Besides, when you get old, it's far better to die from a bullet in Iraq than to die in a geriatric ward. I haven't got that much longer to live, so why not live to the full?"
"ADVENTUROUS"
As violence falls to lows not seen since mid-2003, Iraq is banking on tourism as a sector that will help it rebuild after years of bloodshed and rife kidnapping drove Westerners away.
The country already attracts thousands of religious tourists to its Shi'ite shrines in the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala.
Adventure tour company Hinterland Travel brought this group to Iraq. Their itinerary included the Castle of Arbil -- a relic of the medieval Ottoman empire in Iraq's northern Kurdish region -- the al-Askari mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites of Shi'ite Islam, and the southern city of Basra.
Standards have a way to go -- the tourists complained of cold showers, waiting too long to gain entry to sites and poor hotel service, but all said they loved their experience. They have toured other hotspots like Afghanistan and they some said they wanted to check what they read in the news about Iraq.
"These people are very adventurous, not your normal tour, but even so we wouldn't have done this nine months ago," said Hinterland's Managing Director Geoff Hann, adding that another group from Russia was already lined up for a second tour.
Unlike many of the Western officials who tour Iraq in helicopters or armoured vehicles wearing flak jackets, the tourists were driven around in an ordinary tour bus, Hann said, wearing only their shirts, trousers and shorts.
"They think I'm mad," Tina Townsend-Greaves, 36, a civil servant from Yorkshire, said of her friends back home. "But it's such an interesting place, politically: it was nice to come out and see it for ourselves. It was an experience."
Abdul-Zahra al-Telagani, spokesman for the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry, said he expected any more tourists would follow suit. Koa Van Chung, from New York City, agrees.
"Sure, there's military checkpoints, there's bureaucracy ... but in a few years this could be a viable tourist spot."
BAGHDAD, March 21 (Reuters) - Iraqi businesswomen urged the government on Saturday to support them in their push for a greater share of the business that is expected to flourish in Iraq now that the violence is subsiding.
A branch of the U.S. military engineering division helping to rebuild Iraq has been supporting Iraqi businesswomen by offering training seminars and trying to ensure that they have equal opportunities in competing for reconstruction contracts.
"We urge the Iraqi government to have a similar programme that will set aside a percentage of contracts to be awarded to businesses owned by women," said Azza Humadi, manager of the engineering division's Women's Advocate Initiative.
"We urge the politicians among us to introduce legislation in parliament to this effect," she added, speaking at a conference on businesses owned by Iraqi women.
Women have suffered immensely since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which ushered in years of rule by religious groups and Islamist militants who restricted women's rights. The war made widows of thousands, and others' husbands were imprisoned.
Iraqis hope a sharp decline in violence over the past year will herald an investment boom.
U.S. military agencies involved in Iraqi reconstruction said they had awarded 1,020 contracts to women-owned businesses in 2008, worth a total of $187 million.
One woman at the conference was the business development manager of a group planning a $5 million mall in Iraq.
Women are little represented at the upper levels of business in the Middle East in general, yet the wife of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, Khadija, was known to be a wealthy trader.
"The entry of women into the business world is no less important than her participation in politics," female Iraqi lawmaker Shatha al-Musawi told the conference.
"I say that if this matter needs new legislation, we as members of parliament will do our best." (Writing by Mohammed Abbas: editing by Tim Pearce)
Since on other forums I constantly read the back an forth regarding a zero lop of the Iraqi currency I decided to write the Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Carolina.
Her paper is entitled, Dropping Zeros, Gaining Credibility? Currency Redenomination in Developing Nations. Below I have included my email to her and then her response. I hope this is helpful.
_____________________________
Dr. Mosley,
I have read your paper entitled Dropping Zeros, Gaining Credibility? Currency Redenomination in Developing Nations; I am interested in your research as it pertains to the country of Iraq. In my opinion, when specifically applied to Iraq the hypotheses asserted make it likely their Central Bank meets many of the criteria for potential redenomination of its currency. The three criteria standing out to me are an independent central bank, under International Monetary Fund stand by agreement, and the desire for an inflow of capital to their government controlled oil sector.
Currently Iraq has 25000, 10000, 5000, and 1000 denominated notes in circulation; do you know of any formula a central bank or government employs to arrive at the number of zeros removed from its currency during redenomination? Since Iraq meets the criteria for redenomination is it safe to conclude the notes currently in circulation are nothing more than transitory notes?
I know your time is valuable and I appreciate you reading my email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Respectively,
Rob N.
__________________________________________________________
Dear Robert:
Thanks for your email. It's always a little difficult to extrapolate the results from large-N analyses (based on 70 countries over 30 years) to a particular case at a specific point in time. So I'd be a little hesitant to attach a really high probability to a redenomination in Iraq.
That said, I could imagine that, as a political matter, the current or a future Iraqi government might pursue redenomiation in the future, as much as a means of national identity building (and to distinguish itself from the period of US involvement) as a response to having a currency with several zeroes. The removal of zeroes tends to come in sets of three (with removal of three being most common; removal of six also has occurred in several cases, but is less relevant here).
Of course, any redenomination should not change the underlying value of the notes in circulation. While there are some instances on record of fraud in the redenomination process, the general practice is for governments to freely exchange old notes for new ones, and for there to be a period of parallel circulation of both old and new notes (to allow time for the transition to occur).
I hope this is helpful.
Layna
Layna Mosley
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
__________________________________________________________
I read the blog, but didn't find the prospect of 1IQD:$0.005 (half a cent) very appealing. That means IQD 1m = $5,000. I would like more! I have also been pondering what effect a possible RV would have. So far we've really only been considering those with cash, but what about those with shares? If an RV of 1:1 occurred for instance, those companies on the Iraqi stock exchange would possibly exchange a lot of their cash reserves (into USD, Euros, etc) and use the money to expand. As we know, expansion of a company in any stock market causes the underlying shares to be worth more. Especially if the company has a lot of cash on its books and can afford to pay out generous dividends. Many shareholders may cash in and become millionaires 10 or 100 times over depending on what price they bought the shares at. Even if many didn't cash in their shares, there's still the prospect of 1000s being paid out in dividends. I wonder if this is sustainable by the Iraqi economy?
By the way, I noticed the name at the end of the blog. Is it yours??
I think that an rv to 1:1 or near it would cause too much strain on the economy. This could cause inflation ala Germany 1922-1923.
I think they want a competitive currency, but not quite dominant.
Iraq’s hard cash reserves estimated at more than $70 billion, minister says
Azzaman, March 18, 2009
Iraq could stash away up to $70 billion dollars from its oil sales in the past two years, Finance Minister Baqer Jaber Solagh said.
The minister said the money was saved when oil prices surged and hovered at $150 for several months.
Iraq’s exports have averaged 1.9 million barrels a day and despite the sharp drop in prices recently the country is working hard to boost output and exports.
“Without these savings our conditions would have aggravated amid the drastic fall in oil prices and the current financial crisis,” Solagh said.
He said Iraq has hard cash deposits of about $44 billion in the Central Bank and up to $30 billion in a fund the finance ministry administers.
The minister made the remarks in response to reports that Iraq was facing a severe financial crisis due to the drop in oil prices.
“Our conditions would have been similar to other oil-producing countries such as Venezuela if we had not set this money aside,” the minister said.
Oil revenues make up 94% of Iraq’s hard cash revenues.
(www.azzaman.com)
Kurdish Prime Minister attacks Iraq's "failed" oil policy
The prime minister of northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Wednesday blasted the Iraqi petroleum minister for his "failed" policies.
(www.noozz.com)
Iraq elections watchdog says January poll results final
Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:07am GMT
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The results of Iraq's January provincial elections are final and complaints have been rejected, the country's election watchdog said.
The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said it had received 593 complaints about the polls, which took place peacefully and saw allies of Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki do well at the expense of more religious groups.
"Iraqi judges have approved all the decisions (election results) adopted by the IHEC ... after all complaints were rejected, and these decisions are considered final," IHEC member Hamdiya al-Husseini told Reuters late on Thursday.
The polls took place without a single major attack, making them the country's most peaceful elections since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Complaints about the election results included voters not finding their names on the electoral register, and elderly voters being coerced into voting for particular parties.
Despite the complaints, the poll results have been broadly accepted by Iraq's political groups.
Dodging the curse of the financial crisis that brought the global economy to its knees, Iraq's soaring stock exchange is about to experience its Big Bang.
Already up by about 30 per cent this year, as investors cash in on improved security and rock-bottom share prices, electronic trading is set to be introduced in a month, a move that investors hope will herald a new bonanza.
At present, mustachioed men in smart suits lean over a wooden barrier that rings the trading floor, squinting at a wall of whiteboards on which brokers scribble the price of stocks while jabbering into mobile phones or shouting to clients. This quaint trade in the shares of potentially one of the biggest economies in the Middle East was due to be phased out a year ago but delays in installing equipment and collecting shareholder information from the 91 listed companies foiled that plan.
Only now is the Baghdad bourse ready for its first wave of automation. Traders expect the new system to boost prices further. They are still recovering from their collapse after years of war. The cheapest stock is a ½ dinar - a fraction of a penny - and the most expensive 100 dinar (6p).
Electronic trading will also help the market to expand. Five companies - three banks and two hotels - have already been suspended from manual transactions and should start to be traded electronically by mid-April. The other companies will move over during the course of the year.
Ultimately, the whiteboards will come down and trading will shift to an adjacent room of computers in lines of booths where stockbrokers will work. One investor, Rashid al-Waili, 64, is eagerly awaiting the revolution. “It will quicken the process of selling and buying,” he said. Current transactions take up to two weeks, while shareholder certificates are submitted to the company, verified and handed to the stock exchange. Electronic trading will complete the deal in five minutes.
Opened in June 2004 with funding and support from the US-led coalition, the bourse is Iraq's first independent stock market. During Saddam's time the old Baghdad stock exchange reported to the Ministry of Finance.
Its current market capitalisation is about $2 billion (£1.4 billion), below its peak in 2005, but it has been clawing its way back in the past year.
Taha Ahmed Abdul Salam, chief executive of the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX), said that Iraqi share prices were wiped out during the worst days of the sectarian conflict that gripped the country between 2005 and 2007.
Many investors sold stocks and fled overseas and trading was suspended for several months in 2006. A crackdown on the violence has helped to restore stability. The market is open again for business and interest is picking up. “In 2008 and this year, high liquidity returned and new liquidity came to buy shares, which makes demand for shares rise,” Mr Abdul Salam told The Times.
Foreign money is among the new liquidity, with two international funds buying and selling stocks. Interest from overseas remains limited, because Iraq's feuding parliament has yet to pass a securities law, which would offer greater protection and assurances for all investors.
Mr Abul Salam hopes that the only way is up, in terms of market size and value. “I believe in one or two years I will have more than 200 [listed] companies,” he said. Trading time could also increase from two-hour sessions, three days a week, to 24-hour trading.
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday urged Iranian businesses to invest in Iraq and help with the reconstruction of his war-ravaged country.
"We call on Iranian enterprises to come and work and invest in Iraq and to contribute to the construction process in the country, as we have already asked international businesses to do," he said at a meeting with Ali Larijani, speaker of Iran's parliament.
