Bruce Tupholme from www.iraqidinars.com issues updated statement on current Iraqi Dinar Speculation , Click on link to view
Bruce Tupholme from www.iraqidinars.com issues updated statement on current Iraqi Dinar Speculation
January 6th, 2011Iraq: U.S. Troops Will Not Remain – PM To WSJ
January 4th, 2011December 28, 2010
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a Wall Street Journal interview said it is settled that U.S. troops in Iraq will not remain after 2011, the newspaper reported Dec. 28. He said Iraq rejects being drawn into “an axis or an orbit,” adding that there is “paranoia” about an alliance with Iran, as well as fear by Tehran about U.S. influence. Al-Maliki said American soldiers could only stay beyond 2011 if the countries negotiate, with approval from the Iraqi parliament, a new Status of Forces Agreement. He said full withdrawal of U.S. troops would remove a primary motivation for militants.
Source : STRATFOR
Bruce Tupholme from www.iraqidinars.com issues statement on current Iraqi Dinar Speculation
December 30th, 2010Bruce Tupholme from www.iraqidinars.com issues statement on current Iraqi Dinar Speculation , Click on link to view
New Iraqi Government Sworn in – At Last !!!
December 21st, 2010
The new Iraqi government is pictured at a swearing-in ceremony in Baghdad on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved the new government, which will be headed by incumbent Shi’ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (bottom right). The installation of the officials ends nine months of political deadlock that threatened to stall economic development and suck the country back into sectarian violence. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
By Barbara Surk and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
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Associated Press
Updated: 11:54 a.m. on Tuesday, December 21, 2010
BAGHDAD (AP) – Parliament swore in a new Iraqi government Tuesday after nine months of bitter political haggling, solidifying the grip that Shi’ites have held on political power since Saddam Hussein‘s ouster while leaving open the question of whether the country’s disgruntled Sunni minority will play a meaningful role.
The new government led by Shi’ite incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki got off to a shaky start as disagreements among coalition partners prevented Mr. al-Maliki from naming 13 of his 42 Cabinet ministers. And the fragile coalition must address enormous and pressing challenges such as the heavy cost of rebuilding from the devastation seven years of war has wrought and lingering sectarian tensions that periodically explode into violence.
Another urgent priority will be leading the country through the withdrawal of American troops, scheduled for the end of next year. More than 4,400 American troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis died in a war that has yet to bring stability and prosperity to this oil-rich Middle Eastern nation.
Lawmakers approved 29 ministers, including Mr. al-Maliki, to form the new government. The remainder of the 42-member Cabinet is made up of acting ministers who will be replaced at a later date because of ongoing disputes between coalition partners.
“The most difficult task in the world is forming a national unity government in a country where there is a diversity of ethnic, sectarian and political backgrounds,” Mr. al-Maliki said before the vote.
He vowed to create a government that would combat terrorism, address the still-festering sectarian divisions and repair relations with neighboring Sunni-dominated Arab countries, who are largely suspicious of the Shi’ite-led government. The new Cabinet members were sworn in immediately following the nationally televised vote that approved them.
Iraqis elections on March 7 did not give any single bloc a majority in the 325-member parliament, leading to nine months of political jockeying to form the new government. Although Mr. al-Maliki‘s coalition came in a close second to a Sunni-backed coalition led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, it was Mr. al-Maliki who was able eventually to patch together the necessary support needed to keep his office.
The new government includes members of all of Iraq‘s major political and sectarian factions, including Shi’ites, Sunnis and Kurds. The vote Tuesday was largely a display of unity that belies the still festering problems between the Shi’ite majority and the Sunni minority that used to make up the backbone of the insurgency. Sunnis dominated the regime under Saddam.
Mr. Allawi, who at one point vowed to never join an al-Maliki-led government, told lawmakers ahead of the vote that his bloc of 91 lawmakers would support and cooperate with the new government.
One of the key questions leading up to the government formation was the role that the Sunni-backed Iraqiya coalition would play. U.S. officials lobbied heavily for Mr. Allawi to be included in some fashion, fearing that leaving him and the Iraqiya coalition out of the government entirely or excluding it from meaningful roles would incite a return to the type of sectarian violence that at one point almost tore the country apart.
Mr. Allawi is slated to head a new council overseeing foreign policy and security-related issues, but there are already disagreements between his coalition and Mr. al-Maliki‘s about how much power the council will have. Iraqiya only recently dropped its long-standing demand that Mr. Allawi should have the first shot at forming the government. Mr. Allawi‘s concession came after he was assured that Sunnis will not be excluded from the government.
