Central Bank decides to re - work with branches of banks in the Kurdistan region

[dinarham]

When the new dinar notes were printed , all of Iraq lay in a clobbered state . The US is the big power player here .

 

[Wiljor]

Iraq, November 9, 2017 

Iraqi central bank asked other Iraqi banks to suspend foreign trading in the Kurdistan Region on Tuesday (November 7).

The Central Bank of Iraq, in an official statement dated October 12, prohibited banks operating in the Kurdistan Region from selling foreign currencies. A more recent order, dated November 7, which has not yet become entirely clear to the business community, came from the Iraqi Council of Ministers.

The memo reads; “Based on the decision of the House of Representatives No. 58 in 2017/10/12 on the non-sale of foreign currency to banks operating in the region or have branches in it, the Central Bank confirms commitment to this the decision.”

The document stressed that “the failure of any bank to comply with this decision and within one week of its implementation, the bank will be prevented from entering the window of sale of foreign currency with the Central Bank of Iraq.”

This new decision not to serve banks having branches in the Kurdistan Region is a continuation of the economic and political measures of Iraq in the wake of Kurdish referendum.

In early October (4th) Iraq’s central bank informed the Kurdistan Regional government (KRG) that it would stop selling dollars to four major Kurdish banks and stop all foreign currency transfers to the region, banking and government sources told Reuters.

“The condition for ending the dollar sale prohibition is to have the Kurdish banks under the central bank’s control,” said an Iraqi official.

However, a Kurdish official in the KRG capital, Erbil, told Reuters that the region’s banks already reported to the central bank in Baghdad.

Following the Kurdistan independence referendum on September 25, the government of Iraq has taken measures against the Kurdistan Region. In the first step, Baghdad banned international flights to and from the Kurdistan Region’s airports. Later in October, Iraqi forces and Hashid al-Shaabi launched a successful operation to take the disputed areas including Kirkuk from the Kurdish forces.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, said on Monday the Kurdistan Region wants to resolve the issues between the region and Baghdad according to the Iraqi Constitution. However, the Iraqi government has not yet responded to their requests to meet.

nrttv

 

http://iraqdailyjournal.com/story-z16184612

[Butifldrm]

'Economist: the decision to close the branches of Iraqi banks in the Kurdistan region "catastrophic"

SECTION: ECONOMICNOVEMBER 9, 2017 8:52 PM

Economist: the decision to close the branches of Iraqi banks in the Kurdistan region "catastrophic"

 

Baghdad / Baghdadiya News ... Economist Hammam al-Shamma, on Thursday, that the decision of the Iraqi Central to close the branches of Iraqi banks operating in the Kurdistan region is a disastrous action on Iraqi banks and will return damage to the Iraqi economy as a whole. "This decision is political before it is an economic decision, and the one who took it is not aware of the technical aspects of what this procedure will entail if it is implemented," al-Shamma said in an interview with Baghdadiya News. "The banks will bear the subordination of this decision, they will not be able to collect the amounts of loans and facilities granted in the region and the bank will have to pay the obligations owed to the depositors, otherwise the exchange will collapse because of lack of confidence in credibility." Al-Shammaa called on the parties behind this decision to "review their accounts and comply with what the technicians in the Central Bank decide."

 

http://www.albaghdadiyanews.com/?p=74705

[Everett]

Appears to be a House Divided! Iraq vs Kurdistan region. Not sure exactly what the outcome will be, but either things between both sides will resolve quickly, or tensions between central and Kurds will escalate fast! It's not hard to see a "serious reaction" to eliminating Kurdish bank branches from the greenback auctions! Something serious is about to happen, and probably has been already planned, whatever the outcome. We'll know pretty quick concerning this move by Central! I'm sure of that!

[jcfrag]

I’m really confused here.... Kurdistan has been going on and on about all roads lead to Baghdad, and how they have pretty much decided to pick up a bar of soap in the shower in a men’s prison... Yet Baghdad keeps on refusing to talk to them. All they do is make more and more demands on the Kurds. Is this ever going to come to a head so we can move on? As best I can tell, the Kurds are pretty much yelling UNCLE....and Baghdad just keeps driving the knife in deeper and deeper with more new demands everyday. Just not even following what Abadi is really pushing for at this point. Everyday is the same old story with new daggers and new demands....  