Maliki said his administration "wants to see relations with Iran make progress in all sectors," according to a statement.
Larijani said Iran is "ready to support the Iraqi government and to remain at its side to make the Iraqi economy grow."
Both Iran and Iraq, which was invaded by US-led forces in 2003 to oust the Sunni Muslim regime of the late Saddam Hussein, have Shiite majority populations.
Larijani, who has been visiting Iraq since Tuesday, has dismissed as "fine words" the recent message by US President Barack Obama to Iranian leaders.
On March 20 Obama proposed an end to three decades of animosity in a message marking the Iranian New Year, in a departure from the tough line adopted by his predecessor George W. Bush.
"Our dispute with the US is not an emotional issue and cannot be resolved by congratulatory messages or fine words," Larijani told reporters on Wednesday during a visit to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad.
"Our differences have been going on for 30 years," he said.
I am deeply saddened to see this blog deteriorate to the point where there is only one or two posts each day and then it is some irrelevant happening in Iraq.
All you oldtimers come on back and resume posting like you did in the past. I am receptive to reading whatever you choose to write about whether it be about your nephew being jailed for something he didn't do, or your unwed teenage niece having a baby and going on welfare, or the status of your health, or what you are going to spend your newfound wealth on when the dinar pegs.
Every night at 9:00 P.M. I come down to my office in the basement and have a couple of stiff shots of vodka and mountain dew and read the T&B and occasionally post something with whiskey doing most of the talking. After following this routine for some four or five years and enjoying it immencely, I now find somewhat of a void in my evening routine.
Come on fellas, lets all start back posting and get the old gang back communicating with each other.
I have read this blog every night for four or five years
The last sentence was superfloues as I did not intend to send it. I began a sentence with that comment and decided to say something else, and forgot to omit it.
I think the issue stems from the slow movement of the Dinar. All the speculation has run its course and hopes of a revaluation has gone by the wayside. I believe the administrator must determine if there is a enough interest to continue the blog. If it is determined interest does not exsist then it is time to end this blog.
My thanks to you for your faithfulness to the blog and the effort you put forth in researching dinar related information and passing it on to us. I still believe that we have viable investment and as Roger has said many times, "it takes the Iraqi officials forever to get anything done". Surely, they will wake up soon and recognize what an advantage it will be to the Iraqi people to have the Dinar valued higher.
Of greater concern to me right now is what is going on in this country. Mr. Obama and the Democrats have charted a fiscal course that will lead to Hell. No person or country can live for a prolonged period on borrowed money. The immediate future will look great with those thousands of billions of dollars floating around priming the financial pumps but at some point, the lenders are going to become sceptical and stop lending and then what happens.
To further compound this impending catastropy, interest rates are surely going back up along with inflation and repayment of this debt will consume a lion's share of our national budget. As businesses close and people are laid off, the incoming revenue to the Treasury is greatly dimished, so less revenue and run-away spending with borrowed money is a receipe for fiscal disaster.
The national deficit is programed to run around one trillion per year for the foreseeable future. We can't even slow down the spending, much less pay back any of the debt.
IMO we should let the chips fall as they will without any government intervention other than supporting unemployment compensation for laid off workers. For every business that fails, if there is a viable demand for its service or product then some astute businessman will open a business to accomodate this demand.
If anyone sees anything good coming from our current course of action, I would appreciate hearing your views.
I agree with your assessment concerning our current couse charted by Obama. In my view, Obama is a puppet just as Bush on back to Johnson controlled by the banking elite.
Our current crisis was manufactured by the banking oligarchy to bankrupt this nation and its people. Sadly, in this environment the people of the United States are being held as collateral for perpituity.
Based upon the governments actions I will not be surpirsed if we see inflation and interest rates reminiscent of the mid to late 1970's. In my opinion, a loaf of bread could cost $6.00 a loaf especially if gold prices jump to $6000.00 an ounce as some have predicted.
Our situation is dire and the American people sit back and allow it to happen. It is time for us to demand our country back.
Neil, one other admonition if I may. Let us not continue to be caught in a false paradigm. The right/left paradigm is a tool used by these oligarchs to divide us as a people. We must come together and throw off this paradigm to see what lies behind Obama all the way back to Johnson is sinister.
Iraq seeks to amend economic pact with U.K.– ministry
March 30, 2009 - 11:59:28
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Iraqi Trade Ministry on Monday said that Iraq wants to reconsider and amend the economic pact with Britain, to comply with the developments taking place in the country.
“This came in a meeting between the ministry’s undersecretary, Waleed Habeed al-Mousawi, and a British diplomat in Baghdad,” said a release issued by the ministry and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“Al-Mousawi called on activating the Iraq-U.K. mutual committee,” it added.
“Iraq is keen to have Britain as a partner in the rebuilding process,” it noted.
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
Maliki asserts at summit forces' preparedness to fill security vacuum 30/03/2009 18:06:00
Baghdad (NINA)- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asserted that Iraqi forces became ready to fill any possible security vacuum that would be created when the U.S military forces withdraw from Iraq. In a speech delivered at the 21st Arab summit.
(www.ninanews.com)
Iraq issues tender for 45 oil wells in South Rumaila
Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:25am
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's South Oil Company on Monday issued a tender for the drilling of 45 new oil wells in its super giant South Rumaila oil field.
The 30 producer wells and 15 injection wells, tendered on a turnkey rate basis, should be completed within 25 months, according to the tender posted on the state-owned company's Web site.
(www.reuters.com)
I drink very little vodka but I do know that Jim beam will set you free. I've also followed this forum for several years and always check it at least once a day. I started buying the Dinar in August 2004 while in Iraq on a project. Considering the appreciation and interest earned, the Dinar has been a good investment...of course, I'm waiting on the RV for the big payday...I continue to believe the initial RV will be USD 0.33.
In the meantime I've continued to invest money in the FOREX market and, even though you can make some money in it, it's getting a little wierd in the current situation.
My hope is the RV will bring us enough money to regain our country before all our rights are given away by our glorius leaders in Washington. The conversations in my neck of the woods always begin with, "is it time for the guns yet?"
Conference in Arbil next week on oil wealth
March 30, 2009 - 04:46:39
ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: A conference will be held in Arbil on April 7th on the distribution of the oil wealth in Iraq under the auspices of the UN and with the participation of international experts, the coordinator of the Kurdistan’s government for UN affairs said on Monday.
“The conference is the continuity of the first conference held in Baghdad last November of the distribution of the oil wealth in Iraq,” Dr. Dindar Zebari told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The conference will be held under the auspices of the UNAMI office in Iraq and with the participation of UN experts and oil, finance and planning ministries as well as speaker and members of the Iraqi and Kurdish parliaments,” he also said.
Oil price too low to support investment: industry official
Oil prices, at around 50 dollars a barrel, will not support huge investments needed in the sector to meet demand, the secretary-general of the International Energy Forum said on Monday.
(www.noozz.com)
I know what you mean with your expressed seniments of "are they coming for our guns yet". Our founding fathers did not trust banks or too much government. What the USA will look like after Obama and congress gets finish with us is anyone's guess.
I also did not know you were in Iraq in 2004. What was the reason you were there and what did you think of the country?
I too look at this forum on a continuing basis. Sometimes I skip a week or two if traveling etc. But I try to keep up with everything happening. Unforunately, we lost our Iraqi Updates due to them not being free anymore. And I haven't heard from anyone out of Iraq in awhile.
Has anyone been listening about the new worm hitting the computers for april fools day. News is reporting on this. I made sure my computer security was completely updated.
Our founding fathers gathered up armed citizens and defeated a despot tyrant, King George, and regained our god given rights. They also realized that Governments are prone to take your rights from you if you have no means to defend against it. Governments simply don’t understand that they work for “we the people”. That’s why they are “public servants”. It’s simple….while we retain our guns we have the necessary means to protect our rights.
My project in Iraq was to build and commission water plants. I’m a systems engineer/project manager and worked several years in the Middle East. Iraq is a mess due to the war but the people are easy going and nice to work with. Just remember, Iraq is known as the cradle of civilization and has a long history. I would love to go back as a tourist one day.
I just saw on the news that the new worm has been released and slowly spreading. I use “windows live onecare” and it keeps me protected at all times.
I found this interesting snippet a few days ago. With the British now leaving Basra, hopefully this signals better things are on the way. The article mentions the price of property in Basra. In the link below, the snippet is in the grey area on the right. It mentions million dollar properties in Basra! Hopefully, the IQD will rise in value too. The first tourists were also in Iraq a couple of weeks ago - albeit on a guarded tour.
Back for R&R, but will be leaving for the sandbox soon again.
Looking in retrospect how this Dinar investment went, I must say that I have had most success so far on the ISX (That is for the uninitiated, the Iraqi Stock Exchange)
My basic set up was to purchase 40 mill Dinars, in currency, and put it under the mattress, holding on to it in the hope of an RV. For a while, I did just that.
Now, this set up is probably the most common one, but I choose'd to go roads less travelled.
I decided to put all my Dinars in an Iraqi business investment bank, and with a portion of that funding, buy stocks on the ISX.
So how did it pan out so far?
Well, a market that is starting from scratch, rusted valves, leaking pipes, and squeaky wheels, really can't go down, as the market starts out with nothing except junk.
Make the junk work, have been the work order for decades there, so any infusion, any investment, any new equipment, or any new influx in any way or form is an upper, or a boost.
The Iraq economy, while it is sensing lower oil prices, is living in a bubble of it's own.
While the rest of the world is experiencing a feeling of downtrend, loss, and recession, the Iraqis have a completely different view of the future.
They have already been through a loss, a deprivation of their rights, and an economic depression that would make them laugh when they hear whiners from the west having to give up one of their cars, or have to give up the Starbucks as the morning Java fix.
Out of 26 million Iraqis, about 10 millions earn LESS than a Dollar a day.
Their recent experience from Saddam, the invasion, the insurgency, the Al Qaeda, the sectarian killings, and finally the truce, is a thirty year ordeal that have just recently ended, and they feel they are walking around in the garbage heap of what they once had.
Now, they are cautiously optimistic about the future.
Reports form the outside world of a global recession, is for them so insignificant, as they immediately compare it with what themselves have just gone through, and it seems more like nothing for them.
So the Iraqis are living in a completely different reality bubble, where the worries that the rest of the world have, is a laughing matter for them.
Seeing firsthand myself, in Iraq, what the Iraqis are thinking, from an investors viewpoint this is an important point to remember.
The Iraqi investors climate is happening in another reality bubble, and proof of the pudding is how investments are flowing into Iraq.
When I started to invest in Iraqi stocks, the ISX index was around 30.000, and now it is close to 200.000.
I decided to put 10 millions in a savings account, and put 30 millions on the ISX and get a decent portfolio of stocks.
It was roughly 2 years ago I transferred everything to Iraq, into a Warka Bank account, and started to get a decent spread on the stocks.
At the start when I bought 40 million Dinars as a currency, I was able to buy all those Dinars for about 26 or 27.000 Dollars, thereabout..
Today, the currency itself have gone up and is worth roughly 35.000 Dollars.
Ok, but as I took 3/4 of the money and put it into ISX, there is about 30 million dinars that are doing me another kind of work.
