hammy

She's not attacking me. Just scared that it may be next Feb. The funny thing is we are reading news reports that are originally written in Arabic. Translation is sometimes even after reading that article 3 times I don't know what the hell they're talking about. Edit: spelling

I read this 3 times, and still need a translator for the translation. I will post what I found, not sure what it means. If anyone can make sense of it great. Says something about presidency and council in Feb next year. http://www.alrafidayn.com/2009-05-26-22-07-53/29234-2011-01-27-22-10-55.html Edit: Hence, why I did not post it earlier when I found it.

Not complete, saw an article today that was talking about some positions being filled by next February. I'll try to find it again.,

There is a lot that still needs to happen unfortunately. Put it all together and we are waiting awhile.

Said it for a while, if we see an R.V. by June of this year I will be very happy. Iraq does not think like we do. I read dozens of articles and news sites everyday. One thing I will tell you is this government very very much believes in their god. They are very religious people. They do not work, act, think or operate anything like we do here that is for sure.

Thursday, January 27th 2011 7:58 PM Erbil, Jan. 27 (AKnews) - An MP in Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC) expected on Thursday returning the 2011 general budget to the Iraqi government because some political blocs have notes about some of its conditions. Alaa Talabani told AKnews on the sidelines of her participation in Erbil conference about the rights of Iraqi women that the KBC have comments about the general budget of the country, particularly the issue of sovereign expenditure as well as linking the budget to oil export from the fields of the region. The Iraqi parliament held on past Dec. the first reading session of the 2011 federal budget law, before the members of the KBC withdrew from the meeting because of the draft that states on cutting the oil revenues extracted by the Kurdistan region from the region's share in the federal budget that is amounted by 17%, in case of non-stop of oil pumping from the fields. The 2011 federal budget is amounted by 95 trillion Iraqi dinars, and the share of the Kurdistan region is 17%, according to a political agreement between Baghdad and Erbil until conducting the general population census in the country, and the proceeds of Iraq depend on 95% of oil imports. "Other blocs in the Iraqi parliament have observations on some of the items of the general budget, and they need to be revised in order to avoid the failures." "I expect the budget to be returned to the Iraqi government once again to re-examine some of its items before sending it back to the parliament for discussion in preparation for ratification." "The government delegation from the Kurdistan region visited Baghdad recently to discuss some controversial issues including the budget, and the two sides reached understandings about some issues but the budget issue is not completely resolved."The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) visited Baghdad at the head of the delegation a few days ago to find solutions to outstanding problems between them, particularly the oil issue and the budget. The KRG stated that it reached an agreement with Baghdad about resuming the oil exports from the fields of the region by 100,000 barrels per day, but the statement did not refer to reaching any solutions about the budget. The preparation and approval of budgets in the country usually witness delays by the government and the parliament because of the many objections and criticism on certain paragraphs the most prominent are the spending and the financial allocations for some government institutions and the three presidencies. The parliament approved last January on 2010 budget which was 72 billion and $ 400 million with a deficit of $ 19 billion and $ 600 million, assuming that the price of oil barrel is 62 dollars and 50 cents. Reported by Abdullah Sabri RN\GS aknews http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/213936/

If I'm not mistaken, Baghdad is Babylon.

Thursday, January 27, 2011 10:46 .BAGHDAD: The Washington Post that the U.S. partners of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government seem determined to fight the decision of the Federal Supreme Court's controversial set of key institutions under the control of the independent al-Maliki in practice. The newspaper in a report written by Liz Sly, it paved the ground for a major confrontation between the components of the alliance even before the new government is formed completely. According to the resolution issued by the Federal Supreme Court, all independent institutions awarded by the Iraqi constitution and a special status in the future will be under the direct supervision of the government. According to the paper, the most important in the decision impact on the Independent Electoral Commission that has been trusted to conduct three elections in Iraq, which, despite the existence of several defects therein, they and in accordance with the decision of the United Nations should remain free from political interference, in the words of a writer report. The decision by the Supreme Court would apply to the Iraqi Central Bank, which controls the proceeds of Iraq and the Board of Supreme Audit, which audits the public finances and on the media and communications that regulate the press and the Commission on Public Integrity, which monitors corruption and several other agencies. The Washington Post that the decision would be the first real test of the new parliament, which hopes that the Iraqis are watching the government more power than did the previous parliament, which was weak and ineffective. Add noise and threaten the transcendent, to undermine the Maliki government is a coalition formed by the Plenum in December, which was cheering her on it the first government that included all major components of Iraq. And the movement of Norwegian affairs expert Aerakiryder Weisser said al-Maliki on his way to be in a problem of some kind. There could be a gamble too extreme and too early.The report believed that the rising anger shows that al-Maliki will find it difficult to impose his will when compared to his first war broke out sectarian and insurgency was more effective http://www.alrafidayn.com/2009-05-26-22-07-53/29210-2011-01-27-10-46-51.html