[10 YEARS LATER]

1 hour ago, jcfrag said:

I’m really confused here.... Kurdistan has been going on and on about all roads lead to Baghdad, and how they have pretty much decided to pick up a bar of soap in the shower in a men’s prison... Yet Baghdad keeps on refusing to talk to them. All they do is make more and more demands on the Kurds. Is this ever going to come to a head so we can move on? As best I can tell, the Kurds are pretty much yelling UNCLE....and Baghdad just keeps driving the knife in deeper and deeper with more new demands everyday. Just not even following what Abadi is really pushing for at this point. Everyday is the same old story with new daggers and new demands....  

 

You're summation is very accurate JCF. Over there, the " Winner " enjoys grinding their heel into the back of their enemies neck as he lies on the ground.

 

" It's what they does "

[yota691]

Iraq warns banks to stop its activity in Kurdistan

- 43 Minutes Ago

 

 11

The Central Bank of Iraq called on all banks that have branches in Kurdistan to suspend their work in the region within a week as part of the procedures to impose the federal executive and control authorities on state institutions, while the Kurds considered this decision, in addition to preventing international flights from landing at their airports, To neighboring countries, «collective punishment targeting the parents». 

The Central Bank sent a letter to all Iraqi and foreign banks operating in Iraq demanding that «suspend the work of its branches in the region, a condition to continue its work in the sale and purchase of foreign currency». He added that his actions are based on "Parliament's Resolution No. 58 of October 12, which stipulates that foreign currency should not be sold to banks operating in the region or with branches in it."

The sales volume of the central auction daily $ 125 million, and allows all banks and civil companies to benefit from it, under strict conditions to reduce the phenomenon of smuggling of foreign currency abroad.

"The sale of foreign currencies through the bank's window is governed by laws and principles, including a law issued in 2004, as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) guidelines that put restrictions on these operations," the governor of the central bank Ali Mohsen Al-Alak told Al-Hayat. Iraq, which is our economy within the framework of a market economy, not to mention the Anti-Money Laundering Law No. 93 of 2004. Therefore, our dealings with the window must be restricted. Banks and financial institutions must be monitored to ensure their compliance with the Money Laundering Law. Financial to pass T suspicious transactions may involve crimes, including the financing of terrorism ».

In a positive development, Erbil expressed its willingness to provide data on oil revenues and the number of its employees to the federal government, and asked to set a date to start negotiations to resolve the outstanding differences.

A statement by the government of the region that «Abbadi pledged to work to pay the salaries of staff, and this is welcome. As for its doubts about the number, we confirm our readiness to show the numbers and information registered to us in accordance with the biometric system and audit. And called on him to «reconsider the table on their allocations specified in the draft budget at only 334 billion dinars, while the required 897 billion and 500 million dinars per month», and pointed out that «any amount not allocated to the Peshmerga in the tables attached to the draft, only a vague text determines the proportion Of the Ministry of Defense allocations ».

Al Hayat Newspaper

[yota691]

19 hours ago, 235snack said:

What will Iraq gain by stopping the sale of dinar in Kurdistan?

Getting them in Compliance with the Central Bank of Iraq and the Money Laundering Law. Which should result in a HUGE drop in the CBI sales...

[siberian_shaddow]

Much Appreciated Yota and other DV,  this is getting good I actually put my recliner back up in to sitting mode, it's getting very interesting. 

[yota691]

with capital of 500 million dollars in Kurdistan .. Lebanese banks: Central decision vague

 

Twilight News    

 

 2 hours ago

 

 

The Lebanese newspaper "Republic" said that the decision issued by the Central Bank of Iraq on the suspension of the work of bank branches in the Kurdistan Region within a week includes 10 Lebanese banks. 

The banks are Fransabank, Bank Audi, BLOM Bank, Byblos Bank, Mediterranean Bank, Lebanese Credit Bank, Beirut Bank, Arab Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Middle East and Africa Bank and Lebanese Lebanese Bank. 