Those money have brought me far the best return as we speak.
Fairly often I get an e-mail saying that dividends on that or that company have been awarded to me, and either they have credited my savings account with X amount of Dinars coming from the dividend payout, or they have given me stocks, in payment instead.
(That is the two most common ways to pay dividends, either you get cash, and that is that.....or...you will get stocks in the same company to the same value as the dividends, then it is up to you if you want to sell those stocks, and get your profit, or just stay on as a bigger shareholder)
In that way, my savings account have swelled into 14 millions (from 10 M), and the value of the stocks have risen from...well you figure yourself, with the index I just mentioned.
I can do all this, and still have exactly the same anticipation as the person have, that is sitting and waiting for an RV, with the cash in the mattress, as I will benefit in exactly the same way as he will, if it happens.
The difference is that the Dinar is working for me , and is on an aggressive growth curve in the meanwhile.
I am telling you all this, rather personal financial details, so you can see that there are other options rather than sit and hope that the Central Bank of Iraq finally will do something about the Dinar, or watch your investment follow a slow growth curve in the CBI auction.
It is always better to have the money working for you, rather than sit on it (hey, applies to a recession at home too), if you unplug the Dinar you have stuck somewhere, and bring it over to Iraq, and have it invested in the ISX, you will benefit, but Iraq will benefit even more.
An Iraq that prospers, is good for the Dinar.
It kind of becomes a slightly philosophical point at the end here.
If you hold onto your investment, but hold it physically, you can't have the Dinar, its just a plug.
If you unplug them, send them to an investment bank that will help you get into the ISX, now suddenly, you don't hold any Dinars in your hand no longer( feeling empty....eh).....now, you can have as much Dinars as you have imagination to.
Invest it well on the ISX, you can buy and sell as you please now, the control over the Dinar have now shifted from CBI to you.
This is the way I did it, and I recommend it to all Iraqi Dinar investors.
I have not been here for a while, I have had a lot to do over there, lately, they have given us 100 hr's work weeks the last five weeks in a row.
I just started my R&R, (Rest & Recreation) and will be home for two really needed weeks.
My R&R started with a flight in a Black Hawk helio, and ended up with a short commuter flight, in between there was three long flights, and you will get almost proctorized at every turn for safety reasons, so I am glad all that is over (for two weeks).
Warka bank will open up a branch in the "Green Zone", I will not be able to get to it, as my missions are always done at night, but rumors are that they are also going to open up a branch in camp Liberty, and chances that I will be there in daylight hours (between missions) are much higher. That might put me in a position to walk into the Warka bank branch and do bank business on at least one of the bases. On that, we will see.
Ok I just wanted to share my investment experience with you, and give you a couple of well meant hints, on what ways there are, please choose a wise one.
Whatever you choose, don't invest more than you can afford to lose.
It is good to see you post. Great insights concerning Al-Warka. I still have not opened an Al-Warka account because of the lack of protections in codified law for the would be depositor. Al-Warka is a private bank. What assurances do you have that your funds are protected from seizure?
On a personal note, enjoy your R & R you deserve it. I hope to see you post a few more times prior to your return to Iraq.
TBI is one of the first new, post-Saddam banks to have emerged in the aftermath of the Coalition invasion of Iraq. In an exclusive interview in Baghdad, President and Chairman Hussein Al-Uzri spoke to Mike Gallagher about the bank's role in building a new economy
TBI was established in July 2003 to facilitate the trade of goods and services to and from Iraq by providing irrevocable letters of credit. The TBITBI officially became fully operational in December 2003 and began with a services contract with a multi-international banking consortium led by JP MorganJP Morgan Chase. It was the first bank to begin offering Iraqi credit cards; it had the first ATM network in Iraq; it had the first fully automated online banking system in Iraq and was the first Iraqi bank to receive lines of credit from international financial institutions.
Hussein Al-Uzri is the Chairman and President of the Trade Bank of IraqTrade Bank of Iraq which is Iraq's largest financial institution with $100 million in capital. Al-Uzri established the Trade Bank of IraqTrade Bank of Iraq upon the end of the military campaign of 2003 to facilitate the Government of Iraq trade with the rest of the world. Prior to joining TBITBI, Al-Uzri served as a managing director at Card Tech, a major emerging markets financial IT and consulting company, and spent 10 years in Moscow managing their activities in Russia. Aluzri is a graduate of Texas Tech University and is fluent in English, Arabic, and Russian.
The term 'frontier market' has been bandied around for quite some time in the Middle East and over the years it has been used to describe the UAE, Saudi Arabia, other parts of the GCC, as well as North Africa. Is Iraq the definitive Middle Eastern frontier market?
Yes, in some cases you could say that. You could say that it is like the Wild West for some people. You could compare it to the gold rush in San Francisco in 1849 or like those who went to the Klondike in Alaska in 1896 when the first people who found gold became the richest. That is why you could describe Iraq as a frontier market. Some of those who have made ventures into the north of the country because it was safer, or even into the south have done quite well. Their returns have been quite substantial.
What would you say to an international bank which may be looking at Iraq and may want to get in on the act?
I would say that they are missing out on big opportunities and I mean both international banks that have a presence in Iraq as much as those who do not have a presence here. The private sector is where the growth is. The public sector is still the biggest area of business, but the private sector is really beginning to catch up. Take a look at the budgets which are being set aside for investments - they are quite substantial. Private sector banks in Iraq are generally quite profitable, as are we and that should go some way to explaining the economic situation here. There may be some issues with the security situation, but we are still making money.
JP Morgan was one of the first banks to begin dealing with TBITBI in 2003. Are you still dealing with the likes of JP MorganJP Morgan and Standard Chartered?
TBITBI was established in November 2003 and started operations in December 2003, so we were up and running within a month. The reason we had to do that was because the Oil for Food Programme, which the United Nations had been running since 1996, was going to be terminated. Another reason was because we had already established relations with JP MorganJP Morgan and it was with their help that we were able to start quickly. Our relations with JP MorganJP Morgan have always been extremely good and since then we have expanded our list of correspondent banks. However, JP MorganJP Morgan is still our main correspondent bank. We now have a list of more than 65 correspondent banks.
How was 2008 for TBITBI?
It was very good. We easily exceeded our projections. We were projecting a 20 per cent increase on 2007, but have already gone beyond that. This has come off the back of the improving Iraqi economy, although I would admit that the rise in the price of oil in the first half of the year has helped a lot because it meant that we had a supplementary budget.
One of the important factors is that the private sector in Iraq has started to expand. We are seeing a lot of suppliers and contractors using the Iraqi banking sector, rather than banks from outside the country. If you wanted something that shows signs of confidence in the economy, then that is one example.
You said at the start of 2008 that TBITBI was planning to issue around $7.5 billion in letters of credit. Did you hit that number?
We exceeded that target ro reach $8.1 billion.
What were the big growth areas in 2008?
The most significant growth area for us has been the developing private sector. Public sector trade finance is still our biggest income provider, but what we are increasingly seeing is growth in private sector trade finance activities. Most of the business is in providing logistics and supplies to the government, such as by providing equipment and commodities, but there has also been some movement in infrastructure projects.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and even Iran are all promising much in the way of planned infrastructure projects. Is Iraq going to go the same way?
I think so. It is definitely going to be quite big, although there are different numbers going around, ranging from $200 billion to $400 billion worth of projects that are supposed to be in the pipeline if Iraq wants to catch up with the rest of the region by way of infrastructure.
I mean, take a look at what needs to be either overhauled or built from scratch. Power generation facilities will have to be built, as will the water infrastructure network and other utilities, not to mention adding new oil refineries to the supply chain as well as adding new wells. Schools, hospitals, roads and ports will all have to be upgraded or built. All this is going to take up a large chunk of any future budget projections by the government.
Is there a role for foreign investors?
Of course. Iraq by itself cannot pay for all this and that is why the private sector, both Iraqi and otherwise, will play a big role in providing technical and financial expertise. I believe that project finance is going to be a major source of income for us in the coming years. It is hard to avoid that conclusion because of the amount of work that needs to be done. We will see more investors coming to Iraq when they realise the scale of what needs to be done, as well as the opportunities all these projects will offer.
For now, we are seeing Iraqi investors who are beginning to play their part by bringing back some of the money it had taken abroad a few years ago. They appear to be putting their money into projects that are quite important for the economy.
Baghdad is one of the world's oldest centres of commerce, given that it sits at one of the most important junctions on the Silk Route. What about Iraq having something similar to Dubai's DIFC, or the QFC in Qatar or the Bahrain Financial Harbour in the future?
We don't have enough banks in Iraq. We definitely need to attract as many banks as the places you have mentioned. It is important to build a banking culture. There are so many assets in Iraq. Most people own their houses. They are not mortgaged. They have fixed assets. There are only 500 bank branches throughout the country, which makes it, by my calculation, around 50,000 customers per branch, which is ridiculous. The international banks that are here need to be more active as well.
It probably isn't a good time to be thinking about establishing a financial centre at the moment, especially given the current credit crisis, but whether we have one or not, we have to be able to attract more banks to the country and when they come, they need to be more active.
Many parts of the Middle East, the West and even China and India all suffer from major shortages of electricity. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are all pouring money into power and water supply installations. Will electricity infrastructure projects be one of the first areas the money will start going into?
Mike, you have been here many times over the past few years. I do not need to tell you what the power supply is like. Blackouts are far from unusual. The current power capacity only meets half of what is required. Shortages are very common and everyone uses portable petrol-powered backup generators. We will need other banks to come in and help to provide the finance for the big power generation projects. That is a fact which cannot be avoided. The market will be quite substantial.
Right now we are not providing more than 5,500 megawatts of electricity. We need at least 27,000 megawatts. That is based on international standards of one kilowatt per person. We need at least five times the amount we have at the moment. That is the absolute minimum. The older plants will also have to be overhauled and maintained. It is a considerable challenge, but one that has to be met if the economy is to meet its true potential.
But isn't building these plants in the current economic environment is going to be difficult, given the difficult credit conditions?
One of the things that the government will do is sign a contract to buy the electricity and water from these companies on a Buy-Operate-Transfer (BOT) or Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis. It has already started around here. If you go to Erbil you will see a power plant there. It is already selling electricity to the government and at a very competitive price. The most important thing is that it is already producing electricity. They are already producing 370 megawatts and should be producing 500 megawatts shortly. It is not something we are planning it is already taking place on the ground.
Are there are major similarities or differences between trade and project finance in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East?
Up until 2003, Iraq was a country in default that had quite a few creditors. It also had many lawsuits that were being lined up against it. However, we have moved on quite a bit since then. Any assets outside Iraq were subject to attachment risk and that is why there were very creative ways to do project finance, but we had to abandon such methods after 2003 (laughs). We have come a long way since then and have made a decent effort at establishing ourselves as a respectable player in the international financial markets.
For instance, there was a tremendous amount of appetite for the bonds that we issued and while the global economic crisis has had some effect, there is still a lot of demand for such products from Iraq, even compared to other countries. Some of Iraq's banks now have a better credit risk rating than many banks in the US. We have done quite well for ourselves, despite the security problems and how many countries can say that?
Sometimes it takes us a while to re-establish lines of credit, but we are establishing our contacts with the export credit agencies to help us in the trade finance business and to help us expand our lines of credit with international banks.