24/01/2011 : History A regional tour, close to the owners Morning Intends to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's visit to a number of Arab and regional states to resolve several issues in common. According to the source's representative »morning», the «al-Maliki will start his tour in Kuwait and the visit will be followed by other countries». It is said that al-Maliki said during a meeting with Kuwaiti media delegation visited Iraq recently, that things are all finished with Kuwait and should not be opposed to one of the international community and accept the boundaries demarcated and internationally and this is outdated. For his part, said a member of the National Alliance Saad Muttalibi that the visit of Prime Minister's visit to Kuwait comes to building good relations with all Arab countries. Muttalibi said in a press statement: The National Alliance and all political forces in the government's desire to have a full go about building new relationships and shared with all Arab countries, pointing out that Maliki's visit to Kuwait comes on that desire. He added that Maliki's visit to Kuwait which will discuss the outstanding issues between the two countries, noting that the next phase of the work of the government will see a trend towards intensive of all Arab countries for closer relations, Iraq - Arab to make way for Iraq to take its natural role between those countries ».It is worth mentioning that Iraq had repeatedly called for resolving outstanding issues with Kuwait through bilateral meetings and directly, but the last was always asserts that it must be completed through international channels and the relevant international resolutions. http://www.inciraq.com/pages/view_page.php?id=48893

Posted 26/01/2011 04:00 AM BAGHDAD (Reuters) sign and the Iraqi foreign minister this year could be "very crucial" for Iraq and said the political and economic challenges and a major security facing the Iraqi government is stressing that the government is required to Ptnevz obligations and commitments in order to prove that it is able to move Iraq "to where". Hoshyar Zebari said in an interview with Reuters that "this year will be very crucial in transit to Iraq where it is." He added that the challenges facing the Iraqi government, many "and should implement the agreements agreed upon and put into use." And went on Zebari said in a statement to these challenges and said that the political side of which is that the current government should complete its formation and that many of the countries monitored the political stability "relative" in Iraq was now after the formation of the government, "Is it a fact or not," in addition to the benefits of the international political waiting for Iraq, particularly with regard to his exit from Chapter VII, the international sanctions that were imposed on him by the UN Security Council. Zebari said the security challenge is that this year will mark the end of the military presence of foreign (U.S.), according to the security agreement signed between Iraq and the United States. He added that the economic challenge will be to the government's ability to show it was "able to develop Iraq's oil wealth and gas through licensing contracts" signed by Iraq last year with a number of foreign companies the world. But Zebari said: "I think that prospects are bright, but you must work and continuous effort in this direction." The Iraqi government was formed late last year but a number of ministerial portfolios and private security is still vacant is not set and the ministers have yet another addition to the bags other task such as the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Electricity. He predicted Zebari to see the Arab Summit scheduled to be held end of March, post a large Arab and explained that the extensive contacts took place with Arab leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh economic summit in Egypt recently and said "We have received commitments explicit and clear from the number (from the Arab leaders) and I can say that the attendees will be looked very good to attend this summit. " Zebari, speaking about the importance of holding the summit in Baghdad and said it would be important to Iraq are just as important to the Arabs. He said that the political message of holding the summit in Iraq "is that there is an Arab readiness to accept the new Iraq, his regime and the political choices of its people." He added that preparations for the Iraqi and preparations "list and are in full swing for the establishment of the summit on time" and that the Iraqi government has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for the rehabilitation of a number of large hotels in Baghdad, in addition to the rehabilitation of "villas and presidential palaces" inside the Green Zone. Zebari, speaking for the Iraqi security preparations for this summit and said, "We have our accounts in order to prevent any action that would disturb the atmosphere of security .. We have contingency plans and alternative plans in order to hedge than anything unforeseen." Zebari, speaking on the nature and form of U.S. presence in Iraq, particularly after the end of military presence, according to the security agreement signed between the two sides. Zebari said that the U.S. presence in Iraq will continue but the new arrangements established by the Government of Iraq and the might of the nature of diplomatic and not military. He said, "there is no willingness on the Iraqi side and even the U.S. to extend the (security agreement) ... but the nature of presence and work will differ completely from the military relationship to the security natural political and diplomatic relationship." Zebari said that the nature of this presence to be determined and governed by the need for the Iraqi government at the time. Zebari declined to talk in detail about this subject, but said that "the nature of our consultations and discussions that will intensify in the near future is to look at the organization and framing of the relationship with America, according to a new basis is the current U.S. military presence." The Iraq and the U.S. have signed a security agreement the end of 2008 to allow American military presence in Iraq until the end of 2011. According to the security agreement, the United States withdrew the bulk of its troops by then numbering about 170 thousand soldiers and kept currently around 20 thousand identified their job training and provide support and advice to Iraqi forces. http://www.babnews.com/inp/view.asp?ID=33900