Other members of Iraqiya to garner top Cabinet posts were Saleh al-Mutlaq, who will be deputy prime minister, and Rafia al-Issawi, who will be finance minister. Kurdish lawmaker Hoshyar Zebari will hold onto the influential Foreign Ministry post.
But 13 of the ministries are still to be decided, reflecting the challenges Mr. al-Maliki faces in including all the country’s sects and political affiliations in the new government. He has named acting ministers to fill those ministries after disputes with his erstwhile Sadrist allies about who among the Sadrists would get Cabinet posts.
It was al-Sadr’s support – in a deal brokered by Iran – that largely enabled Mr. al-Maliki to build the framework for a majority coalition. The Sadrist alliance holds 40 of parliament’s 325 seats. Their partnership with Mr. al-Maliki always has been tenuous and came as a surprise because the two had been enemies since 2008, when the prime minister launched an offensive crushing al-Sadr’s militia in eastern Baghdad and the southern city of Basra.
The ministries still to be decided include the critical defense, interior and national security posts. Those positions are watched closely in Iraq for any sign that they are being abused by one side or another across the sectarian divide. The role of the those positions will become even more important as Iraq takes over more security responsibilities from American troops, who are scheduled to leave the country by the end of next year.
In addition to his role as prime minister, Mr. al-Maliki will serve as acting defense, interior and national security minister. The Iraqiya alliance narrowly defeated Mr. al-Maliki at the March election, garnering 91 seats to Mr. al-Maliki‘s 89 seats. But after months of wrangling, Iraqiya could never find enough support to form a majority government. Mr. al-Maliki has served as prime minister since May 2006.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Iraq: Parliament Votes PM Into Office
December 21st, 2010December 21, 2010
Iraq’s parliament voted into office on Dec. 21 Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his new government, Reuters reported. Al-Maliki will supervise the interior and defense ministries until their ministers are named in coming days, according to AKnews. AFP reported that Iraq’s parliament adopted a 43-point program designed to liberalize the economy and fight militancy.
U.N. Security Council ends major sanctions on Iraq
December 16th, 2010From Jomana Karadsheh and Joe Sterling, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The sanctions were imposed during the Saddam Hussein era
- The oil-for-food program ends, as does the Iraqi Development Fund
- Joe Biden chaired the U.N. Security Council meeting
(CNN) — In what is being called a “milestone” for Iraq’s future, the U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to free the Baghdad government from sanctions that started during the Saddam Hussein era.
“The adoptions of these important resolutions marks the beginning of the end of the sanctions regime and restrictions on Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and recovery,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the council. “Our people will rejoice for having turned a chapter on the aggressive, belligerent and defiant behavior of the previous regime toward international law and legitimacy.”
One resolution ends the oil-for-food program and another ends sanctions relating to weapons of mass destruction. A third ends the Iraqi Development Fund as of June 30. The move is a major step for Iraq toward regaining full sovereignty and improving its standing in the international community.
The country will be able to have free and unrestricted international financial and trade dealings and to handle its own oil revenues. And it will be able to start a civilian nuclear power program if it is interested.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who chaired the Security Council meeting Wednesday, praised Iraq’s progress toward democracy and meeting its international obligations.
Biden issued a statement saying the “Security Council welcomes the positive developments in Iraq,” including its forging of democracy, its development, and the performance of security forces.
“Politics has emerged as the dominant means for settling differences and advancing interests,” Biden said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the development a “milestone.” “Its people have known tremendous hardship,” he said. “They continue to struggle with insecurity and appalling violence. They lack jobs and basic services. But today we recognize how far the country has come in key aspects of its journey to normalize its status in the community of nations.”
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, triggering the Gulf War. In 2003, the United States led an invasion of Iraq, citing Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction activities as one of the reasons. But, none of those weapons were discovered.
While Wednesday’s vote ends sanctions imposed on Iraq from the days of the Hussein regime, other differences remain between Iraq and Kuwait. Zebari said Iraq is committed to settling those unresolved issues bilaterally with Kuwait and his country is “committed to fulfill its remaining obligations” under Chapter 7 of the U.N. sanctions.
“Iraq still has some way to go to resolve all outstanding issues with brotherly, neighborly Kuwait,” he said. “There has been positive cooperation and exchange between our two governments to resolve and settle all pending issues between our two countries, emanating from Saddam Hussein’s aggression and invasion of Kuwait in 1990.”
Unresolved issues include demarcation of the Iraqi-Kuwait border and efforts to locate missing Kuwaitis and third-party nationals, and continuing to pay war reparations.