The newspaper added that the units of Lebanese banks in Iraq and specifically in Erbil is the most numerous and widespread and active among foreign banks. And the value of capital of $ 500 million, as a result of the decision of the Central Bank of Iraq issued in 2016, which obliged foreign banks, including the Lebanese, to increase its capital to $ 50 million.

In this context, the representative of the Association of Lebanese Banks in Iraq, Samir Tawila told the newspaper that the circulation of the Iraqi Central is not clear, did not mention many details "We have communicated with the Iraqi Central and asked for clarifications, and will issue an explanatory note to this circular on Monday to explain more details about The parties specifically concerned with its decision ". 

He explained long that the circular requires banks that buy the US currency from the central Iraqi, shut down its branches or stop dealing with its branches in Erbil. 

He explained that this circular affects all banks operating in the Kurdistan region, whether foreign or local, where it is prohibited to buy the dollar from the Central Bank in the case of branches in Kurdistan, and asked them to close their branches in the region in order to continue to participate in the window of sale and purchase of foreign currency.

He pointed out that the Lebanese banks saw this generalization is unclear, because a large proportion of them do not buy the dollar from the central bank, and therefore in this case wondered if it was affected by the decision of the Central, and if it had to close its branches in Erbil. 

He also said that the points demanded by the Lebanese banks with clarifications related to the procedures that the banks that buy the dollar from the central bank should take: Are they required to close the accounts of customers in dollars? Or shut down the branches completely? 

In response to a question, Taweelah said that the Lebanese banks in Iraq are conducting all normal banking operations from opening credits and making transfers in dollars abroad and others. 

He explained that if the Lebanese banks are not interested in closing their branches in Kurdistan after clarifying the circular, it can work through its public administrations in Lebanon and make transfers in dollars, and will not be in need of the Iraqi center.

For his part, said the Lebanese businessman Jack Sarraf that the decision is an internal banker related to the prohibition of the sale and purchase of the dollar on the branches of banks operating in Kurdistan, and said that the decision does not affect the Lebanese businessmen working in Iraq, specifically in Erbil, "because they are doing their work naturally and in currency Most of the time ".

 

Keywords: 

[yota691]

Here some interesting news on Lebanon Banking... 

10 hours ago

Lebanon may delay the launch of international bonds due to the crisis

2017-11-10T02: 08: 24Z

Central Bank of Lebanon Building (Archive)

 

ABU DHABI -Lebanon is considering issuing an international bond this month but is likely to delay it after the country plunged into a political crisis following the resignation of the prime minister, a Finance Ministry official said.

"The time is not right now to go to the market, there is no urgent need to launch a bond issue, and they will wait to see the developments," the official said, familiar with the matter.

But another Finance Ministry official said no date had been originally set and the ministry was waiting to decide when to release.

None of the officials gave further details on the value of the bonds, usually issued by Lebanon in dollars.

The official said Lebanon had already received funding for 2017 earlier this year, but the Finance Ministry and central bank were planning the new issue to use its proceeds in debt management and foreign exchange reserves.

The crisis of the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri caused a wave of sales of his dollar bonds this week.

Lebanon's debt insurance cost hit its highest level since late 2008, with five-year Lebanese credit risk swaps rising 30 basis points from Wednesday's close to 615 basis points, according to IHS Market data.

The central bank must maintain sufficient foreign reserves to keep the Lebanese currency at LE 1507.5 against the US dollar.

With low revenues and growth, Lebanon relies on those foreign reserves and the deposits of millions of Lebanese expatriates in its local banks. Banks buy government bonds, which finance a large budget deficit and debt.

[yota691]

and it get stranger...

Kuwait calls on its nationals to leave Lebanon immediately

Twilight News    

 

 2 hours ago

 

Kuwait's Foreign Ministry has called on its citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately.

Kuwait's invitation to its citizens came just after a similar call by the Saudi Foreign Ministry to its citizens not to travel to Lebanon, and also asked those present there to leave as soon as possible.