Posted on 25 January 2011. Tags: CBI, Central Bank Following the Supreme Court decision to place several independent bodies under the control of the Iraqi cabinet, rather than the parliament, a legal expert has said that the Central Bank of Iraq is an independent body that cannot be linked to the Cabinet. According to the report from AKnews, the Central Bank of Iraq warned that its foreign assets would be confiscated by Iraq’s creditors if it was answerable to the government instead of the parliament.Legal expert, Hassan Shaaban, the General Coordinator of Human Rights and Democracy Assembly in Iraq, told the news agency that the Central Bank of Iraq should not be under the supervision of the Council of Ministers because it is a board that should be managed professionally, independently and without any link to the government. Contrary to other reports, Shaaban believes that the Central Bank has the right to object and appeal. The central bank said in a statement issued today that its independence under Iraqi law was still the only thing that guaranteed that its financial resources abroad would not to be confiscated by the country’s international creditors.(Source: AKnews) http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/01/25/iraq-central-bank-assets-at-risk/

Posted on 25 January 2011. Tags: Inpex, JGC Corporation, JX Holdings, Nasiriya, Nasiriyah, Nassiriya, Nassiriyah There is a chance Iraq may hold one-on-one talks with a Japanese consortium led by JX Holdings to develop the giant Nassiriya oilfield, Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed al-Shamma said today, adding that a decision would depend on the policy of the new government in Baghdad.The comments came after the country’s Deputy Prime Minister for energy affairs, Hussain al-Shahristani, said this month he planned to invite international oil companies to develop the Nassiriya field, in southern Iraq, in a bidding round later this year. “Japanese companies have a good chance because they have done a lot of work on it,” Reuters quoted Al-Shamma as telling reporters during a visit to Tokyo. “They have better knowledge of the field, of its capability, they could make a better offer than any other company.” Iraq said last year it would develop Nassiriya on its own after months of talks with a Japanese group made up of JX Holdings, Inpex Corp and JGC Corp ended in failure over financing issues. Iraq has not made a decision to develop Nassiriya and build a 300,000 bpd refinery there in one package, but the idea has been gaining some traction within the Oil Ministry, Al-Shamma said. The largely undeveloped Nassiriya field is listed as having reserves of under 5 billion barrels. Al-Shamma also said Iraq plans to raise capacity at its southern oil export facilities in the Gulf to between 5 million and 6 million bpd by the end of 2013 as part of the OPEC member’s plan to boost its crude output. The projects, which are divided into two stages, involve the installation of new pipelines and single point moorings and are partly funded by a Japanese government loan, he said. Iraq exports the bulk of the oil from its southern fields around the city of Basra, which now averages more than 1.5 million bpd. “We have a plan also to rehabilitate our northern system to its original capacity of 1.6 million bpd,” he said. Oil from the Kirkuk fields in the northern region currently provides another 400,000 bpd or so in exports. (Source: Upstream Online) http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/01/25/jx-holdings-to-develop-giant-nassiriya-oilfield/

