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Barham Salih is preparing for Iraq presidency, Arabic daily by unitedkurdistan » Sun Sep 02, 2012 12:12 pm Barham Salih is preparing for Iraq presidency, Arabic daily says Kuwait- The Kuwait-based daily of Al-Syasieh said in a report on Saturday that former Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister, Barham Salih, is preparing himself to take hold of the Iraqi presidency. The daily, interviewing some officials close to President Jalal Talabani, said Talabani’s health is deteriorating and his deputy in Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is preparing himself to take the presidency of Iraq. The source also said Iraqi officials are worried about the future of the political situation of the country and holding the long-awaited national conference as Talabani’s health situation is getting worse and they are also worried that the conference may not be held in Talabani’s absence. The daily further claimed Talabani’s health situation may not let him to continue his presidency in Baghdad. The daily said Salih’s last month visit to Baghdad has been attempt by the PUK Kurdish politician to claim himself as Iraq’s next president. PUK spokesman, Azad Jundiani, by contrast, said Talabani’s surgery has been successful and the PUK leader will return Iraq in the coming days. Talabani is currently in Germany and had a surgery on his knee in the last month.

BAGHDAD — Iraq's oil exports reached their highest level in more than three decades last month as the country's output has continued to increase, oil ministy officials said on Saturday. Overall exports averaged 2.565 million barrels per day (bpd), bringing in $8.442 billion in revenues on the back of average oil prices of $106 per barrel, Falah al-Amiri, head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation, said. Exports averaged 2.516 million bpd in July. "The level of exports was the highest in more than 30 years," said ministry spokesman Assem Jihad. Amiri said oil production currently averaged around 3.2 million bpd. Iraq has proven reserves of 143.1 billion barrels of oil and 3.2 trillion cubic metres (111.9 trillion cubic feet) of gas, both of which are among the largest in the world. Crude exports account for the lion's share of government income, and Baghdad is looking to dramatically ramp up both production and sales in the coming years, bringing in much-needed cash to rebuild its conflict-battered economy

Iraqis have a lot of money and they need more shopping malls to spend it, according to the head of Investment Commission in Baghdad, Shakir al-Zameli. Zameli said his commission has granted licenses for the construction of 46 new shopping malls in Baghdad by foreign firms and that “there is need for many more.” He said the commission was studying fresh offers by foreign firms for the construction of new malls. “This number of malls is not enough to meet the rise in the purchasing power of Iraqi citizens,” he claimed. Some foreign firms are half-way through their projects and others are almost ready to open for business, Zameli said. He did not say how much the malls will cost and did not reveal the terms of the contracts his commission had signed with the foreign firms constructing them. Iraq’s purchasing power and consumption relies on the country’s army of civil servants whose earnings have seen substantial hikes due to increases in oil royalties which last year were estimated at more than $100 billion. The government is the largest employer in Iraq

they better hurry up and agree on an oil and gas law The Ministry of Natural Resources in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) threatened on Sunday that it will stop its oil exports at the end this month if Baghdad did not paid the dues of the oil companies operating in the region. The ministry had decided to resume oil exports this month, by 100 thousand barrels per day in order to promote confidence between Baghdad and Erbil and address problems related to the oil and gas file while Baghdad called on to pay the dues of the international oil companies operating in the oil fields in the region. The Minister of Natural Resources of Kurdistan , Ashti Hawrami said in a statement in which "Shafaq News" has received a copy of it , that" the oil export will last for one month, and in the case of not paying the dues of the oil companies then Erbil will stop exporting in the 31 of this month ." For his part, the administrative head of the company Kinel Energy, Tony Hayward has said in a letter to Hawrami that "his company had not received the majority of its dues from exporting oil for the period from 2009 to 2011 from Baghdad government, and this carries a large impact on the company's activities." KRG began in mid-2009 to pump oil to strategic pipe connecting to the Turkish port of Ceyhan by about 100 thousand barrels per day, and then raised the amount to 175 thousand barrels per day in mid-2011. A crisis has erupted between Baghdad and Erbil on the background of the region’s stop from pumping oil until further notice, due to differences with Baghdad and the "lack of its commitment " in paying dues to the international oil companies operating in it, while the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Hussain al-Shahristani had confirmed last April, that Kurdistan government prevented Iraqis from six billion and $ 650 million during the past two years 2010 and 2011 because of its failure to export oil, and expected the deprivation to reach higher levels during the current year.

A member of the Committee on Economy and Investment parliamentary Salman al-Moussawi said Iraq will join the World Trade Organization to be a permanent member of the following two years. said in a press statement received by the Agency (UR) said on Monday that "Iraq's accession to the WTO is very important regardless of the vote not to claim under the pretext of joining the consequences carried by this accession, something is wrong." ". "He was supposed to be permanent members of Iraq in the organization two years ago because he is an observer member of the WTO Akzac {} for more than five years and thus would have the privileges and responsibilities." He said al-Moussawi said "the organization has asked Iraq to make serious steps in this area, to be an attractive environment for investment through legislation a set of laws, including the legal customs tariff and the protection of held consumer of monopoly within the law to protect the domestic product and trademark law." . He pointed out that "if implemented, all these things will be ready for Iraq to join the WTO, which contains more than 150 countries." . He continued that "there are those who claim that joining this organization carries the consequences of Iraq, but he did not know it would be a catalyst to improve its economic situation as well as it would be a party to the global economic policy-making not only an observer."