You started issuing Visa cards in 2005? How has that worked out for TBITBI?
It was obviously a new concept at the time, because cash was king and there was not much confidence in the banking sector. It was a cultural thing that took a while to become established, but it is doing very well now, especially for those who are doing business outside Iraq. They can see the benefits. Acceptance was initially very limited because there were few ATMs around, but it is beginning to take off. What helped was the fact that people began to realise that it was much more secure and convenient. Nobody wanted to walk around carrying too much money.
Is the infrastructure there?
The infrastructure to allow banks to operate more effectively is being put in place, but in terms of interbank lending, well, we are not quite there yet. There is no concept of interbank lending yet. Technically, the systems exist, but there is not so much confidence between banks at the moment and that is a bit of a problem. It will eventually take off because there is liquidity and that is something that doesn't exist in other parts of the world at the moment.
The selling point is our track record. People now associate TBITBI with trade finance. We do not have to do too much marketing in that sense. Having said that, we are trying to work with the private banks to have letters of credit issued through these clients and that is one way we will bring in more business, although we still have some way to go in that area.
Is Iraq going to be immune from the contagion of the credit crisis?
We are immune from certain aspects of the credit crisis in that Iraqi companies do not have investments in things like subprime. At the same time, however, there are no investors in our financial markets, so we didn't lose money from investments outside of the country and we haven't seen money being withdrawn from investments that were made in Iraq, unlike what has happened in other parts of the Middle East or Russia, for instance. In that sense we are immune.
On the other hand, the falling price of oil has meant that Iraq's economy has been affected directly. In some cases we lost lines of credit due to the collapse in the price of oil. In other cases people wanted to do business with us because they thought that whatever capital they invested was badly needed in Iraq, so they were willing to provide us with better terms and conditions of credit.
There is a chance that it could have a positive effect on us because this is a virgin market where people can come in and build up their investments and have better returns.
Any major plans for 2009?
We are going to be upgrading the entire banking system, back office, middle office, everything in 2009. When we started off we were strictly trade finance, but now we are more of a commercial bank. We are looking to expand our branch network throughout the country and internationally as well by establishing a presence in all the international financial centres. I am talking about say, London in the west and Dubai in this part of the world and eventually New York. It is also important to have a presence in the Far East.
We are introducing a range of new products in 2009 including salary cards, such as a chip card with biometric details. We are also going to start offering a pension card.
There is a chance that it could have a positive effect on us because this is a virgin market where people can come in and build up their investments and have better returns.
We are seeing a lot of suppliers and contractors using the Iraqi banking sector, rather than banks from outside the country.
(www.zawya.com)
Iraq: 9 Companies Qualified For 2nd Oil Bidding Round
Iraq has selected nine companies, mostly state-owned concerns from emerging markets, to compete in a second oil bidding round, the country's Oil Ministry said.
(www.noozz.com)
Thanks for the update from Iraq....your writing skills always make things interesting. I also chose to let my money work for me and put my dinars in a Warka Bank savings account and the stock market. I bought mostly bank stocks but did include a soft drinks company and a real estate company. I'm very satisfied with my returns. I spread my dinar stash on (A) 50% into a trust fund for my kids (B) 40% into warka savings and stock market (C) 10% in my hot little hands.
The IRS/Treasury reporting for foreign accounts, of $10k or more, is very simple and takes no more than 10 minutes.
Does anybody have some good solid ideas on how best to invest our money after the RV? I had wild thoughts of taking the money to the nearest Indian casino and betting it all on red...and winning!! Then, I realized a better investment might be farmland with natural springs on it.
Long time no see. I thought you had all the Warka done by now. I remember that you asked a lot of info regarding Warka, and expressed an interest of doing it this way, in the past.
You never came to a shot, oh well, whatever is going to float the boat, you have to be satisfied yourself with the way to do it, and if it doesn't fit in your universe, well don't do it.
It has to be the right thing to do in that place first and for all.
No way is the wrong way.
You're the boss in your life.
For me, I rather kick some but right now, now will never come back other than in regrets.
I can see your concern about safety and security, and your standard of taking a risk have to involve a certainty.
Me, I see that as an oxymoron, safety is to play with knowns, and risks must by its nature have unknowns in it.
Private banks in Iraq have no FDIC behind them, yes, it is a risk, about the same as putting more than 100.000 dollar in a bank account in the US.(Accounts are only insured so much). The economic environment in the US seem to me to be a more risky adventure nowadays, than the potential risk of Iraqi banks.
I just can't really see your top argument, the scare that the bank will be taken over by some government agency and the money lost. Why should that happen in Iraq but not in Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia or Jordan????
The banking business in the whole Middle East is a pretty developed affair.
There is a ton of private investment banks in Iraq, in fact all over the Middle East, and all of them operating in Iraq are all governed by Central Bank of Iraq, with tight checks and balances in place.
The Iraqi govt have been a dictatorial socialistic regime for 25 years, and are sitting on a load of banks, and industry.
The Iraqi govt are not trying to scoop up more business, but are trying hard to get rid of all these business, make them privately owned and operated, so the government can go back to doing what it is designed to do, govern.
Rob N. You must realise that that is the modus operandum, and not the opposite, the scenario you describe and are afraid of.
I don't know what I have to do to swing you around and get into some stocks on ISX.
I would argue that you are helping Iraq to get going faster ( and thus a better chance or a high valued Dinar) if you put your money to work in Iraq.
It's a risk, of course, if you want a risk free adventure, don't invest anywhere, don't drive a car, don't even take a walk somewhere, just stay in bed.
I guess you have got my point Rob N.
When you payed your Dinars you are holding right now, it's in a sense already gone money, you have payed a hefty bunch of good ol' Yankee Dollar and are sitting on a funny looking bunch of papers from Arabia somewhere, where they have been running around in pyjamas shooting each other for 25 years, and don't have any sense at all what so ever, in most any issue that are presented to them.
If that is to not take a risk, then I can't see the comparable magnitude of risk in putting in ISX.
Tsalagi,
Interesting spread of stocks, yes the banking industry is by far the biggest in volume. However check out the trend, and if you play your cards you can max out the investment, it is however a slowly happening curve so you have to be on top of it as you go.
Banks are still dominating the ISX, but as more and more industry are getting in on the ISX, the opportunities are multiplying.
Banks are good sluggers, and a solid industry, but lately yo will find more and more names popping up in the industry sector.
There WILL be a building boom happening in Iraq, and I can see from being there, a sense that it have started to move in that direction, and once rolling, it will be a pretty good bonanza for the early investor.
I would stay away from fish hatcheries, car garages,and such, but concentrate on industry that can be associated with construction and rebuilding. Engineer companies, cement, asphalt, electrical contractors(very needed), construction companies, and suppliers to name a few.
What to do with the money after an RV....uh, well I hadn't really thought of it, but if you think RED is hot right now....weeelll maybe not too bad of an idea.......you may have talked me into it.....
jarod, tony,
Hi Jarod and Tony, it's not hard at all.
In order to start buying on the ISX, you first must open up an account in Iraq, and fund it.
Do that first, then, the bank (depending on what bank you choose, there are several, I am very happy with Warka Bank) have a broker license and will buy whatever stocks you order.
Just shoot Warka Bank an e-mail, and say that you are intending to open up an account, you will get an account nbr over the internet, and a temporary code, that you later change to something only you will know.
The bank also have e-books, a down loadable instruction in how to use the account over the Internet, so you can sit in your home comfortably and manage your account.
I have sent money from the US to my Iraqi account, I have also on occasion sent money from my Iraqi account to my US account, and also again, I have been buying stocks.
As a first step, just set up an account in Iraq, and after that come back, there is a bunch of details, but that is the first step.
Tsalagi, lots of people over 40 are getting old. Everyone will move to Phoenix, where it's warm in winter, to retire. Real Estate in Phoenix has fallen 50%, in the last year, and will rebound mightily. Buy now.
Gee......maybe all these entries is a good sign that more entries will be posted. Let's hope so.
Roger,
It's good to hear from you and I am glad you are safe. I had been thinking about you and wondering how Obama's policies are going to affect your contractor job.
I had been hearing that the Obama administration was not going to fund the contractors job positions anymore. As Obama is sending troops to Afghanistan is your job likely to be there too?. Or, is your job a position that will not be funded?.
Well the current contracts can not be broken, and in a nutshell the future Iraqi experience seem to look pretty much like this.
Three year is the time, agreed upon in contract between Iraq and the US, after that everybody has to get out.
Obama wants to speed up the troop withdrawals, and are talking about a year and a half.
However there are no mentioning about cancelling the three year agreement, so in order to save face to his voters, and make good on his pre election promises, the wording of the future actions are set in a very confusing way, in order to please everybody.
First there will be a troop reduction from 140.000 to 50.000 troops within a year and a half.
That part is what he calls the "withdrawal of combat troops", and that is what he is saying to the public.
The remaining 50.000 troops after a year and a half, are no longer called "combat units", but have another name......"advisers".
The logistic support of the troops, are given out in contracts to companies, and the company I work with have the contract for now. The contract is called LOGCAP III.
LOGCAP III is coming to an end by the end of this summer, but because of the troop withdrawals, there is now talk about not implementing a LOGCAP IV, but instead just extend LOGCAP III.
If LOGCAP IV will be implemented that means that many companies will bid for the contract for the last couple of years, and companies may change.
A load of contracts have been recently awarded to different companies for Afghanistan, and Kuwait, those pertain to other support programs though, but I have not seen any slack or restraint in defense supporting contracts being awarded.
For every military person that is on a campaign such as in Iraq, there are two civilian contractors behind him.
The choices are simple, either a civilian contractor do the support, or the military have to man those posts, with soldiers.
If no civilian contractors are to serve , then a pretty big restructuring of the military have to take place, most possibly mandatory draft in order to fill the void after the civilian support organization, that would disappear.
A base is like a town with thousands of functions that is not strictly military.
Just imagine a typical base. First the size, a "normal" base is about 3 X 4 miles ( differs very much, but that would go for an average base). a big base can have 25.000 people, and a small base can have just a couple of hundreds of people in it.
Lets take a "middle size" base with 15.000 people in it.
Just the very basic functions are already now pretty gigantic.
Feed 15.000 people three times a day.
Drinking water and sanitation water for 15.000 people.
Electric grid for all the functions, military and civilian on the base for 15.000 people.
Take care of sour, and waste water from 15.000 people a day.
Garbage for 15.000 people.
Ok this is just the very basic functions, but if we continue we can mention laundry, haircuts, medical and dental facilities, vehicle repair, and so on, if you can think of any function in a city, it is there in one form or the other.
As long as troops are deployed, all those functions have to be there.
My function is to transport supply to and from bases by military escorted truck convoys. That function alone involves many many thousands trucks, and drivers.
If Obama have an idea to just pull the plug for all the troop support, he have to come up with a darn good mousetrap that is better than the one we have now.
My viewpoint, take it or leave it, Obama is dreaming, he have no reality of things. He loves to act in front of a TV camera, but doesn't have a clue.
Obama is busy giving away tax money, intended for yours and mine welfare, to failed companies.
Who have given this president the authority to give away our tax money.