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/01/25/syriairaq-pipeline-tenders-to-be-issued-soon/ Posted on 25 January 2011. Tags: Akkas, Arab Gas Pipeline, Najmah, pipelines, Qayara, Sonangol, Syria Syria and Iraq have reached a final agreement to build two oil pipelines and a gas pipeline between their two countries, and tender invitations will be issued soon, Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Alao [suffian Alao] (pictured) was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Alao was quoted by Syrian newspaper Al-Thawra as saying an existing oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria was being repaired.Platts reports that the pipeline, linking the northern Iraqi oil region of Kirkuk to the Syrian Mediterranean port of Banias, was shut down in the 1970s when relations deteriorated between the rival Ba’ath parties in power in Damascus and Baghdad. Iraq reopened the line in 2000 to bypass UN sanctions, shipping some 200,000 bpd of Kirkuk crude to Syria, which used the crude in its own refineries and exported an equal amount of its own oil to markets. The leaky pipeline, which has a capacity to carry 300,000 b/d of crude oil, has been shut since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, when the main K3 pumping station along the pipeline was damaged by US air strikes. Alao did not say when work, which has already been delayed since initial agreement was reached to repair the pipeline in 2007, would be completed. Iraq has said it plans to build three pipelines through Syria for heavy and light oil as well as natural gas to cope with new export capacity once incremental production comes on line from fields being developed by foreign oil companies under long term service contracts.The heavy oil pipeline would likely transport heavy crude from the northern Qayara and Najmah oil fields, which were awarded to Angola’s Sonangol. The light crude oil pipeline would carry Kirkuk crude oil to Banias. Iraq currently exports its Kirkuk blend crude oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which lies to the north of Banias. There are plans to rehabilitate the existing Kirkuk-Ceyhan twin pipeline system, which has a design capacity of 1.6 million bpd, following a deal with Ankara to extend the transit agreement. A senior Iraqi official said recently that while the Syrian pipeline option had been discussed for years, there was now movement on the issue with Baghdad seeking foreign investors for the projects. One of the Iraqi gas fields awarded in last year’s gas auction, Akkas, lies in the north near the border with Syria. The field, which is slated to produce 400,000 Mcf/d of gas when developed, has been earmarked as a potential source of exports in the future to the European market, possibly through the Arab Gas Pipeline that carries Egyptian Gas through Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and is being extended to the Turkish border. Alao referred to plans to build a 56-inch pipeline with capacity to transport 110 million cu m/d of natural gas from Iran’s South Pars gas field through Iraq and Syria, where it would link up with the Arab Gas Pipeline. The agreement with Iran was reached during talks January 20 in Damascus last week with Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi. The two sides signed a cooperation agreement allowing Iranian gas exports through Syria and then on to Europe with the proposed pipeline. Syria has been ramping up its gas production in recent years to meet high domestic demand. Alao said total gas output last year rose to 10.07 Bcm, up from around 9.1 Bcm/year in 2009. Syria produced an average 27.5 million cu m/d last year. Because Syria cannot produce sufficient gas domestically, it has to rely on imports to meet rising demand for power generation as it phases out reliance on fuel oil. At present Syria is importing around 1.45 Bcm/year from Egypt but is seeking additional supplies. Alao said that the electricity sector accounted for 87% of total gas usage, taking 6.704 million cu m/d of the 8.9 million cu m/d of clean gas supplied by gas processing plants. Oil production rose marginally to a total 140.931 million barrels in 2010, an average of 386,000 b/d, a slight increase over 383,000 b/d produced the previous year, he said. (Source: Platts)

Posted on 25 January 2011. Tags: ABOT, Al-Basra Oil Terminal, Khor Al Amaya, oil exports Iraq’s oil exports from Iraq’s southern ports have jumped by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) so far in January, according to shipping data reported by Reuters. Exports from the al-Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT) (pictured) and Khor Al Amaya averaged 1.8 million bpd from January 1 to January 24, up from 1.5m bpd in December. The increase reflects efforts by foreign oil companies to boost production. Oil companies such as BP and Italy’s ENI have been working to boost output in Iraq, holder of the world’s fourth largest reserves. Analysts, including Paul Tossetti, senior energy adviser at PFC Energy, believe the higher supply could temper the rally in oil prices. Iraq’s oil exports from its southern ports can also be affected by weather conditions. With almost a week to go in January, there is still scope for January’s total to change. Increased output has come mainly from the Rumaila and Zubair fields, developed by BP and ENI respectively. Both companies took less time than expected to raise supplies above the 10 percent level that allows them to recover their costs. Progress so far has taken production to 2.7 million bpd, the highest level in two decades. The strong start to 2011 suggests supply could rise further this year, analysts said. (Source: Reuters) http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/category/oil-gas/

Kind of sounds like what happened to the newbie yesterday and his Fed-Ex delivery. Jte70, don't let what Nani? has to say bother you. Seldom says anything nice.