 

Keywords: 

[yota691]

INTERNATIONAL

Saudi Arabia Tells Its Citizens To Leave Lebanon, And It's Not Completely Clear Why

 

November 9, 20173:53 PM ET

COLIN DWYER

 

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned last week in a televised speech from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, stares out from a poster on the side of a road in Tripoli, Lebanon.

Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP/Getty Images

The sudden, steep escalation of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon only got steeper Thursday, when the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised the country's citizens to leave Lebanon. The advisory comes just days after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation in a televised address from Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

"Due to the situations in the Republic of Lebanon," read the bulletin in the state-run Saudi Press Agency, a source with the ministry "stated that the Saudi nationals visiting or residing in Lebanon are asked to leave the country as soon as possible.

"The Kingdom advised all citizens not to travel to Lebanon from any other international destinations," the bulletin added.

Saudi allies Kuwait and Bahrain have issued similar travel warnings of their own this week.

But the advisory carries particular significance in Saudi Arabia, where the Lebanese premier read his resignation announcement Saturday. Hariri, who has extensive ties to Saudi Arabia, shocked his country, party and even several of his closest advisers when he did so — and he hasn't set foot back inside Lebanon borders since. In fact, he's left Saudi Arabia just once, visiting the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and immediately returning.

 

 

In Lebanon, Hariri's absence has inspired suspicion that he is being held against his will by the Saudis. Citing anonymous state sources, Reuters reports that the Lebanese government believes this, as well.

The Saudis have denied that Hariri is under house arrest.

For his part, Hariri said in his speech Saturday that he feared an assassination attempt, and that his decision to step down reflected fear for his life. His father, who also served as Lebanon's prime minister, was assassinated in 2005.

Still, Hariri's rationale hasn't stifled the churn of speculation back in Lebanon, where power is held by a coalition including Hariri's predominantly Sunni party called the Future Movement and Hezbollah, a Shiite group supported by Iran.

Hariri served as prime minister 2009 to 2011 and returned to office late last year. And though some in Lebanon have blamed Hezbollah for his father's assassination, Hariri has struck a moderate tone with regard to the group, telling NPR's Rachel Martinearlier this year that "this is something that I cannot take personal. There is an international tribunal that is working on the assassination of Rafik Hariri."

After his visit to the White House earlier this year, Hariri was asked about President Trump's remark that the militant group is a "menace." And Hariri would only go so far as to note "I think most administrations have said the same thing about Hezbollah."

Hariri's careful phrasing offers a window onto the political dynamic in the Persian Gulf region. As The Two-Way has noted previously, Saudi Arabia and Iran have been engaged in a tug-of-war over power in the region — and some believe the brash new Saudi crown prince, 32-year-old Mohammad bin Salman, might be dissatisfied by Hariri's lighter touch.

 

 

NPR's Greg Myre has more of the context behind the controversy:

"The Saudis have long supported Hariri, a fellow Sunni Muslim, and the Hariri family made its fortune from a construction business in the kingdom.

"The Saudis apparently felt Hariri was being undermined by Hezbollah, a Shiite group closely aligned with Iran. Yet many analysts are scratching their heads, wondering how Hariri's resignation will ultimately work to Saudi Arabia's advantage.

" 'One of the questions I have about all these Saudi actions is what is the end game and what is your strategy for getting to it,' said Alterman, citing Lebanon as one of several examples. 'It still may all work out. But the fact is, none of it has worked out yet and the Saudis seem to have doubled down on a strategy of embracing more risk.' "

Saudi Arabia, which has led airstrikes in Yemen and a blockade of Qatar, has sought to rally its allies in the region — including the UAE — to assert Sunni interests against those of Iran.

In Lebanon, Hariri's party issued a statement Thursday declaring that it was "necessary" for him to return in order "to restore Lebanon's dignity and respect," according to The Associated Press. And Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil also posted a rather pointed subtweet of his own Thursday.

"We are the ones who chose our representatives," he said, "and we are the ones who decide to remove them."

For now, though, NPR's Ruth Sherlock notes that the Saudi advisory against visiting Lebanon is "terrible news for this country. It has long relied on Gulf tourism" — and though that tourism faded at the start of the Syrian civil war, it "was just picking up again."