None.
This is dictatorial, and is taxation without representation.
Perhaps you should join what so many of us are doing right now, give him a reminder and send a teabag to the White House.
Rolls Royce, Shell attend economic conf. in Basra next week
April 2, 2009 - 05:46:25
BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: A large economic conference will be held in Basra next week, to be attended by major corporations including Rolls Royce and Shell, the province’s governor said on Thursday.
“The event will be held on Monday at the Basra International Airport in coordination with the local administration and the British consulate,” Mohammed Mosbeh al-Waeli told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The one-day event aims to lay out an investment map for the city that boasts a strategic importance, neighboring three countries: Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,” he added.
Waeli noted that the conference will offer a good chance to put global firms into the genuine picture of investment in the city in the forthcoming stage, particularly investing in the Basra International Airport and also in the fields of gas, oil, industry and tourism.
The oil-rich port city of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
EC grants 10 million euro technical assistance to Iraq
April 3, 2009 - 11:11:18
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The European Commission in Amman said that it will present technical assistances to the Iraqi institutions with more than 10 million euro.
“These assistances will be presented to the Iraqi institutions through a special agreement in cooperation with the Iraqi government,” said the EC in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The representative of the European Commission in Baghdad described the step as important towards boosting cooperation with the Iraqi government,” the statement added.
It is noteworthy that the European Commission had earlier allocated the amount of 20 million euros, was spent by the United Nations, on behalf of the Independent Electoral High Commission in Iraq in order to activate the role of civil society, observers and the media during the campaigns and electoral processes.
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
Iraq's oil minister told the South Korean ambassador on Thursday that an oil deal last year between Seoul and the Kurdish regional government is illegal.
(www.noozz.com)
Iraqis need domestic reconciliation, says Atroushi 03/04/2009 16:15:00
Baghdad (NINA) – MP Sami al-Atroushi of the Islamic Union of Kurdistan called on the country's leaderships, especially three presidencies, to unite their positions and start a genuine reconciliation rather than adopting various individual decisions.
(www.ninanews.com)
I work for JP Morgan Chase and listened to Gordon Smith (leader of the Card Services Divison); though he took a limited number of questions, I did not get to ask him when JPMC planned to pay the 25 billion in TARP money they received. After reading the article you posted JPMC will probably never pay their TARP money back since Obama the dictator in the making wants to control the banking sector. I am certain Jamie Dimond the CEO or JPMC is fully aware of Obama's intentions.
Did you all note what Obama said of the contributions of France, Germany (other G20 nations). Well...he said, they won't send combat troops but we need plenty of advisers and trainers too. That will be helpful.
So...the U.S.A. is left with all the fighting and dying and the other countries get off the hook. That didn't seem all that fair to me...as they too are going to benefit from the lack of terrorism in their nations too.
Oh and Roger, how do you know that you can't be sent to Afghanstan?.
Thanks Tsalagi. I hadn't noticed that. Used to seeing a new page every month. If activity slows any further, we may see "Dinar and Discussion May to October" - a 6 month rollup.
I've been reading your comments for the past few months. I bought some dinars a couple of years ago and more last summer. I keep hoping to read about a fantastic development, but so far no luck.
Already mailed my teabag to Washington DC! I'm not so sure that the banking industry should be allowed to operate as they please. I really wish there was some way to limit out-of-control compensation for the incredibly wealthy without the feds taking over.
Roger,
I am open to the bank account option with al-Warka. You make it sound so easy, but how do I invest cash that's locked in a safe deposit box now?
How I know I won't be sent to Afghanistan???? ...well Laura you have to remember that I am employed by a company.
It is my choice to either stay employed or quit. Afghanistan...well... pay me an interesting salary, and I am open for the option.
I am not cheap.....but I can be had.
Lynn,
From the time I did it, things have changed. Warka bank have nowadays Chase bank as their corresponding bank here in the US.
When I did it, I had to take all my Dinars, convert them to Dollars, then send Dollars to fund my account. At the time the business had to go through a bank in Germany.
Once the account is funded, you will get actually two accounts, one Dinar account, and one Dollar account. Instruct the bank to fund the Dollar account minimum funding, and put the rest in the Dinar account.
First, before you do anything, set your account up and have it waiting for you, shoot Warka an e-mail and you will get a full description in how to send funds. Once it is set up, you have plenty of time, you have six months to fund your account. If it is not funded within six months, then the account will be closed.
Set yourself up as the very first thing.
I don't know how Chase will do with Dinars, I know they are dealing with them. You might want to check out how much you are getting in exchange rate from them, some dealers are giving you far better exchange than banks do.
As I say, I didn't go the Chase bank way, as it was not operating in those days, check with them, if you need to convert your Dinars, or if they take your Dinars and send them to Iraq into your account. You might get lucky, but I have a feeling that you have to convert your holdings into Dollar first.
Let us know on that particular point.
However, worry about all that, once you have your account set up in Iraq.
British business can play important role in development of Iraq’s economy - official
April 6, 2009 - 02:13:49
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said on Monday that British business and expertise can play an important role in the development of the Iraqi economy, the BBC said.
Lord Mandelson is leading the first British business delegation to Iraq in over 20 years.
Representatives from 23 companies are accompanying the business secretary on a one-day trip to Baghdad and Basra.
The group will meet Iraqi government ministers to discuss how they can contribute to the economic reconstruction of the country.
The visit coincided with a series of car bombings in the Iraqi capital, which killed more than 30 people.
Lord Mandelson stressed that the reconstruction of Iraq continued to be a good business opportunity.
“British business and expertise can play an important role in the development of the Iraq economy,” he said.
Business leaders from the healthcare, construction, oil and gas and banking sectors are among those on the trip.
During the visit he will announce that two more British businesses have been awarded contracts in Iraq, the BBC added.
Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants has secured an estimated $200 million contract to map the seabed off the Al Faw peninsula.
U.K. company B-Plan Information’s banking system software is being launched at Iraq’s biggest bank Rafidain.
In February, during a surprise visit to Iraq, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband declared the country “open for business” and a good place for UK firms to trade.
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
Baghdad (NINA)- The Iraqiya semi-official Satellite Channel announced Tuesday afternoon that the U.S President Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad on an official visit to the country.
(www.ninanews.com)
Arab League strongly condemns Baghdad terrorist attack
Politics 4/7/2009 5:57:00 PM
CAIRO, April 7 (KUNA) -- The Arab League strongly condemned on Tuesday the series of terrorist blasts that shook Baghdad yesterday, and in which dozens of civilians were killed and wounded.
Secretary General Amr Moussa, in a press release, expressed his grave concern over this security escalation, and called on the political, religious and tribal leaders in Iraq to stand up against any attempt to divide Iraqis and ignite strife.
He also called for boosting national unity and continuing efforts toward achieving national conciliation and instilling peace and security in the country. (end) mfm.nor.ema KUNA 071757 Apr 09NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Iraq offers Pakistan investment in oil, gas sectors
Economics 4/7/2009 5:49:00 PM
ISLAMABAD, April 7 (KUNA) -- Iraq has offered Pakistan investment in oil and gas sectors.
Talking to local Geo news channel, Iraqi ambassador to Islamabad, Qays Al-Yaqoubi, made the offer while expressing the hope that Pakistan will soon reopen its embassy in Iraq.
Pakistan closed its embassy after series of kidnapping of Pakistani citizens that led to release of one but killing of an engineer.
Pakistan's ambassador to Jordan had been making arrangements to reopen embassy in Baghdad and in this regard some progress was expected soon, said the Iraqi ambassador.
He expressed the hope that President Asif Ali Zardari would visit Iraq by end of May this year and said that re-opening of embassy would improve the bilateral ties between two Iraq and Pakistan.
The ambassador also offered Pakistan investment in other sectors including rice, cement and sugar. (end) amn.ema KUNA 071749 Apr 09NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Study claims 'highly engineered explosive' found in WTC rubbleStephen C. Webster
Published: Saturday April 4, 2009
A team of scientists claim to have unearthed startling data from dust and debris gathered in the days and weeks after the World Trade Center towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
In a study published by the Open Chemical Physics Journal -- a peer-reviewed, scientific publication -- Steven E. Jones and Niels Harrit level a stark allegation: that within the dust and rubble of the World Trade Center towers lays evidence of "a highly engineered explosive," contrary to all federal studies of the collapses.
"We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the destruction of the World Trade Center," reads the paper's abstract. "One sample was collected by a Manhattan resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)."
The study, however, shows that the dust was collected from four different sites, three of which were not in the immediate area surrounding the fallen towers. Most of the samples are collections of dust taken from blocks away.
They claim their analysis has uncovered "active thermitic material": a combination of elemental aluminum and iron oxide in a form of thermite known as "nanostructured super-thermite."
Thermite, used in steel welding, fireworks shows, hand grenades and demolition, can produce a chemical reaction known for extremely high temperatures focused in a very small area for a short period of time.
According to the Navy's Small Business Innovation Research, super-thermite "is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services."
"This finding really goes beyond anything that has previously been shown," said Jones in a media advisory. "We had to use sophisticated tools to analyze the dust because this isn't just a typical explosive, RDX or CD4 or something -- this is a highly engineered material not readily available to just anyone."
"The cost and production rate of super-thermite composites has limited the use of these materials in DoD applications," claims the Navy's SBIR.
Dr. Steven E. Jones, a former physicist at Brigham Young University and a founding member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, presented a paper in 2005 discussing alternatives to the government's theory that massive structural damage combined with burning jet fuel to weaken the towers' support infrastructure, causing a rapid "pancake" collapse.
In September 2006, under heavy criticism in the media and by several colleagues, the university placed Jones on paid administrative leave and his paper was removed from the BYU database.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which investigated the WTC tower collapses, maintains there was no recovered evidence of explosive materials. An electronic FAQ to the government's theory is available online.
"We get a lot of calls from people who have heard these theories," NIST spokesman Michael Newman told Newsday. "But we conducted what was probably the most complex investigation of a building collapse in history."
"We based our conclusion on the talents of the world's best engineers and scientists, state of the art computer models and 236 pieces of steel recovered from the site," reads the NIST FAQ.
"The collapse of the WTC towers was not caused either by a conventional building fire or even solely by the concurrent multi-floor fires that day," NIST says. "Instead, NIST concluded that the WTC towers collapsed because: (1) the impact of the planes severed and damaged support columns, dislodged fireproofing insulation coating the steel floor trusses and steel columns, and widely dispersed jet fuel over multiple floors; and (2) the subsequent unusually large, jet-fuel ignited multi-floor fires weakened the now susceptible structural steel."
"No building in the United States has ever been subjected to the massive structural damage and concurrent multi-floor fires that the towers experienced on Sept. 11, 2001," the agency claims.
This latest report, Jones told Visibility 9/11, "explodes the official story that 'no evidence' exists for explosive/pyrotechnic materials in the WTC buildings. The red/gray chips are the 'loaded gun' of 9-11."
Aluminum and iron, is found and analyzed as once have been involved in a heatbomb...all collected and analyzed from the World Trade Center a very short time after the collapse.