Politicians in Iraq have raked in more than $1,000 a minute for working just TWENTY minutes this year. They picked up a fee of $90,000 and a monthly salary of $22,500 a month for doing next to nothing and staying free in Baghdad's finest hotel. Their lavish perks and salaries emerged as the 325 lawmakers prepared to hold second parliamentary session since the election last March. Hard work: Iraqi MPs debating in parliament. They get $22,500 a month and perks at Baghdad's finest hotel But there is growing resentment among ordinary Iraqis struggling to make ends meet that politicians are living the high life. A mid-level government employee makes around $600 a month and ordinary people lack basic services like water and electricity. A politician's basic monthly salary is $10,000 - just $4,500 short of that of rank-and-file members of the U.S. Congress. In addition, an MP gets a $12,500 monthly allowance for housing and security arrangements, for a combined total of $22,500. They also get to spend nights free at Baghdad's Rasheed Hotel in the relatively safe environment of the Green Zone, regardless of whether parliament is in session. And they collect a $600 per day when traveling inside or out of Iraq. Once out of office, they get 80 percent of their salary monthly for life, and for eight years they can keep the diplomatic passports that they - and often their families - are issued. Since June, when the lawmakers first met for 20 minutes, Iraq's second elected parliament since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime has failed to convene. Sharp divisions among political blocs have prevented the formation of a new government, and not a single law has been debated, much less passed. But it did decide to leave the session open which allowed MPs to pick up a $90,00 fee to cover their expenses over the next four years. In a mosque sermon, an aide to Iraq's top Shiite cleric urged parliament to lower their salaries when they next meet. 'It's reasonable to request the lawmakers' salaries do not reach a lavish level,' Ahmed al-Safi said. 'This is a very important issue ... I do not know why they keep turning a blind eye to it.' Meanwhile, Iraqis who voted in large numbers in hope of strengthening their democracy after years of authoritarian rule, war and sectarian violence have grown bitter at the politicians they chose to represent their interests. 'Instead of working hard and doing a good job, they are enjoying a paid vacation,' said Jalal Mohammed, a retired clerk for the administrative council in the southern city of Basra. 'I think the parliament members should only be paid if they do something useful for their country.' Lawmakers justify high salaries and benefits saying they risk their lives participating in the political process. 'We are exposed to violent incidents in our houses, on the streets, and even in the parliament,' said Sheik Haidar al-Jorani, a Basra lawmaker with the prime minister's State of Law part

ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — A Gorran List Kurdish MP from the Iraqi parliament has revealed that the Iraqi government will attack the Kurdistan Region in less than a year, but did not add further details. Latif Mustafa told local Kurdish newspaper Rudaw: "Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now trying to build up and strengthen the army to make its regime stronger. I believe this government will attack Kurds." Mustafa warned: "I have some details about the Iraqi attack against the Kurdistan Region but I can't reveal it." The MP added: "This is as result of some stories and things I heard and saw in Baghdad. I don’t know when Iraq will attack the region but probably it will not be more than a year." From late March after increased tensions between the Iraqi and the Kurdish governments, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani told Alhurra TV that Baghdad is considering the use of F-16 fighter planes against the Kurds. Barzani told Alhurra that he has confronted the Iraqi PM many times and been told by Maliki that he will act, but he hasn’t, and suggested there is talk of a “military solution” to confront the Kurds in Baghdad. Barzani said that in an official meeting with Iraqi military commanders,www.ekurd.net it was stated that they should wait for F-16s to arrive to help push back the Kurds. On April 10, 2012, the leader of the Brave Sons of Iraq, Sheikh Abbas al-Muhammadawi, a spokesperson for the military wing of the group, the 9th Division of Badr, has warned Kurds in Baghdad and other Arab-majority areas to leave or be killed. The Brave Sons of Iraq, a Shiite group, gave one-week for Kurds to leave Arab cities after which they threatened to carry weapons against the them. On April 11, 2012, in the event that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launches an offensive against Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan could "certainly" defend itself, said a senior official at Kurdistan Region's Peshmarga Ministry. The Peshmarga (Border Guards) Ministry's Secretary General, Brig. Jabbar Yawar, believes that it is "unlikely" Baghdad will attack Erbil but "whenever it does...Certainly Kurdistan region is able to defend itself." On April 23, 2012, Massoud Barzani, said he opposes the sale of F-16 warplanes to Iraq while Nuri al-Maliki is premier, as he fears they would be used against the region. The United States has agreed to sell 36 F-16 jets to Baghdad in a multi-billion-dollar deal aimed at increasing the capabilities of Iraq's fledgling air force, a weak point in its national defences. "The F-16 must not reach the hand of this man," Barzani told reporters at his residence near the Kurdistan region's capital Erbil on Sunday, referring to Maliki. On April 30, 2012, in an interview with Rudaw, former U.S. diplomat and advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG Peter Galbraith says Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is not following the constitution or respecting the rights of Kurdistan. Galbraith says the time is ripe for Kurdish independence thanks to the thriving oil industry, international investment and the fact that Kurds are America’s only reliable ally in the volatile region. On April 30, 2012, a senior official told Reuters that Iraq will receive the first 24 of 36 F-16 fighter jets it has ordered from the United States at the beginning of 2014. On May 5, 2012, Massoud Barzani said he did not fear the federal government taking delivery of F-16 warplanes bought from the United States, after last month saying he opposed the sale of the aircraft while Maliki was premier. "We did not feel afraid of the MiG and Mirage aircraft, and we will not feel afraid of the F-16 aircraft," Barzani said in a speech in the Kurdish regional capital Erbil. On May 7, 2012, Iraqi PM Maliki said that his government does not intend to target the Kurdistan Region, adding that he is against war. Maliki said in an interview with the semi-official Iraqiya TV published on his website: "The federal government doesn't intent to target the Kurdistan Region. On May 7, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visits Kirkuk city, insisted that Kirkuk had an Iraqi identity during a cabinet meet boycotted by Kurdish ministers whose autonomous region lays claim to the disputed city. On May 17, 2012 Iraqi Kurdish officials are threatening to disclose secret documents as part of an ongoing dispute with Iraq's Central Government. “We have no other choice but to disclose documents revealing the secrets of [Prime Minister] Nuri Maliki and his office,” a government spokesperson said, adding that the documents will discredit many of the policies actively pursued by the Iraqi Prime Minister. On May 27, 2012, Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the US promises not to stay silent if Baghdad uses forces against the Kurdistan Region.On May 28, 2012, Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani warned of Baghdad's continued desire for "ethnic cleansing," the latest in a series of attacks by Kurdish leaders on premier Nuri al-Maliki's leadership. The remarks from Nechirvan Barzani come amid increasingly fractured ties between the Baghdad central government and the Kurdish region. "Today, there are those in the Iraqi political field who want, with all the power, to keep the policy of Arabisation and ethnic cleansing," Barzani said. On June 19, 2012 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki believes a contract between U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region is dangerous and could lead to "wars," his spokesman told AFP. On July 7, 2012 Kurdish airport directors say Iraq’s government could close airspace without warning, meaning planes could not land. The Iraqi government’s tight control of Kurdish airspace is a growing concern for Kurdistan’s airports as political relations between Baghdad and Erbil continue to sour.