 

 

Saudi Arabia has seen its own political upheaval of late.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has accelerated a campaign to quash rivals and consolidate power. Just hours after the prince was picked to lead a new anti-corruption commission — and just hours after Hariri announced his resignation — Saudi authorities launched a sweeping roundup in which 11 Saudi princes and other notables were arrested.

"A total of 208 individuals have been called in for questioning so far," Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said in a statement released Thursday by the Saudi Press Agency. He added that seven of those people have been released without charge.

"Based on our investigations over the past three years, we estimate that at least $100 billion USD has been misused through systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades."

[yota691]

add another...

Asking "acceptable" on the dollar and no escape of deposits



 

 

Mohamed Wahba

 

The calming atmosphere succeeded in containing the reflection of the crisis of the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar. The market did not witness a panic, and no transfers were recorded abroad. The indicators of resilience in the face of such crises still reflect consistency in the structure of the financial system, which is able to continue to support the exchange rate of the pound without exhausting the reserves of the Central Bank of Lebanon in foreign currency.

This was the conclusion of yesterday's events in the market of pieces, which was reviewed by President Michel Aoun in a meeting called by Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Governor of the Banque du Liban Riad Salama and President of the Association of Banks Joseph Tarbih. According to the sources of the Republican Palace, the demand for the dollar did not exceed 400 million dollars, less than the expectations that prevailed in the hours following the announcement of the resignation of Hariri. 
Salama expressed his conviction that this level of demand is "acceptable" compared to the crisis, and "can be absorbed", especially since yesterday was the first in the market of cutting after the crisis, which means that the pace of demand will decline in the coming days The calm atmosphere continued.

Demand for the dollar is below expectations and did not exceed $ 400 million

 

This conviction is based on the fact that the record of the demand for the dollar yesterday is a habit of recourse to depositors at the onset of crises, which becomes a worrying behavior when it turns into a market pattern that translates into an outflow of funds abroad, meaning that the conversion of funds from the pound to the dollar Lebanon, as opposed to the hedge operation being carried out by the depositor today, as there has been no escape of deposits from Lebanon. This is the main indicator that must be monitored during crises, because the escape of deposits comes after the collapse of confidence and political and economic security. 
Sources of the palace said that «the purpose of the meeting to follow up the reactions in the market», and at Aoun's desire to show the «state of political solidarity between the pillars of government and consultation among themselves and put the data at one table after this crisis».
Chief economist and director of research and economic studies at Byblos Bank Nassib Ghubreel told Al-Akhbar that the current event can not be measured by three major events that have plagued Lebanon since 2004: the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (2005), the July 2006 aggression and the withdrawal of opposition ministers from the Saad government Hariri (2011), which led to the dismissal. After the assassination of Hariri, a large demand for the dollar amounted to 5% of total deposits and continued to run for two months. During the July aggression, demand for the dollar was 3% and ended with the end of the war in mid-August. In both cases, there were long periods of demand for the dollar to divert money abroad. In the third case, after the withdrawal of ministers from the government, the demand amounted to 1% of deposits taken out of Lebanon.
"The current situation is not at the same level as the three cases," Gabriel said, noting that "the demand" was acceptable today, "although" the concern is not related to the current event. Rather, it is centered around internal domestic elements related to the fate of the 2018 budget. The constitutional deadlines in its submission, and the continuation of the caretaker government and the issue of activating the oil and gas file ». He expressed his belief that «the balance of payments will not be affected by this crisis, but will be affected by the decline in exports and imports of tourism and the reduction of investments, the World Bank forecasts indicate that the remittances of expatriates in 2017 about $ 7.7 billion».
The failure of the campaign of intimidation led by the Saudi Minister of State for Gulf Affairs Thamir al-Sbahan does not cancel some of the people's comments about the existence of a Saudi deposit with the Banque du Liban that could be threatened by withdrawal or the Saudi ability to invite Gulf depositors to withdraw their deposits from Lebanese banks to increase pressure or withdraw. Investments or similar tools of intimidation at each point. In fact, there is no Saudi deposit in the accounts of the Banque du Liban, which was withdrawn years ago, and neither Saudi Arabia nor any Gulf country can invite depositors to withdraw their deposits from Lebanon, where they benefit from high interest rates that make easy and quick profits not available in any country in the world. , As well as that the financial policies of some countries put great restrictions on the funds received, and may prevent them from going out if entered.