Thermite bombs can indeed be done by aluminum and iron oxide, and one of the first uses was to equip British and American troops that was landing in Normany on D-day. The use was to disable German artillery guns, by throwing one of those grenade bombs down the barrel of the gun, the melting iron would fuse the gun breaches and render the gun inoperable.
Problem is that iron and aluminum is one of the most used metals, and can be found in most any building.
Ad to the fact that the Twin Towers, was indeed experiencing a lot of heat and pressure, and you can for sure find traces of heated , melted and remelted iron, and aluminum.
Why would anyone try to place any kind of bombs in a building that is about to be rammed by a commercial jet....an effort to cover up that a jet flew in it????
The other argument is about as silly...the jets was flown into the building to cover up that a bomb was going to level the buildings....
If a bomb was going to level the building, why fly a jet into it in the firt place????
World Bank reveals plans to boost Iraqi private sector
April 9, 2009 - 08:18:43
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A World Bank delegation visiting Iraq expressed readiness to help the country’s private sector perform its role effectively.
The delegation, which included the vice president for the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank as well as its executive director for Iraq, was received by the general secretary of the Iraqi cabinet, Ali al-Allaq, according to a statement released by the general secretariat and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The bank’s strategy mainly aims to enable Iraq to manage its resources more effectively,” the statement quoted the head of the delegation as saying.
“The World Bank will help the Iraqi government create a favorable climate for construction and a potential ground for investment,” it added.
(www.enaswataliraq.info)
A fully fueled jet airliner slamming into a building wouldn't need a bomb onboard, it is a bomb.
Anything short of a nuclear weapon, wouldnt make a difference. Lets say just for the sake of the argument that there in fact was a bomb smuggled onboard.
Any effect that bomb could have done, would have been completely dwarfed by the effect the plane itself had when it slammed into the building, so why try to risk geting caught smuggling anyting aboard that doesn't make andy difference.
There just haaaaaaave to be a goverment conspiracy.
The simple truth that a bunch of AlQueda criminals hijacked aircrafts and ran them into buildings are too simple.
We didn't go to the moon, and the worlds press, is controlled by jews, and Flouride in the drinking water is a communist plot to brainwash us.......yeah.
World Bank reveals plans to boost Iraqi private sector
April 9, 2009 - 08:18:43
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A World Bank delegation visiting Iraq expressed readiness to help the country’s private sector perform its role effectively.
The delegation, which included the vice president for the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank as well as its executive director for Iraq, was received by the general secretary of the Iraqi cabinet, Ali al-Allaq, according to a statement released by the general secretariat and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The bank’s strategy mainly aims to enable Iraq to manage its resources more effectively,” the statement quoted the head of the delegation as saying.
“The World Bank will help the Iraqi government create a favorable climate for construction and a potential ground for investment,” it added.
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
Moscow, Baghdad seek to restore pre-war energy deals
Saturday 11 April 2009
Russia and Iraq have agreed to work on restoring energy contracts worth $3.7 billion, signed before the Iraq invasion in 2003. The agreement comes after Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev met his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki in Moscow.
Saturday 11 April 2009
Iraq and Russia's leaders on Friday sought to revive political and economic ties disrupted by the US invasion six years ago and to position Moscow for future energy deals in the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Russia should regain its pre-invasion role in developing his country's vast energy resources.
"We're sure Russian companies should be an important partner at the current stage," he told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"We have achieved a lot of success in creating a national unity government. Now we are ready to develop relations with Russia," Al-Maliki said at a later meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin, who as Russia's president was one of the fiercest critics of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, struck a notably warm tone towards the US-backed Iraqi premier making his first visit to Russia since taking office.
The Russian premier praised Iraqi democracy and recent elections, going on to stress Russian interest in oil and gas fields, where Moscow concluded major contracts in the era of Saddam Hussein.
Russian companies, especially energy majors, are keen to share the benefits of rebuilding energy-rich Iraq that have been enjoyed by Western firms whose governments supported the 2003 invasion.
"Despite all the difficulties of the situation we see positive tendencies," Putin told reporters.
"We take the view that the situation is becoming more and more sustainable. This concerns security and the domestic political situation."
And he added: "Concerning Russian business and investment connections, naturally the emphasis (in talks) was put above all on cooperation in the oil and gas sphere."
In the electricity sphere "a great deal of positive experience was accumulated in earlier years," he said.
Putin also noted Iraqi interest in acquiring Russian weapons, although he did not elaborate.
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Iraq was looking to restore Saddam-era contracts with Russian energy companies.
He stopped short of announcing any breakthrough on a particularly vexed issue, a contract with Russian company Lukoil to develop the rich West Qurna oil field in southern Iraq, which Saddam broke off in 2002.
Lukoil in 1997 signed a 3.4 billion dollar contract to explore the West Qurna 2 oilfield. But even before the US-led invasion, the Russian company was expelled because of disagreements with the Saddam Hussein regime.
"We agreed in principle to establish the task of restoring contracts concluded in the pre-war period between Russian and Iraqi companies," Shmatko said.
"I consider this to be very big progress," Shmatko said, stressing the links between Iraq's Saddam-era energy system and that of the Soviet Union, where many Iraqi specialists received training.
In awarding future contracts, the visiting Iraqis had promised not to give special preferences to other countries, said Shmatko, clearly referring to US and Western oil firms.
"We received clear assurances from the Iraqi leadership that preference won't be given to other countries' companies," said Shmatko.
Russia had received "many tempting proposals" for participating in restoring Iraq's power system, he added.
Russia and Iraq signed a 133-million-dollar deal which would have Moscow restore the second and third energy blocs of Iraq's Kharta power station, ministry officials said late Friday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The project, funded by the World Bank, is due to be completed within 30 months.
Maliki is the second Iraqi premier to visit Russia since 2003. Iyad Allawi travelled to Moscow in December 2004.
The Kommersant daily said he would also seek the support of Russia, a permanent UN Security Council member, for the elimination of remaining UN sanctions against Baghdad.
(www.france24.com)
US general says Iraq attacks no reason to panic
Sun Apr 12, 2009 12:16pm EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text [+]
(Adds comments by Iraqi security adviser)
By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - A recent upsurge in violence in Iraq was the work of small cells and did not signify a major resurgence of anti-government, anti-American forces, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said on Sunday.
General Raymond Odierno said on CNN's "State of the Union" that overall violence remained at its lowest level since shortly after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
"Overall violence remains at 2003 lows, however ... there are still some elements that are able to conduct some very serious attacks," Odierno said.
President Barack Obama, who made a surprise visit to Iraq last week, has declared a goal of withdrawing all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by the end of August 2010 and other forces by the end of 2011. But his strategy assumes Iraq staying relatively stable during this period.
Asked how confident he was on a scale from one to 10 that all U.S. forces would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, Odierno said: "As you ask me today, I believe it's a 10 that we will be gone by 2011."
A roadside bomb killed another American soldier on Sunday. Five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen died on Friday when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives at a police post in the northern city of Mosul.
A suicide bomber killed 12 militiamen at an Iraqi army post south of Baghdad on Saturday. Last week, bombings in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad killed at least 44 people.
These attacks have alarmed Iraqis as they ponder whether a sharp drop in violence in the past year can be sustained as Iraqi forces increasingly replace U.S. troops in providing security.
Interviewed on the same CNN program, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie expressed confidence that Iraqi forces could take over security for the entire country within a year.
"In the next year or so, we will be in a position to take over all of our country -- all the security, all over the country," he said.
U.S. troops are supposed to withdraw from Baghdad and other major U.S. cities by June 30. Odierno said he would assess the situation to see if that plan needed to be delayed, although the final decision would rest with the Iraqi government.
"We will continue to conduct assessments along with the government of Iraq as we move toward the June 30 deadline. If we believe that we'll need troops to maintain a presence in some of the cities, we'll recommend that. But ultimately it will be the decision of Prime Minister (Nuri al-) Maliki," Odierno said.
Odierno said Obama had given him the flexibility over the next 18 months to adjust the size of the U.S. force in Iraq, which currently stands at around 140,000.
He characterized those behind the recent attacks as "small cells" of suicide bombers and said U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies were working hard to finish them off.
(www.reuters.com)
Palestinian president arrives in Kurdistan 13/04/2009 14:32:00
Erbil (NINA)- The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived Monday afternoon in Erbil city, the centre of Kurdistan region, on a visit that had not been pre-announced. President Abbas met at his arrival with President of Kurdistan.
(www.ninanews.com)
Dividing Iraq "Red Line" for Egypt, says Egyptian minister 13/04/2009 21:13:00
Cairo (NINA) –Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Ghait assured that Egypt consider dividing Iraq a "red line" and will confront any step in this direction. He added during his meeting with Iraqi Journalists.
(www.ninanews.com)
Danish Scientist on TV: Nano-thermite Behind Collapse of WTC Buildings on 9/11, Not Planes.
April 13, 2009
On the morning of April the 6th, Professor Niels Harrit of Copenhagen University in Denmark, who is an expert in nano-chemistry, was interviewed for an entire 10 minutes during a news program on the topic of the nano-thermite found in the dust from the World Trade Centre, (WTC).
During this news report, Harrit, who is one of the nine scientists primarily responsible for the pivotal paper entitled: ‘Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe’, talks about how their research, which was conducted over 18 months, led to the conclusion that planes did not cause the collapse of the three buildings at the WTC on 9/11.
He says that they found such large quantities of nano-thermite in the dust from the WTC, that he believes that this compound, which has the ability to melt metal, must have been brought into the WTC site in tonnes, on pallets. Consequently, he suggests that we need to address this matter with those who were in charge of the security at the World Trade Centre on 9/11.
Harrit, like Dr Steven Jones who also played a major role in this ground-breaking research, refers to their findings as “the loaded gun” and suggests that military personnel might be able to enlighten us more on the little-known topic of nano-thermite, which differs from regular thermite in a number of significant ways, including that its ignition temperature is far lower than that of the conventional kind, [1].
UPDATE 2-Shell partners with Chinese for Iraq oil bid
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has teamed up with Chinese state oil firms to jointly bid for oil projects in Iraq, and is eyeing the expansion of downstream businesses in China, company executives said on Tuesday.
(www.noozz.com)
Can you believe this?
__________________________________________________________
Jubouri expects holding non-official session for parliament 14/04/2009 13:31:00
Baghdad (NINA)– Legislator Omar al-Jubouri of the Iraqi Arab Assembly has expected the parliamentary session of Tuesday to be non-official, due to lack of legal quorum.
(www.ninanews.com)
More about 9/11 a Non-Dinar Post.
__________________________________________________________
9/11 Commission Counsel: Government Agreed to Lie About 9/11
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission - John Farmer - says that the government agreed not to tell the truth about 9/11, echoing the assertions of fellow 9/11 Commission members who concluded that the Pentagon were engaged in deliberate deception about their response to the attack.
Farmer served as Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission (officially known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States), and is also a former New Jersey Attorney General.
John Farmer
Farmer’s book about his experiences working for the Commission is entitled The Ground Truth: The Story Behind America’s Defense on 9/11, and is set to be released tomorrow.
The book unveils how “the public had been seriously misled about what occurred during the morning of the attacks,” and Farmer himself states that “at some level of the government, at some point in time…there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened.”