Iraq Investigates Corrupt Ministers Iraq's Integrity Committee pledged to launch a full-scale investigation into major "corruption" cases involving the ministries of defense, interior and electricity and billions of dollars that were squandered from the public budget. ABOUT THIS ARTICLE Summary: Iraq’s Integrity Committee vowed to launch full-scale investigations into the ministries of electricity, interior and defense, writes Omar Sattar. In 2008, $7 billion was squandered on power generators that remain unused. Publisher: Al-Hayat (Pan Arab) Original Title: The Integrity Committee to investigate Corruption in Iraqi Ministries Author: Omar Sattar Published on: Friday, Jul 6, 2012 Translated On: Saturday, Jul 7, 2012 Translator: Sahar Ghoussoub Categories : Reports / Studies Business Iraq "I demanded the Integrity Committee to investigate three major corruption cases in the ministries of electricity, defense and interior. The corruption cases will be addressed and revealed in the next parliamentary session," said Aziz al-Ugaili, a member of the Committee to Al-Hayat. He added that "the Committee uncovered widespread corruption within the Ministry of Electricity. In 2008, the ministry signed a roughly $7 billion deal to acquire power generators. Since that date, these generators have been left unused in the provinces of Basra and Nasiriya. Meanwhile. the ministry continues to acquire similar electricity units." "The former minister of power, Karim Wahid, was accused in this case. The general inspector of the ministry will also be interrogated because apparently, the generator contracts were a scheme . It seems that the ministry made an agreement with the manufacturer to purchase the generators, but the contracts did not include anything about installing or operating them." "The Ministry of Electricity sought the services of other companies to operate the generators. These companies demanded large sums of money, and they found the power generators in very bad conditions." “The interior and defense ministries will also be under investigation, particularly regarding the two deals for the Ukrainian and Canadian aircraft and Bulgarian tanks," said Ugaili. On July 4, the Ministry of Defense announced the arrival of the first military transport plane, which was one out of six total aircraft that the ministry agreed to purchase from Ukraine. The deal stipulated that the remaining aircraft would be delivered in mid-2012, at a cost of $99 million. Ugaili added that the Integrity Committee "has prepared a list of the names of the incompetent ministers and governors to be interrogated during the current legislative session, as required by parliament." Ugaili refused to reveal the names of those involved, adding, "The incompetent officials are those who have spent more than 75 percent of the amounts allocated to them from the 2011 budget." In the same vein, Iraqi List MP Mahdi Wardi said that the rate of financial and administrative corruption in this year's budget has reached 80 percent in the country's central and southern regions, and 30 percent in the Kurdistan region. "Our officials have become experts in financial corruption. Trillions of dollars were squandered in the Ministry of Finance under the pretext of completing five projects. These projects, however, are imaginary and have never been materialized," said the MP. Wardi added, "The budget's allocations would have bolstered the country to a large extent. However, the high rate of administrative corruption, the waste of public money, poor planning and the inappropriate disbursement of funds resulted in the failure of projects in construction and other sectors."

BAGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - Most of Iraq's 34 private banks have reached the central bank's 150 billion Iraqi dinar ($128.8 million) capital requirement level for 2012, a measure to enhance their financial capability, officials said. The central bank laid out a three-stage programme in 2009 for banks to raise their capital - a move intended to boost the banks' ability to deal with any crisis they might face in a country still trying to rebuild its battered economy after years of war and economic sanctions. The deadline for the first stage was the end of June 2011, when most banks reached capital levels of 100 billion Iraqi dinar. In June 2012, many banks increased their capital to $128.8 million and the third stage is June 2013, by which time capital levels need to be at $215 million. "The capital increase of the private banks aims to strengthen the banks in order to have the ability to absorb the losses. The capital is actually a cushion to absorb the losses," Mudher Kasim, deputy governor of the central bank, said last week. The Iraqi Private Banks league said reaching the capital target had been fairly easy for many banks. "80 percent of the banks have increased their capital, some of them have increased it even more than the required levels, it is not a dilemma," said Abdul-Aziz Hassoun, executive director of the Iraqi Private Banks League. According to the central bank website, OPEC oil producer Iraq has seven state-owned banks, 23 private banks, and 11 Islamic private banks. Most banking activities are conducted by two state-owned banks, Rafidain and Rashid. Much of the private banking activity is limited to deposit services and a small amount is personal lending. The banks which did not succeed in raising their capital have asked the central bank for a grace period until the end of the year, Kasim said. "We are not very strict in this issue...but at the same time we cannot give a hint that our decisions could be rolled back," he said. Hassoun said he would prefer the central bank to encourage failed banks to merge. ($1 = 1163.0000 Iraqi dinars) (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Erica Billingham)

AGHDAD, July 8 (Reuters) - Following are latest Iraqi economic indicators, including data from the central bank, the Central Organisation for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT), the Oil Ministry and the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO). OIL EXPORTS Barrels per day (bpd) is the daily average of monthly total exports as reported by the Oil Ministry and SOMO. Price per barrel is the average of total monthly revenue or a range. Month Total bpd From Basra From Kirkuk $ per barrel June'11 2.275 mln 1.726 mln 546,666 105.17 July 2.164 mln 1.709 mln 458,000 108.79 Aug 2.189 mln 1.728 mln 461,000 104.91 Sept 2.101 mln 1.767 mln 334,000 104.89 Oct 2.088 mln 1.628 mln 460,000 104.91 Nov 2.135 mln 1.712 mln 423,000 106.59 Dec 2.145 mln 1.733 mln 412,000 106.18 Jan'12 2.106 mln 1.711 mln 395,000 109.08 Feb 2.014 mln 1.639 mln 375,000 112.93 March 2.317 mln 1.917 mln 400,000 117.99 April 2.508 mln 2.115 mln 393,000 116.80 May 2.452 mln 2.086 mln 366,000 103.04 June 2.403 mln 2.085 mln 318,000 90.00 INFLATION Data from Iraq's central bank Month Core CPI y/y, pct change May'11 6.3 pct June 6.4 pct Jul 7.1 pct Aug 7.6 pct Sept 7.3 pct Oct 6.9 pct Nov 6.4 pct Dec 7.0 pct Jan'12 6.1 pct Feb 6.3 pct March 6.1 pct April 6.7 pct May 6.2 pct Core consumer price index excludes expenditure on oil, gas and petrol and transport. Included components are food, rent, tobacco and drinks, clothes, furniture, medicines and medical services. UNEMPLOYMENT Data from COSIT Year Rate 2006 17.50 percent 2007 - 2008 15 percent, with 30 percent partial employment 2011 11 percent, with 20 percent partial employment POLICY INTEREST RATE Date Rate changed to 2010 April 1 6 pct BUDGET EXPENDITURE 2012 budget -- $100.5 bln 2011 budget -- $82.6 bln 2010 budget -- $72.4 bln 2009 budget -- $58.6 bln** 2008 budget -- $48 bln + $21 bln supplementary 2007 budget -- $41 bln ** Reduced several times from draft $80 bln due to falling oil prices

not just Exxon, The deputy premier for energy affairs on Wednesday warned French companies that any contracts with Baghdad would be scrapped if they signed deals with local or regional governments in Iraq. The autonomous Kurdistan region in north Iraq has signed a number of oil contracts with foreign firms, but the federal government considers them illegal and insists all such deals must go through Baghdad. Hussein al-Shahristani “warned French companies working in the oil sector in Iraq against signing contracts with (entities) other than the Iraqi government,” during a meeting with French ambassador Denis Gauer, the deputy premier's office said. Shahristani asked Gauer to convey to the French government that if any French firm signs “a contract with the Kurdistan region or another local government without the approval of the federal government, this will mean the end of its contracts in Iraq,” his spokesman Faisal Abdullah told AFP. Shahristani had previously said that French oil giant Total would “be considered in breach of Iraqi laws” if it signed any deals without the approval of the Baghdad government. Total chief executive Christophe de Margerie said earlier this year that his firm was in talks over potential deals with the three-province Kurdistan region. Total is part of a consortium along with China’s CNPC and Malaysia’s Petronas seeking to ramp up output at the Halfaya field in Iraq's southern Maysan province,www.ekurd.net which has proven reserves of about 4.1 billion barrels. Shahristani’s remarks on Wednesday come a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s spokesman, Ali Mussawi, said the premier believes a contract between US oil giant ExxonMobil and the Kurdistan region is dangerous and could lead to “breaking up the unity of Iraq.” Maliki last week requested that U.S. President Barack Obama intervene to block the Exxon deal, which the company signed with Kurdistan in October, Mussawi said. Iraqi Kurdistan has been locked in a standoff with Baghdad for months, one of a series of intertwined political crises which have escalated into calls for Maliki to be removed from power

Baghdad:Qatar and Saudi Arabia are hatching plots against the Iraqi government to overthrow the country’s political system, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused. “Toppling the (political) system of Iraq, not me, is their objective,” Maliki said in an interview with Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen satellite channel which was founded by journalists who left the al-Jazeera news channel. The Iraqi premier alleged that both Arab states are trying to topple his government through financing opposition groups, holding anti-government meetings and inducing that a “tribal system” is governing the country. Maliki said that major political posts in the country have been equally distributed between all Iraqi ethnic and religious groups under the constitution. “Look at your nations and see whether your people have the rights and privileges that Iraqi people have,” Maliki asked the Qatari and Saudi authorities.