[yota691]

Association of Lebanese banks to comment on the decision of the Central Bank of Iraq in Kurdistan and describe it as an embarrassment

 

 

Number of readings: 1117 10-11-2017 03:10 PM

 

 

10-11-2017 03:10 PM 

 

 

The representative of the Association of Lebanese Banks in Iraq, 'Samir Taweelah' on the decision of the Central Bank of Iraq, considering that the circular that it launched is not clear and did not mention many details. 

He pointed out that he would issue an explanatory memorandum to this circular next Monday explaining more details about the specific issue of his decision. He stressed that the Lebanese banks saw this circular as unclear because a large proportion of them do not buy the dollar Of the central, and therefore wondered in this case if it was affected by the decision of the Central, although it had to close its branches in Erbil. 

[DoD]

2 hours ago, yota691 said:

Getting them in Compliance with the Central Bank of Iraq and the Money Laundering Law. Which should result in a HUGE drop in the CBI sales...

 

yota, I think your right about the money laundering part of it for sure. Lebanon has 10 banks in Erbil, can you imagine how much money those 10 banks could transfer in a very short period. It also sounds like the country is about to go into a tail spin an crooks will start moving money out of Lebanon. The CBI has made a very good move on this in my opinion...

[yota691]

Just now, DoD said:

money laundering

Nobody will illegally reap from the IQD..they may have gain from the USD from the past but not in the future... IMO and Good Morning DV....

[blueskyline]

 Good Morning Yota and DV’s . All very interesting. Was it not Lebanon that said they “ Will Show Iraq The World “ when it comes to international Banking ? 

[yota691]

Department Press Briefing - November 9, 2017

Share

Heather Nauert

Spokesperson 
Department Press Briefing 

Washington, DC

November 9, 2017

 

 

TRANSCRIPT:

 

 

3:01 p.m. EST

 

MS NAUERT: Okay, good afternoon. Thanks, everybody, for coming today.

A couple announcements that I’d like to make at the top, and let’s start in Venezuela right now. The Maduro regime’s stranglehold on democracy tightens daily. Yesterday the illegitimate Constituent Assembly launched its newest tool to suppress freedom of expression in Venezuela, including for the press, with its passage of a new law designed to suppress dissenting voices. The regime put the law into effect immediately. As long as the Maduro regime conducts itself as a dictatorship, we will continue to bring the full weight of the American economic and diplomatic power to bear in support of the Venezuelan people. This is why the United States today announced targeted sanctions against Venezuelan Government officials involved in ongoing efforts to undermine democracy in Venezuela.

They have committed acts of fraud, censorship, and corruption designed to silence the opposition and secure victory for regime candidates. As a result of today’s actions, the assets of these individuals subject to U.S. jurisdiction are frozen and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. The United States will maintain sanctions on designated Venezuelan Government officials until they break from Maduro’s dictatorial regime and support the restoration of democracy and constitutional order. We will continue to hold accountable those who seek to destroy Venezuela’s democracy and rob the Venezuelan people of the prosperous future that they deserve.

Something that happened in Greece today that concerned us tremendously, and that is Greece released a convicted terrorist from the group November 17. We would like to condemn the release of the convicted terrorist Dimitris Koufodinas, who was set loose on a two-day furlough from a Greek prison. He’s been convicted of multiple murders, including those of William Nordeen, a defense attache at the U.S. embassy, and also United States Air Force Sergeant Ronald Stewart. Our embassy in Athens has conveyed our serious concerns about this decision to the Government of Greece, and that is Dimitris Koufodinas. In the past when some of these November 17th people who have been convicted of murder have been let out on furlough in the past, they’ve disappeared, so we obviously have some concerns about that.

QUESTION: Just on that, your understanding is that it was just two days and then he’s supposed to report back?

MS NAUERT: That is our understanding; but based on previous experience, we’re concerned that he won’t return.