Only the very naive would dispute that an agreement not to tell the truth is an agreement to lie. Farmer’s contention is that the government agreed to create a phony official version of events to cover-up the real story behind 9/11.
The publisher of the book, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, states that, “Farmer builds the inescapably convincing case that the official version not only is almost entirely untrue but serves to create a false impression of order and security.”
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
In August 2006, the Washington Post reported, “Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon’s initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the debate.”
The report revealed how the 10-member commission deeply suspected deception to the point where they considered referring the matter to the Justice Department for criminal investigation.
“We to this day don’t know why NORAD [the North American Aerospace Command] told us what they told us,” said Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey Republican governor who led the commission. “It was just so far from the truth. . . . It’s one of those loose ends that never got tied.”
Farmer himself is quoted in the Post article, stating, “I was shocked at how different the truth was from the way it was described …. The [Norad air defense] tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years…. This is not spin. This is not true.”
As we also reported in August 2006, released portions of NORAD tapes from 9/11, which were featured in a Vanity Fair article, do little to answer skeptic’s questions about the impotence of U.S. air defenses on 9/11 and if anything only increase focus on the incompatibility of the official version of events with what is actually known to have taken place on that day.
Make no mistake, Farmer is not saying that 9/11 was an inside job, however, Farmer’s testimony, along with that of his fellow 9/11 Commission members, conclusively demonstrates that, whatever really happened on 9/11, the official story as told to the public on the day and that which remains the authorities’ version of events today, is a lie - according to the very people who were tasked by the government to investigate it. This is a fact that no debunker or government apologist can ever legitimately deny.
Happy RAMADAN Everyone! (and happy easter to all my christian friends) Greetings from YOUR President!! You can call me Mr. President, Rob. May Allah bless you and keep the fleas off your camel, and may your dates be as sweet as honey. Michelle and I are really enjoying living at the White House, and doing the nasty deed on George Bush's old bed. The new dog Bo isn't working out, though. He's not house trained yet. The other day, he left a bigger mess on the carpet, in the Oval Office, than George Bush!!! Gotta go. I need some rest. Busy week ahead of me. Tomorrow I fix the economy. Then Thursday I end war and nuclear weapons for good, for all time. Then this weekend I have to walk on water. Later!
Inflation rate down by 4.4% in March – COSIT
April 14, 2009 - 03:40:09
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The inflation rate in Iraq went down by 4.4 percent in March 2009 compared to Feb. of the same year, and by 3.1 percent compared to March 2008, according to a release issued on Tuesday by the Iraqi Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT).
“The inflation report for March 2009 was prepared relying on field collection of data,” said the release that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
On March 23, 2009, the COSIT indicated that inflation rate of Feb. 2009 went down by 0.9 percent compared to Jan. of the same year
(www.en.aswataliraq.info)
Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi will meet executives from the French energy giant Total to discuss a multi-billion dollar oil deal during a working visit to France, he said Tuesday.
(www.noozz.com)
PARIS, April 15 (KUNA) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold talks Wednesday evening with Iraqi Vice-President Adel Abd Al-Mahdi to discuss bilateral relations and the regional and international situation, Sarkozys office announced.
The talks take place amid an extensive four-day visit her by the Iraqi official during which he is meeting with political and economic leaders.
Al-Mahdis visit follows a "whistle stop" call by Sarkozy on Baghdad last February 10, when he made an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital ahead of his Gulf tour to Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Economic relations between Iraq and Baghdad have also recently been upgraded following a February 27 meeting in Paris of the France-Iraqi Joint Commission, the first meeting of its kind in 20 years.
The Commission was attended by French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani and two trade agreements on training and investment were signed.
It was also agreed to set up a joint business council to further trade and investment ties and the formal Joint Commission was officially reconstituted.
Separately, France has agreed to sell 24 military helicopters to Iraq for a value of close to USD 490 million, the first such deal since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990.
The helicopters are designed for transport, patrol and internal use.
France has also said it will appoint a military attach{ to its embassy in Baghdad and beef-up its diplomatic staff there, as well as in Erbil in northern Iraq, which will get a consulate rather than its current embassy "office." Plans to open a French consular office in Basra are still going ahead, an indication that France is also keen on having a presence in southern Iraq, which is Al-Mahdis home area.
Indeed, last year French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner twice visited Iraq and reserved one of those visits for Nassiriya, which is the home constituency of the Iraqi Vice-President.
While in Paris, Al-Mahdi is also meeting with business leaders and Trade Minister Anne-Marie Idrac and he will have a late-evening meeting with Kouchner. (End) jk.bz.
KUNA 151208 Apr 09NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Odierno Says US Will Exit Iraq by 2011
April 13, 2009
Australian Associated Press
The United States will meet a 2011 deadline to pull its combat forces out of Iraq, the top coalition leader in the country said Sunday.
General Ray Odierno told CNN that despite spasms of unrest over the past week -- notably a suicide bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that killed five U.S. Soldiers and three Iraqis - "overall violence remains at 2003 lows".
March combat fatalities were "the lowest they've been since the beginning of the war", Odierno said.
He stressed, however, that the Pentagon may seek flexibility in meeting certain interim timetables for pulling troops out of Iraqi cities.
Under a security agreement signed between Washington and Baghdad in November under then-president George W Bush, U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities by June 30, and from the whole country by the end of 2011.
"If we believe that we'll need troops to maintain presence in some of the cities, we'll recommend that, but, ultimately, it's the decision of (Iraqi) Prime Minister (Nuri al-) Maliki," said Odierno, speaking from a U.S. base in Iraq.
Iraqi security forces, he said, "are proving every day that they are becoming more competent, so the decision will be made as how much of U.S. forces are needed in order to continue to support them to keep the stability that we're starting to see here in Iraq".
Odierno also said that he was pleased with meetings he held with Barack Obama last week when the U.S. president made a surprise visit to Baghdad.
Obama "understands, as he has stated, that there is still much work to be done here in Iraq", Odierno said.
"I believe he has given me the flexibility over the next 18 months in order to adjust the size of the force that I need in order to accomplish the mission," Odierno said.
The general expressed confidence that U.S. troops would be out of the country by the last day of 2011.
When asked to rate on a 1-10 scale whether the deadline would be met, Odierno said: "I believe it's a 10 that we will be gone by 2011."
"There has been a clear improvement of security here," Odierno added.
"The issue is, can we maintain that? Can the Iraqis maintain it? And that is what we're working through now (as) we want them to be able to maintain this stability as we pull out."
Meanwhile, Iraq's national security adviser Mowafaq al-Rubaie, the country's top negotiator on the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement that set the timetable for U.S. withdrawal, said Iraqi forces will be ready to take over security operations.
"The Iraqi security forces are leading and doing most of the combat operations now," Rubaie said on the same CNN program.
"Only the high end, very specialised counter-terrorism operations and some logistical support, some air fire support, some navy support, that is what we are requiring. And we are building these as we go along and in the next year or so, we will be in a position to take over... security all over the country."
But he declined to address the "hypothetical question now" of how the government in Baghdad would react to any potential request by Odierno to stretch the U.S. troop presence in Iraqi cities beyond the June 30 deadline.
(www.military.com)
The following list are the itmes Iraq must accomplish before we see a significant increase in the exchange rate and a return on our investment. This list in not in any certain order. Accomplishments of these items will bring lasting piece to Iraq.
1. Continued Reconstruction
2. A fully capable electrical grid
3. Functioning energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism sectors.
4. Sustainable GDP and GNP growth.
5. Passage of the Hydro Carbon Legislation
6. Monetization of Oil (Petro Dinars)
7. Lifting of Article VII
8. International Convertibility of the Iraqi Dinar
9. Foreign Investment in their oil and manufacturing sectors.
10. Tradeable goods (produced inside of Iraq)
11. Stem the outflow of monetary units
12. Collect as many outstanding monetary units as possible.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Islamic banks in the Gulf and Asia are starting to position themselves in Iraq to enable them to penetrate the relatively untouched market once the security situation improves, Boston Consulting Group said on Thursday.
"It is simply a function of the political and military situation," Boston Consulting partner and managing director Knut Storholm told the Reuters Islamic banking and finance summit in Dubai, citing a spike in interest among banks in the Gulf and Asia.
"In the last 12 to 15 months there have been decisions made about opening representative offices in Iraq. The strategy is to be able to have established a presence in the country, so the moment the country starts to grow again you are on the ground," Storholm said.
Boston Consulting advises financial institutions in Islamic services in the Middle East and southeast Asia.
Predominately Muslim Iraq, home to about 28 million people, offers great growth potential for an Islamic bank searching for a nascent market where retail banking products that comply with sharia law are likely to gain wide appeal.
Demand from the world's 1.3 billion Muslims for investments that comply with their beliefs has soared and assets that comply with Islamic law are estimated at between $700 billion and $1 trillion (470 billion and 670 billion pounds).
SECURITY RISK
Sovereign risk rather than regulation was the primary factor hindering banks from expanding in Iraq, Storholm said.
"Do you actually want to go into a country without a rating? It is about civil unrest and safety and an environment which is safe to actually do business," he said.
The sectarian conflict and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion have reduced sharply over the past year, but Iraqi security forces still face huge challenges as they take on policing and military operations.
Iraq held its most peaceful elections since the invasion when a provisional ballot in January passed without a major militant attack.
Still, U.S. and Iraqi officials say tensions between rival factions are likely to rise ahead of a national election later in the year.
"Iraq is going through significant change. If you are looking for a growth opportunity, Iraq has that growth opportunity," Storholm said.
Mohammed Badi, Principal at Boston Consulting, said Islamic banks in the Gulf region are likely to be the first to venture into Iraq with wholesale products related to trade financing, while bringing in retail products later.
Around the world by 2013, some $1.1 trillion of new cash will be looking for Islamic retail vehicles, he said.
"The interest is broader, but the banks that will probably make the first move will be the Gulf banks," Badi said.
16 April 2009
Iraq has turned a corner toward national revival. A restored and pacified Iraq is determined to regain its proper place in the Middle East and on the international scene. This is the optimistic message which Vice President Adil Abd Al-Mahdi brought this week to France - a country which he sees as a major partner in the reconstruction of Iraq after three decades of devastating wars.
Iraq is courting France and is, in turn, being courted by it. Contracts worth many billions of euros are being negotiated, essentially in the fields of oil, security and infrastructure. President Nicolas Sarkozy is anxious for France to gain a privileged position in Iraq, while Iraq sees its growing links with France as a way to diversify its international relations and lessen its dependence on the United States.
Dr Abd Al-Mahdi, a French-trained economist and former Finance Minister, is a weighty figure in Iraqi politics. He is a leading member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), headed by Abd Al-Aziz Al-Hakim. This Iran-backed Shi'ite party is linked with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party in a grouping called the United Iraqi Alliance - in effect Iraq's ruling party. Dr Abd Al-Mahdi and Nuri Al-Maliki are allies (although they are also, it must be said, political rivals.) Nuri Al-Maliki is due in Paris next month to take the partnership with the French a step further.
France's Total seems to have gained a head start over other international oil companies in developing Iraq's vast oil and gas reserves. It is negotiating some major concessions. A French company has signed a contract with the Municipality of Baghdad for a water purification scheme worth nearly a billion dollars. A French consulting firm is designing a system to secure Iraq's borders. Its implementation is said to be worth another billion dollars. Eurocopter is to sell Iraq 24 helicopters for $500m. These are only among the first of many such contracts under negotiation.