The Oil Ministry expects that Iraq’s crude oil reserves will double, the ministry’s official spokesman said on Wednesday. “The definite crude oil reserves (143 billion barrels) will double … due to the ministry’s activities in exploration and Iraq’s oil licences,” Aasem Jihad told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “We hope that Iraq’s fourth round of oil exploration licences would increase the reserves,” he added. International companies have been invited to compete for the rights to explore for oil and gas in 12 blocks to be auctioned in May. . With Iraqi reserves set to soar to the 220-240Bn barrel mark in the near future, and Kurdistan's potential reserves set to soar to 45Bn barrels a total recoverable conventional oil of nearly 300Bn barrels for Iraq and Kurdistan region looks to be a near certainty. since Kurdistan is planning on a production plateau of 2M/day by 2020, and Iraq may have a plateau of about 8-9M by 2020 a gross production of about 11M/day for both seems very realistic. At estimated prices of about $200/barrel by then that would bring in an income of about $800Bn per year for Iraq and Kurdistan (about $25k per citizen per year!), sustainable for over 50-60 years. not bad http://esplift.com/iraq_oil-map.jpg

I stop reading after i saw PTR

(They want more than six hours a day of electricity),------(KRG) in Iraq announced on Monday that it will provide the citizens of the region by about 20 to 22 hours of electricity daily during June and July (He also told the people that all the market prices for goods in the country would be adjusted down )-------The decision of the Ministry of Agriculture to prevent importing fruit and vegetables from neighboring countries, announced earlier has sparked controversy among the people related to that subject. Some of them considered that the reasons for taking such a decision by the Ministry of Agriculture aims to protect the domestic crop and support the Iraqi farmer, while others considered that it will lead to raise the prices in the market.

Said observers and political analysts in Kirkuk, said that hosting the Baghdad Group 5 +1 on Iran's nuclear program gives boost high for Iraq, as well as return it to its place primary in the region will also be a positive factor contributing to end the seventh item associated with the decisions of the UN Security Council imposed on Iraq. Report / Anmar Ansari Speakers عHashim Abdul-Karim al-Azzawi / regional observer of the Shan Azzam sound / observer and political analyst Maj. Gen. Jihad Younes Jawdat / Military Adviser in Kirkuk

Central Bank of Iraq on the basis of annual inflation for the month of April, to 6.7 per cent, and pointed out that the housing sector and fluctuations in the exchange rate has an impact on raising the rate of inflation Mada, this increase is still worrying. . The Deputy Governor of the Bank Mazhar Mohammad Saleh said that the annual inflation basis rose in the month of April, to 6.7% compared with the annual inflation basis for the month of March, who scored 6.2%, up by 1.5 percent, and the added benefit that there are two factors impact on raising inflation are the housing sector as a result high rents and housing, electricity fluctuations that occurred in the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar in recent times, and supports the Bank's work is to reduce prices and to address inflation, the Bank seeks to raise the value of Iraqi dinar exchange rate in proportion to the surplus in the balance of payments. Rhv Muzaffar

Demanded that the parliamentary finance committee as part of the development of mechanisms to maintain the stability of the value of Iraqi dinar Central Bank of the involvement of all provinces without exception Bmzadeh of foreign currency .. . The parliamentary Finance Committee showed that the central bank began to take measures to limit the sale of non-foreign currency by increasing the number of companies covered by the sale of hard currency to be represented by those companies of all provinces. The Commission explained that the "hard currency will not be after this procedure is limited to companies, some provinces such as Baghdad, Nineveh, but the sale will include rates for all provinces and thereby control of the monopoly, which raises the value of hard currency in the domestic market. Rhv Muzaffar

monthly poll conducted by the site "Twilight News", that 57% of the participants showed their support to the presidency of a candidate from the Sadrist movement instead of the current government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. . According to the poll in which 10,585 people were under the question: "Do you support the candidate of the Sadrist movement, to preside over the current government instead of Maliki?, 6033, the people supported the idea, an increase of 57% of the participants. The name and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and leader of the Sadrist movement, Qusay al-Suhail strongly in the circles of power and the National Alliance for the successor to al-Maliki put forward a candidate. The source revealed on Sunday, for "Twilight News", that the Kurdistan Region President Download the Kurdish delegation participating in the meeting a letter from Najaf, the U.S. side confirming no objection Washington to take charge of the Sadrist candidate as prime minister instead of Nuri al-Maliki. The survey showed that those who opposed the proposal Msota 2126 their number was an increase of 20.1%. Among 2003 voters, the poll showed no reluctance to assume the premiership candidate of my chest, an increase of 18.9%, while 422 showed no interest in the subject Msota, a gain of 4%. And ridden in the Iraqi political scene differences sustained among the various political blocs, and escalated in intensity in recent times after an exchange of accusations between Baghdad and Erbil on trend "dictatorship" of the government of Nouri al-Maliki, according to the Kurds, and the corresponding charges of smuggling Iraqi oil producer in the region to Iran, according to Maliki's coalition .