Dispatch: Iraq’s New Government
November 12th, 2010After eight months of excruciatingly complex and drawn out negotiations at both the intra and intercommunal level, the Iraqi factions have finally agreed upon some semblance of a preliminary government. The ongoing lengthy process underscores the extent of influence Iran enjoys in its western neighbor and the fact that this is not your normal jockeying for power that one sees in most countries after an election.
What we have here is a very preliminary form of government emerging as a result of negotiations between the various factions. Today’s session of parliament elected a speaker and his two deputies. The speaker is a Sunni which was the case in the outgoing parliament, and he has two deputies one each from amongst the Shia and Kurdish communities.
In addition to the election of the speaker and the two deputy speakers the house also reelected President Jalal Talabani for another term. What is interesting here is that Jalal Talabiani was elected in two phases of voting and the Sunnis largely walked out of the session when that was taking place. So we enter into a new controversy in which the Sunnis feel betrayed by the Shiites and Kurds.
One of the most interesting and important points in this eight month saga since the election is how Iran was able to essentially checkmate the United States in the sense that the Sunni backed al-Iraqiyah block bagged the most seats in the March 7 election. Yet Iran was able to pull together both the two Shia block that came in second and third place to form a super Shia bloc and thereby claiming the right to form a government in which we now see in process.
In most countries there are democratic elections and then there’s this normal – if there is a hung parliament – is normal jockeying for power between those that bagged the most seats to cobble together a new government. In Iraq it’s much more than just a normal negotiations because essentially Iraqi is a new state. Post-Ba’athist Iraq does not have a lengthy tradition of elections or governments being formed. This is the second government since the overthrow of Saddam.
What’s significant about this new power sharing arrangement is for in the first time the Sunnis en masse were able to participate in elections and therefore pose a challenge to the domination of the system enjoyed by the Shia and Kurds thus far. What this shows is that every time there’s going to be an election for the foreseeable future, we’re going to be going through this same motion again because there is no underlying if you will understanding or formal power-sharing mechanism. It has to be built from scratch based on the results of the elections.
Source :- Stratfor
Iraqi leaders reach agreement on new government – Los Angeles Times
November 11th, 2010Incumbent Nouri Maliki appears headed to a second term as prime minister after his main rival, Iyad Allawi, accepts his terms for limited power-sharing. The deal will end an eight-month impasse.
By Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2010
Reporting from Baghdad
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki appeared to lock up a second term in office Wednesday after a lengthy closed-door meeting of Iraq’s political elite in which foes buckled to his demands for ending a dangerous eight-month impasse and forming a new government.
It was stunning victory for the Shiite Islamist, who was plucked from obscurity four years ago to become prime minister during the worst of Iraq’s sectarian violence, and a success for Iran. But it was a strategic defeat for Washington, which had pressed for a prominent role for Maliki’s rival, and appeared to be caught flatfooted by the rapid developments.
Maliki has mastered Iraq’s levers of power in Iraq to become a figure admired and feared by supporters and opponents alike. Wednesday’s marathon meeting, which started around 4 p.m. and lasted almost seven hours, fitted the Maliki mold.
Holding fast during months of uncertainty, he wore down the opposition, who initially had refused to agree to his terms for a parliament session Thursday that would pick a speaker and a three-man presidency board, who would then nominate Maliki for a new term and authorize him to assemble his Cabinet.
Iraq has been without a new government since March elections in which Maliki’s slate of candidates came in second to that of secular Shiite candidate Iyad Allawi. As politicians maneuvered for position and U.S. combat troops withdrew, the country saw violence increase and Iraqis become increasingly fearful of a return to widespread sectarian strife.
The United States had lobbied hard for Iraqiya to have a central role in the next government, and in recent days had pushed hard for Allawi to be given the post of president, according to Iraqiya and Kurdish officials.
Instead, the alliance of Maliki and the incumbent president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, triumphed. It creates a scenario where a Shiite religious party and a Kurdish leader hold the main posts in Baghdad, and Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority is once more relegated to a secondary role, not unlike that under the polarized government Maliki took control of four years ago.
“If things actually happen as just announced, it would indeed appear to be a victory for Maliki and for Iran, which pushed this scenario forward,” said Iraq expert Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group think tank. “On the face of it, it looks like the new government could become a retread of the government of the past four years, with its uneven representation and multiple deficits.”
Until the last moment, Allawi had vowed that his Iraqiya list would never participate in a government that did not guarantee an equal distribution of power and limit the prime minister’s powers. But one member said the group became concerned about splits within its own ranks.
Allawi stunned even some of his own supporters shortly after he left Wednesday’s meeting in frustration by reversing himself and accept the incumbent’s terms.