What picture of present-day Iraq does Dr Abd Al-Mahdi provide? It is of a country firmly on the way to national reconciliation and revival, a country that has, to a large extent, quelled an armed insurgency and greatly reduced the bitter sectarian killings of recent years.
Defeating the insurgency - especially in the key province of Al-Anbar - was accomplished thanks to the 'surge' in American troops, to a strengthened national army, and more particularly to the Sahwa militia or Sons of Iraq, an American-funded volunteer force made up of former Sunni insurgents. It was largely responsible for driving Al-Qaeda out of Al-Anbar. This, Dr Al-Mahdi said in Paris this week, was a decisive turning point in the struggle against terror.
But dealing with a disbanded Sahwa - at one time nearly 100,000 strong - has not been easy. Attempts are being made to integrate its former members into the national security forces and other government departments. A budget of $350m has been earmarked this year to pay their salaries. But some violent groups, operating under the Sahwa banner, have turned to crime. The recent arrest of a former Sahwa leader, Adil Mashhadani, said to be running a protection racket, triggered an outbreak of violence.
Although greatly improved, security in Iraq is clearly not yet fully restored. Suicide bombers continue to claim their victims. But the social tissue of the country is being reconstituted. Iraq is being put together on a new basis of national reconciliation, democracy, federalism and fraternity with its neighbours - in particular with Iran, Turkey and Syria.
Dr Al-Mahdi went out of his way to praise Turkey's 'very positive role' in Iraq, describing it as a major partner in the reconstruction of the country. Turkish investments in Iraq total nearly $5bn, he said.
Since the news from Iraq has been bad for a very long time, Dr Al-Mahdi's fairly upbeat assessment comes as a relief. A briefing this week by him and his team served to pinpoint a number of national priorities.
Iraq is unique in the world in having more than 50 oilfields ready for development. It is urgently looking for foreign investment in its oil and gas industry, but also in every aspect of its smashed infrastructure. Iraq has external debts of $148bn, and is continuing to pay compensation to Kuwait for its 1990 invasion, to the tune of 5 per cent of Iraq's oil income, or $1.5bn a year.
To rebuild an educated elite, devastated by the flight of much of Iraq's middle class, the government is planning to send abroad 10,000 students a year for the next five years. Chosen strictly on merit, they will go to the UK, the U.S., France, Canada and Australia for higher education.
Arabised by Saddam Hussein but claimed by the Kurds, the oil-rich region of Kirkuk is a possible future flashpoint. A compromise is being sought with the Kurdistan Regional Government - either in the form of a condominium or some sort of shared authority over Kirkuk. Staffan de Mistura, the energetic special representative in Iraq of the UN Secretary General, is heavily involved in the search for a solution.
One surprise announcement is that Iraq and Iran are renegotiating the Algiers accord reached between Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran in 1975. The agreement - which Saddam tore up five years later when he launched his attack on Iran -- demarcated the disputed river boundary between the two neighbours according to the thalweg line in the middle of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway.
Iraq now claims that the boundary needs to be redrawn closer to the Iranian shore because of changes in the course of the Shatt. The fact that the Maliki government has chosen to raise this contentious issue with its close ally Iran is itself a signal that Iraqi national interests are being reasserted.
One way and another, a revived and ambitious Iraq is putting the horrors of the past 30 years behind. It can be safely predicted that it will, in the not too distant future, be once again a power to be reckoned with.
Some very positive posts regarding the future of Iraq! It makes me believe the long awaited RV is getting closer and closer. In any case I'm invested in the Dinar and stocks while I wait. Just remember what your favorite grandmother told you...."patience is a virtue".
A good article regarding off-shore bank accounts and why it could be to your advantage to have one. Right now, they're not difficult to open up but that could change quickly.
I recently asked my friend's little girl what she wanted to be when
she grew up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of
her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked
her, 'If you were President, what would be the first thing you
would do?'
She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'
Her parents beamed. 'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But
you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can
come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my
yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery
store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the
$50 to use toward food and a new house.'
She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me
straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy go
over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?'
The ISX has 5 companies listed on their electronic trading platform. On the first day...three companies traded...two didn't. Progress is coming at a snails pace. Oh well....stay tuned !
Cabinet OKs comprehensive reconstruction plan
April 23, 2009 - 12:14:20
Wonder where they're getting all the money? A big ole fat RV might help!
========================================================================================
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:
The Iraqi cabinet has approved a comprehensive reconstruction plan for infrastructure and service sectors, an Iraqi government spokesperson said on Thursday.
“The plan aims to activate the Iraqi economy and to push down unemployment levels in the country…,” Ali al-Dabbagh told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The project includes the fields of housing, infrastructure, agriculture, health, communications, and education.
The estimated cost of the project does not exceed $65 billion, Dabbagh added.
This ISX broker has some general info. in their FAQ section. I use Warka bank for my ISX dealings and "so far...so good"! When reading info. from companies in Iraq, you need to observe the old rule of "Caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware).
Funny story. Concerning Iraq's reconstruction the U.S. is still pouring money into the country. I think a significant change in the exchange rate is still off in the distance.
Iraq oil sales in 2008 and 2007 (source: KPMG audit)
"Ninety-five percent of Iraq’s oil revenue is to be deposited into a Federal Reserve Bank of New York account called the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). (The other five percent is set aside to pay for Saddam-era reparations, such as to Kuwait.) A U.N. resolution in 2003 established the IAMB to provide oversight and report on transparency of Iraq’s oil revenue."
Golden Rule of Politics: whoever controls the gold, rules.
Main Story:
IAMB: Iraq lags in oil metering
Submitted by Iraq Oil Report on Sunday, 26 April 2009No CommentBy BEN LANDO
Iraq Oil Report
The U.N.-mandated watchdog over Iraq’s oil revenue says the government is too slow in putting in place a metering system that will allow transparency throughout the oil production and export value chain.
“Some progress has been made, including in commencing implementation of a code for fiscal and custody measurements for hydrocarbon fuels by the Ministry of Oil,” the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) said in a statement following the quarterly meeting earlier this month.
“However, much remains to be done before a fully operational control and measurement system over the oil production, distribution and export sales, can be comprehensively implemented.”
Iraq oil sales in 2008 and 2007 (source: KPMG audit)
Ninety-five percent of Iraq’s oil revenue is to be deposited into a Federal Reserve Bank of New York account called the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). (The other five percent is set aside to pay for Saddam-era reparations, such as to Kuwait.) A U.N. resolution in 2003 established the IAMB to provide oversight and report on transparency of Iraq’s oil revenue.
“The IAMB remains concerned that one of its earliest recommendations from 2004 concerning oil metering remains incomplete,” the IAMB statement said. “Indications from the Ministry of Oil point to implementation by 2011 at the earliest. The IAMB strongly encourages the Government of Iraq to develop a time-bound action plan, endorsed by the Council of Ministers, that ensures completion of this project.”
Iraq’s oil sales – nearly $62 billion in 2008 – account for nearly all state income, which can make or break a budget and affect the services and reconstruction Iraq’s government can provide its citizens.
Thus the ability to track how much oil flows – and to where – is crucial to ensuring Iraqi citizens get the most from their most valuable resource: the third largest proven oil reserves in the world.
“In the absence of a comprehensive metering system, completeness of petroleum produced cannot be assured,” according to a newly released audit by the firm hired by Iraq, KPMG. (It should be noted the audit is based on a DFI financial statement for 2008 which has not been approved by Iraq’s Ministry of Finance.) “Our inquiries revealed that the overall metering system installation percentage achieved was 33% as at 31 December 2008.”
Auditors were to visit 31 “ministries and locations” in Iraq. While two visits are still “in progress,” key locations for tracking Iraq’s revenue were kept from KPMG officials: the Iraq ministries of defense and foreign affairs, ministries in Suleimaniya and Erbil (the two main provinces of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government), and U.S. Agencies in the International Zone.
“We could not obtain access to the Ministries and locations not visited,” the audit stated. “Accordingly we were unable to perform any procedures on these Ministries and locations.”
KPMG auditors were able to access enough locations to identify several important, unresolved findings:
• The Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. government that ran Iraq in the year following the invasion, “did not maintain complete accounting records for contractual commitments entered into by the U.S. Agencies for the period from inception to 28 June 2004.
• The DFI doesn’t have a complete listing of Iraqi assets frozen abroad, despite a U.N. mandate that such assets be deposited into the DFI.
• Oil and oil products bartered – instead of sold for cash – were not accurately listed in the financial statement.
• Income earned from mobile telecommunications licensing were “incorrectly recorded in the DFI.”
• A portion of oil income was kept in a private account of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO, the state company tasked with selling and importing crude and products), instead of deposited into the DFI.
Meanwhile, KPMG awaits vital information:
• Detailed schedule of contracts administered by U.S. Agencies during 2008.
• Bank confirmations.
• UN confirmation regarding the Oil for Food program.
• Reconciliation between the Ministry of Oil and the Ministry of Oil Companies in regard of quantities of crude oil produced.
The IAMB statement praised its eventual successor – the Iraqi Committee of Financial Experts (COFE) – for taking an active role in IAMB activities and says COFE is ready for the handoff:
“In 2009 the IAMB will place increasing reliance upon the work of COFE and take active steps to transition full responsibility for DFI oversight by the end of 2009. In particular, the IAMB endorsed COFE’s action plan for 2009 to (i) initiate the appointment process for the 2009 auditor, (ii) review and address KPMG’s audit findings, (iii) continue to press for the early passing through parliament of laws and regulations concerning organization structures, job descriptions and internal control systems, (iv) consult and advise the Government of Iraq on strengthening controls over public funds and implementation of the state budget, and (v) active monitoring of progress with implementation of the comprehensive oil measuring system.”
The IAMB, which will meet again in June, concluded:
“All parties, including the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi Board of Supreme Audit, acknowledge that there are many challenges to overcome to address corruption. The IAMB commends the Government of Iraq for embarking on the changes underway and recognizes that much remains to be done before a sound financial management system is operating effectively in Iraq
There are three other actors in this play...the UN,Iran and the GOI. All three are corrupt and Iraq wins the prize because they're %100 corrupt.
It's to their benefit to let the oil flow unregulated....the easier to plunder the proceeds. Eventually, the US will insist that the flow meters be installed and used for all purposes of splitting the oil revenue. At that time an RV can take place because financial controls will allow realistic figures to be used in the calculation of the Dinar value.
The US will not allow the RV until a comprehensive oil law is passed.
Anyone who has been draging thier heels about geting into the Warka bank and the ISX, now have a min buy in of 200,000 shares per comp, long gone is the 50,000 min, then it was 100,000, now 200,000, well 200,000 dinar is not so much, true but if you want in on some Hotel shares, you will need 8,400,000 million for the 200,000, and a chat with MR I. at Warka, he seems to think the ISX may put the min up even more, it is not as some people think that it is Warka uping the min, it is the ISX, almost looks like they are trying to put off the non Iraqi investers, or they got the wind up thinking the non Iraqis were going to own to much of the comps on the ISX
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