Shafaq News/ A familiar source that requested not to be named said to "Shafaq News", "The American side asked Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani, to make efforts to the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to open channels for dialogue between Washington and Alsadre." The cleric Moqtada al-Sadr met at his home in Najaf yesterday with representatives of the Kurdistan Alliance and the Iraqia List and the parties in the National Alliance, to discuss a response to the recent Sadr paper, was among five-year consultative meeting held at the end of last April, in Erbil. Sadr said during a press conference after the meeting that the meeting in Najaf is complementary to the meeting that took place a few days ago in Erbil. It was agreed on something –He did not reveal – that needs the finishing touches only. The source added that "Washington requested Barzani to deliver a message in which it confirmed that it has no objection against a Sadrist movement candidate to be a prime minister instead of the current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki." The name of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and leader of the Sadrist movement, Qusay al-Suhail strongly appeared in the circles of power and the National Alliance to be a candidate as a successor to al-Maliki. The meeting of Najaf yesterday was attended in addition to the hospitality owner Sadr, a leader of the Iraqia List, Osama Najafi and the Kurds leaders Rose Nuri Shaways and Barham Saleh, Hoshyar Zebari, Fuad Ma’asum, also it was attended by National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi, who stated that he was not a representative of the National Alliance at the meeting. According to sources, it was scheduled that the meeting, would be attended by the President of Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani and the Iraqia leader Iyad Allawi, but the unknown reasons prevented that. The source said that "al-Sadr will remain in Najaf for unknown time for the emancipation of Iranian pressure on him to support Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whom Iran does not want to replace at the present time." Sadr is residing in Qum, in Iran for years where he studies in its religious school . The meeting came at a time when Najaf had been scheduled to receive an answer for the meeting in Erbil from the National Alliance for the reformist paper which they have made, but Sadr confirmed that he did not receive any reply to his letter. According to sources, the letter addressed to the National Alliance included a focus on the importance of the national meeting and the need to adhere to its decisions that come out, and commitment to the Constitution which defines the form of the state and the relationship of the three powers and the independence of the judiciary and the nomination of the names of the security ministries, to be ratified by the House of Representatives during a week if there is a sincere and serious intention by al-Maliki. The sustained differences among the various political blocs are blowing away the Iraqi political scene, and its intensity escalated in recent times after an exchange of accusations between Baghdad and Erbil on the trend of "dictatorship" of the government of Nuri al-Maliki, according to the Kurds, and the corresponding charges of smuggling Iraqi oil in the region to Iran, according to Maliki's coalition .

On: Saturday 19/05/2012 9:45 Baghdad (news) .. The Director of Rafidain Bank Alckheon Zia, that the continued survival of Iraq under Chapter VII and the accumulation of external financial debt restricted the participation of the bank with global banks, pointing to the existence of a single post to the bank with a French Arab banks the amount of shareholder (30) million dollars. He said Alckheon (of the Agency news) on Saturday: All the posts of Foreign Affairs of the Rafidain Bank is almost over, except to participate only with a group of Arab banks of France in Paris, the contribution of (30) million dollars, pointing to the existence of other participating with Bank of Africa, but shares a financial low. He explained: that the posts of foreign banks, the Iraqi government, especially with the Rafidain Bank, the banking world is restricted because the survival of Iraq under Chapter VII and the accumulation of external debts and some countries claim their debts and financial Taweidadtha from Iraq. . The Alckheon to: that the Rafidain Bank has a meaningful contribution within the country and in all areas and sectors, both tourist and business, engineering, construction and personal advances and others, in addition to the presence of overseas branches of the bank are distributed in the country (Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen) also has contributions and investments there. The Rafidain Bank, a bank, the Iraqi government, which was founded in Baghdad in 1941, the first Iraqi bank commercial and has a (146) branches inside Iraq, and some other branches abroad in Jordan, Egypt and United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen. Established Rafidain Bank under Law No. (33) for the year 1941 and started operations in 1941 with a paid up capital of (50) thousand dinars, and over the bank several stages during his career history was first his presence as the first national bank shall exercise banking business between many foreign banks, and began gradual expansion in Iraq, and then has gone through multiple integration began in 1964, including commercial banks that were operating in Iraq, where in 1974 was consolidated with the Rafidain Bank, which has become the only commercial bank in Iraq, where he continued working alone in the field of banking until 1988, which saw the establishment of a government bank is another Rasheed Bank, which began its branches of the Rafidain Bank, which moved its business to him, and the number of bank branches now (147) branches in Iraq, in addition to (8) branches in the sawmill in some Arab cities, namely: Cairo, Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Manama. / ended / 8. d. Q /

I expected the Arab Organization for Investment Guarantee and Export Credit to achieve the economy of Iraq during the 2012 growth rate exceeding 12%, is the first Arab, while likely to exceed the average annual income for the Iraqi people the $ 3000. The organization said in a report that "the rate of economic growth is expected to Iraq in 2012 would be about 12.6%, the first Arab," indicating that "Qatar is expected to come in second place with growth of around 6%." The organization added that "Iraq has made ​​the growth rate during 2011 amounted to about 9.6%, noting that" the average annual income for the Iraqi people in 2012 would be about 3306 dollars. "