Iraqiya agreed to accept the post of parliament speaker and the chair of a new government body, called the National Council for Strategic Policy, which has yet to be given any defined powers. Some observers wondered if Iraqiya might still change its mind. The alliance of Allawi, Sunnis and secular politicians is fractious, and many of its prominent figures have their own personal ambitions.
But officials from Iraqiya sounded shocked and defeated after waging an eight-month battle against Maliki over who had the right to form the next government.
“There was no choice,” one Iraqiya official said, at the end of the long night. Iraqiya was expected to name its candidate for parliament speaker before the Thursday legislative session.
Maliki’s supporters described deals brokered prior to Wednesday night, particularly the prime minister’s alliance with anti-U.S. Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr, as a victory for Tehran, but emphasized that Maliki did not take orders from anyone.
“The Americans lost that battle to the Iranians,” said Izzat Shahbandar, a Maliki supporter and advisor. “But the Iranians didn’t win with Maliki.”
In Washington, a State Department official declined to comment on the developments, and noted that “there are some procedural steps that need to be completed before a new government is formed.”
“We’ve encouraged the Iraqis to have an inclusive government; we’ll wait and see if this will be one,” said the official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Supporters hail Maliki for rescuing his country from a civil war, while critics call him the lucky beneficiary of two developments that reduced violence: an increase in U.S. troops and a revolt against Al Qaeda in Iraq by Sunni Arabs.
Regardless, Maliki has proven himself a tenacious survivor – one with admirers who say he is the only man who can save Iraq, and critics who view him as a divisive figure. They accuse him of being motivated by a wish for his Islamic Dawa Party to stay in power no matter what the cost, and warn another four years under him could see the creation of a one-party state.
Maliki’s former national security advisor, former Dawa member Mowaffak Rubaie, voiced apprehension about the country’s direction in the days before the announcement.
“I personally am worried that our whole political program is going down the drain,” he said. “What did we come for? I campaigned for three things throughout my life: democracy, federalism-community rights and human rights,” Rubaie said. “The Shia are enjoying our community rights but we are persecuting the other community. We are getting closer and closer to a one-party state.”
Maliki’s supporters had predicted his victory in the countdown to Wednesday’s meeting. Sami Askari, a lawmaker and advisor to Maliki, had predicted Iraqiya would come around. “It’s too late,” he said. “They will join the government.”
Last week, before three days of meetings hosted by another Kurdish leader, Massoud Barzani, one senior Western diplomat had said that Iraqi politicians appeared to be close to a deal after months of impasse.
Barzani has had a contentious relationship with Maliki and had wanted guarantees that there would be limits on the prime minister’s power. But the diplomat observed that principles appeared to have gone by the wayside as politicians focused on their personal ambitions.
“It’s become a souk now,” said the diplomat. “What are you selling? What is the price?”
Iraq To Match Iran’s Oil Output By Around 2015 – IEA
November 11th, 2010By Benoit Faucon
Published November 09, 2010
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The International Energy Agency said Tuesday that Iraq’s oil output will catch up with that of regional rival Iran by around 2015 but won’t hit the country’s ambitious targets, sending a mixed message on Iraq’s ambitious plans despite a reassessment of reserves.
In its annual outlook report, the IEA–which represents some of the world’s largest energy consumers–said Iraq’s crude output will be “catching up with Iran by around 2015.”
But it also forecasts oil output in Iraq at 7 million barrels a day by 2035, compared with about 2 million barrels a day at present. That assessment is considerably lower than the country’s plan to grow production to 10 million-12 million barrels a day by 2017.
The IEA’s forecast comes amid skepticism over the Middle East nation’s plans to boost its output.
The International Monetary Fund in October said it had lowered Iraq’s oil production forecast, after a disappointing 2010. The IMF report lowered Iraq’s projected 2012 oil production to 2.6 million barrels a day, from 3.1 million barrels a day in February.
The IMF reassessment came despite Iraq raising its proven oil reserves by around a quarter to 143.1 billion barrels in early October.
Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires
Iraq: Nov. 11 Founding Of Iraqi State – PM
November 10th, 2010November 10, 2010
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that the Nov. 11 parliamentary session will be the beginning of the founding of the Iraqi state, not just the Iraqi government, Alsumaria News reported Nov. 10. Speaking in the National Alliance conference, al-Maliki said the new session undermines a months-long conspiracy against the new government, adding that some elected officials were hypocrites who wanted to be part of the government while still supporting terrorism. He said such officials are not partners in the newly founded state, but benefit from the state without adhering to any rules.