Posted on 24 January 2011. Tags: Barham Salih, Kurdistan, oil exports Further to our report last week that oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan will resume at the start of February, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has issued a statement confirming the agreement, and addressing the conflict with Baghdad over the budget.The full statement is shown below: Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Barham Salih (pictured) this week in Baghdad met Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials. They discussed this year’s budget and agreed that oil exports from the Kurdistan Region would resume by February.At a joint press conference following the meeting, Prime Minister Maliki described their discussion as positive and said, “One of the meeting’s key achievements was agreeing on the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.” As well as deciding to resume Kurdistan’s oil exports, Prime Minister Salih and Prime Minister Maliki agreed that the Kurdistan Region will keep a share of its crude oil to supply its local refineries and power plants. Prime Minister Salih said that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government have agreed to review the draft law for Iraq’s 2011 budget, and that their respective finance ministries will work on the review together. A delegation from the Federal Ministry of Finance will visit the Kurdistan Region for discussions. On Tuesday the Iraqi parliament held a first reading of the budget bill, but it included inaccuracies about the KRG’s share of the budget. The Kurdistan Alliance bloc has demanded that the bill be returned for amendments.http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/category/oil-gas/

Don't really know if any amount of time will work. For example: What would stop someone from joining and waiting 1 week to be an a**hole? Or being even more vindictive because they were made to wait. Adam I can understand your position of wanting to say "protect the sheep" but there are far too many wolves in sheep's clothing out there.

You are correct Newest Member.

This was his first post, and his reputation is minus 26. What is wrong with everyone? If it did happen and I believe it could have, most of you didn't help. Edit: By the way, I voted every post he has made +1 and I think others should do the same.

The real question is WHY is Kuwaiti dinar worth so much? It is based on what they need to IMPORT and how much it costs them, compared to what they have to EXPORT and what they get $$$$ for it. Based on a budget. Which is what we are waiting for with Iraq. What will they need to import and how much it will cost them, compared to the OIL they have and what they can get for it (contracts of deals and sales.) BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET. GOOOOOOOO BUDGET!

Small comment on this issue. Some of the news is not really related to Economy, Finance, or Politics of Iraq. I go to dozens of Iraqi News sites and skip reading 3/4 of this stuff that gets posted here. Seams as if people just copy and paste every article they see. If I want to read the Iraqi Newspaper I will subscribe to it. JMO.

Well it seams to me that this is just one more thing that needs just that, (straightening out). If we get an R.V. buy June of this year I will be VERY VERY happy. Too much to straighten out I think for anything to happen before that.

Sunday, January 23rd 2011 11:48 AM Baghdad, Jan. 23 (AKnews) – The advisor to the Iraqi Central Bank (ICB) warned on Sunday that the Federal Court’s recent ruling that places the institution along with a number of parliamentary committees under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s office raises concerns about the bank’s independence.The Iraqi Federal Court issued a ruling on January 18 that connects a number of independent bodies including the ICB directly to the chairmanship of the prime minister and not to the chairmanship of parliament as stated in the Iraqi constitution. Muzher Mohammed Saleh told AKnews that the terms of the ruling are “ambiguous and not sufficient to affirm the autonomy of the bank.” “The decision of the Federal Court was vague in determining whether the law of the ICB was more influential than the Code of the Council of Ministers concerning monetary authority.” Saleh warned that compromising the independence of the ICB could allow foreign courts to seize Iraqi funds if law suits were brought against the country. “Iraq is a founder of the International Monetary Fund,” he said, “…we must preserve the independence of the Central Bank in supporting the Iraqi economy and protecting its funds.” http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/212685/ Reported by Wissam al-Jaff Rn/Ka/AKnews Not sure what to make of this yet.

Funny stuff, liked the Judo one and the Mental Pause.

Wound too tight.