The central bank said that the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar will return to normal by about the former "120-121" in a few days, criticizing the lack of government control over the attack, which targeted the regional Iraqi market. Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the appearance of Mohammed Saleh, said that "the Bank is dominated by heavily on problem of the high exchange rate of the dinar, which is temporary and caused by the attack on the Iraqi market of some regional countries surrounding the result of circumstances, as well as trade openness-free controls sober. "Saleh added that" the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar will return gradually to the previous position of "120-121 "After studying the problem of the bank to increase and develop solutions based on Iraq's economy strong and the high financial potential, which is the best thing is now."

http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News-media-releases/2012/PR039 http://www.interpol.int/Wanted-Persons/(wanted_id)/2012-297774

Iraq: Maliki power grab risks fresh civil war When the American military presence in Iraq ended in December 2011, Washington and Baghdad claimed that Iraq was a stable, sustainable democracy. However, this appears questionable as Nuri al-Maliki, prime minister since 2006, has continued his quest to dominate the state and to use its power to break opposition to his rule. His systematic exclusion of key politicians from power underlines the failure of the 2010 elections to deliver representative government, and leaves the country vulnerable to heightened sectarian tension and a new civil war. US withdrawal On 15 December 2011, United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta oversaw a ceremony at Baghdad International Airport to mark the departure of American forces more than eight years after the US-led invasion in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. The Status of Forces Agreement signed in 2008 dictated that all US troops had to leave the country by the end of 2011. This meant that from the start of 2012, Iraq once again exercised full national sovereignty. Antony Blinken, US Vice President Joe Biden's national security adviser, said in March: 'Iraq today is less violent, more democratic and more prosperous … than at any time in recent history.' A superficial glance at recent Iraqi history would support his optimism. Since 2003, Iraq has successfully held three national elections, with power transferred from interim prime minister Ayad Allawi to Ibrahim al-Jaafari in 2005, and from him to Maliki in 2006. Maliki secured a second term in 2010, after March elections that produced no clear result. Extended but peaceful multi-party negotiations produced the Irbil Agreement of November 2010, a complex power-sharing deal which divided cabinet posts between the numerous parties that did well in the elections and placed constraints on Maliki's power. Politicians accused However, evidence soon emerged to support a more pessimistic analysis. On the evening of Panetta's leaving ceremony, Iraqi troops and tanks under the command of Maliki's son Ahmed surrounded the homes of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. All three are leading members of the Iraqiyya coalition, which gained two more parliamentary seats than Maliki's State of Law Alliance in the elections. The troops placed the three under temporary house arrest. They then detained three of Hashimi's bodyguards, though the vice president was allowed to leave Baghdad for Irbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region. After four days in detention the three bodyguards appeared on national television and confessed that Hashimi had paid them to carry out a series of assassinations and bomb attacks. Judges then issued an arrest warrant for Hashimi, also citing three more confessions from policemen in the northwestern town of Fallujah. These claimed that the vice president, Issawi and senior regional members of their party had set up and run a death squad, called 'Hamas of Iraq', in the town since 2005. However, doubt was soon cast on the veracity of the confessions and their political motivation was highlighted. Those involved in torturing the bodyguards while in custody gave a detailed interview to Britain's Guardian newspaper, explaining how they had extracted the confessions and describing their contents as 'absurd'. On 15 March, credence was added to the accusations of torture when one of the bodyguards, Amir Sarbut Zaidan al-Batawi, died in custody. Government officials claimed he had suffered kidney failure but pictures of his corpse showed clear evidence of extended brutal treatment. One-man rule Several leading Iraqi politicians, all signatories of the Irbil Agreement, have since warned of what they see as Maliki's clear dictatorial ambitions. Mutlaq, the deputy prime minister, was sacked and banned from cabinet meetings after claiming that Maliki was 'worse than Saddam Hussein'. Allawi, former prime minister and leader of the Iraqiyya coalition, wrote in the Washington Times that 'the country is slipping back into the clutches of a dangerous new one-man rule, which inevitably will lead to full dictatorship.' Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Region, while on an official trip to Washington, told his hosts, 'Iraq is facing a serious crisis ... it's coming towards one-man rule.' Worries about Maliki's dictatorial ambitions focus on how the Irbil Agreement has been undermined. The agreement was meant to place clear limits on his power by allowing Iraqiyya to appoint the defence and interior ministers. However, after repeatedly rejecting the candidates proposed, in June 2011 he appointed a close adviser, Falih al-Fayyad, as acting minister of national security. In August, he picked the minister of culture, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, as acting minister of defence while retaining the post of acting minister of the interior for himself. By designating weak politicians or people directly tied to himself as acting ministers, Maliki has retained control over the army, police force and intelligence services. He has successfully circumvented both the Irbil Agreement and the constitutional demand for cabinet posts to be validated by parliament. And as the Irbil Agreement has no constitutional nor legal standing, the only sanction Maliki faces for breaching it is a vote of no confidence in parliament. A senior parliamentarian, when asked about this option, commented: ‘If we move towards a vote of no confidence do you think he [Maliki] would allow members to reach the chamber and if they did do you really think he would take any notice?’ Concern has also been raised by Maliki's public statements about how state power will be exercised in the future. A week after US troops left Iraq, he gave a news conference in which he effectively repudiated the Irbil Agreement and threatened to move away from coalition government to a majoritarian one based around the Shia Islamist political parties. Meanwhile the role and influence of the prime minister's office has greatly expanded: Ahmed Maliki was placed at its centre as deputy to the chief of staff, giving him an oversight role for all of Iraq’s security services while also making him responsible for his father's security. A pliable judiciary has helped: in January 2011, Chief Justice Medhat al-Mahmoud ruled that a series of previously independent and powerful agencies set up during the American occupation – the Committee of Integrity, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), the Central Bank of Iraq and the High Commission for Human Rights – were now subject to direct cabinet oversight. Given that the cabinet itself is weak and fractious, the ruling clearly increased the influence and reach of the prime minister's office. In the aftermath of the judge's ruling, the parliamentary speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi, sent a letter to the cabinet seeking to defend the central bank's independence. However, parliament itself has also seen its powers undermined by judicial ruling. In 2010, the Higher Judicial Council ruled that new legislation could only be proposed by the cabinet not parliament, thus giving the prime minister, as the dominant voice in cabinet, the ability to control the work of the legislature. Most recently, in April 2012, Faraj al-Haidari, the head of the IHEC, was arrested on charges of corruption and held in prison for four days. The IHEC, which oversees national and provincial elections as well as any referendums, was praised by the United Nations for running a free and fair election in 2010, but was blamed by Maliki when he failed to obtain a majority. The arrest of its head and another senior official on minor corruption charges is clearly an attempt to intimidate the commission, and puts the transparency and fairness of future elections in doubt. Federal challenge Given Maliki's ceaseless attempts to centralise power in his own hands, it is little surprise that he sought to break the power of his main opposition, Iraqiyya, by moving against Hashimi, Issawi and Mutlaq. The key to the timing of the move, so soon after the pullout of US troops, may lie in demands for federalism from Iraq's provinces, which could represent the most sustained threat to Maliki's dominance. Iraq's constitution was hurriedly written in 2005 and remains a controversial document. The final draft was seen as a victory for the two dominant Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Their aim was to keep the autonomous powers they had amassed since 1991, while placing as many limits as possible on the power of Baghdad. With this in mind, the constitution gave individual regions the right to exercise executive, legislative and judicial authority, and demand an equitable share of national oil revenues. Iraq's 18 provinces were given the right to become regions with federal powers like those of the Kurdish Regional Government. A referendum could be triggered simply by a vote of a province's council. During 2011, key Iraqiyya politicians – particularly Nujaifi and Hashimi – came to the realisation that regional decentralisation was the only democratic way to limit Maliki's power. The prime minister's response in October 2011 was to unleash a wave of arrests across the three provinces that form an arc around northern Baghdad – Anbar, Salahuddin and Diyala – which had delivered a large section of Iraqiyya's votes and members of parliament. This prompted the councils of Salahuddin and Diyala to vote to hold referendums seeking greater federal powers. Anbar threatened to follow suit. More worrying for Maliki were attempts by the southern Shia-majority provinces of Basra and Wasit to do the same. Faced with constitutionally legitimate attempts to weaken the centre's dominance, Maliki unleashed another wave of repression and exerted his influence over the electoral commission to make sure the referendums would never take place. In December, two days before his house was surrounded by Iraqi troops, Hashimi threw his support behind the federalist movements, saying the provinces' citizens 'are unwilling to accept further injustice, corruption and bad management from the central government'. Against this background, Maliki's move against the vice president and his efforts to limit Iraqiyya's role in government can be seen as attempts to halt this serious threat to his hold on power. Risk of more violence The prime minister's attempts to both centralise power in his own hands and marginalise Iraqiyya, his main electoral rivals, could seriously destabilise Iraqi politics, potentially reigniting the civil war that ended in 2008. Communities and political parties deliberately excluded from power in Baghdad could, once again, seek redress through coordinated violence aimed at driving Maliki from power. The national elections of 2010 represented a major political breakthrough. The first post-Saddam elections in January 2005 had been held in the midst of an insurgency that spread from northwestern Iraq into Baghdad. The insurgents' aim, as well as to drive US forces out of Iraq, was to overturn a political settlement that specifically excluded from power members of the old regime and those associated with them. At the same time, the settlement empowered formerly exiled politicians who used ethnicity and religion as a potent tool for political mobilisation. As a result of violence, exclusion and alienation, the 2005 elections saw very low turnout among Sunni-majority communities in Baghdad and across the northwest. Parliament and government subsequently came to be dominated by political parties that overtly mobilised the Shia religious vote. The elections thus played a major role in pushing Iraq into the civil war that plagued the country until 2008. In 2010, Allawi's Iraqiyya coalition successfully mobilised the same Sunni voters of northwest Iraq who had boycotted the 2005 elections. Iraqiyya held out the promise that democratic participation, as opposed to violent rebellion, could deliver a representative and responsive government. This promise gave Iraqiyya 2,851,823 votes and 91 seats in the new parliament compared to Maliki's State of Law Alliance which came second with 2,797,624 votes and 89 seats. The problem now is that Iraqis do not have anything approaching the representative government that the 2010 vote promised. Instead, Maliki has continued his quest for domination, seeking to exclude Iraqiyya politicians from power and using repressive measures to this end. The longer-term risk, therefore, is that Maliki's ambitions may yet drive the country back into civil war.