Next I’d like to mention an entrepreneurship program for some young people. We had the pleasure of hosting nearly 250 business and social entrepreneurs from 36 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean here at the State Department yesterday for the Closing Forum of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Professional Fellows Program, or YLAI. Over the past five weeks, the young entrepreneurs have been placed in American businesses and organizations in 24 cities across the country. They had a chance to see how we do business and share our own best practices, and they did with us as well. The results from that experience are new partnerships and networks that will serve to strengthen economic ties between our countries and exchange best practices for the benefit both of the fellows and their host organizations.

A couple examples I’d like to provide you. Dominican Republic’s Roniel Toribio has a maker’s space where he supplies everything from 3D printers to sewing machines for client use. Fuse Integration and FabLabs in San Diego hosted Roniel and helped him develop his project and process management skills.

Now, in keeping with the administration’s support of women entrepreneurs, 53 percent of this year’s YLAI fellows are women. In Uruguay, Veronica Rodriguez is developing a collaborative winery with the aim of producing exceptional wines. First Colony Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia hosted Veronica as she developed her skills and production processes and improved her business model. We expect that they’ll return home to their countries and be able to bring some of their newly learned knowledge back home.

And then finally, a lot of us aren’t going to be here tomorrow, right? Veterans Day. And so I just want to take a moment to recognize the veterans who serve in the State Department and those in the Armed Forces who protect our embassies in the U.S. Marine Corps overseas. The Department of State is proud to honor Veterans Day this year and the contribution of our military veterans, including nearly 7,000 veterans of the State Department’s workforce. Veterans serving at the State Department represent all military services and serve across the spectrum of our workforce, including the Civil Service and the Foreign Service around the world. We value the diversity of our veterans that they bring to the department, including their unique skillset, backgrounds, leadership, and esprit de corps.

This week the department held two events to honor our veterans, including the 15th Annual Roll Call, where we invited employee veterans and veteran supporters to state their military affiliation, whether it be their own military service or acknowledging military service in their families, and a Veterans Day commemoration event to highlight the theme of veteran resiliency. That’s where our Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan delivered remarks recognizing the countless contributions of our veterans and the valuable experience and expertise that they bring to the State Department.

On my way down here in the elevator there was a man who introduced himself to me, and he said he was a part of this Roll Call yesterday. And so I asked him which branch of the service he had served in. He said he was in the Air Force in 1967, I think to 1970. And I said, “What are you doing tomorrow on Veterans Day?” He said, “I’m working.” Somebody here has to keep the building in order. So, sir, thank you for your service. And to all our veterans who serve at the State Department here and around the world, we thank you for your service. We offer our heartfelt gratitude to the men and women who have served in our United States military and who continue that legacy of service today.

And with that I’d be happy to take your questions.

Hi.

QUESTION: Thanks. Hi. Let’s start with the Middle East and things Saudi-related.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: Has the Secretary had a chance to speak with any Saudi officials? And if he has, what is the message that the administration, through him at least, is trying to send to them?

MS NAUERT: The Secretary --

QUESTION: On the various situations that we have going on – the domestic situation in Saudi, the Yemen situation, and the Lebanon situation.

MS NAUERT: Understood. Let me start here. Secretary Tillerson spoke with Foreign Minister al-Jubeir yesterday. Let’s see – wait, no, I’m sorry. It was Tuesday. He spoke with him on Tuesday. I’m not going to be able to provide a whole lot about that conversation for you. I know that’ll be to the frustration of a lot of you in the room.

I can tell you part of the conversation included our recognition that Saudi Arabia is a strong partner of the United States. We continue to encourage the Government of Saudi Arabia to pursue prosecution of corruption in a fair and transparent manner. That’s something that we stress not only with Saudis but with other governments as well. In terms of whether – how these prosecutions may be going in the future, the Government of Saudi Arabia would have to address that.

As you know, Secretary Mattis spoke with his counterpart, the President spoke with the King of Saudi Arabia a few days ago, so we’re in constant communication with the government.

QUESTION: On Yemen?

MS NAUERT: In terms of Yemen, one of the issues that the Secretary has followed closely is the humanitarian situation in Yemen. We’ve seen tremendous food shortages in Yemen. We’ve talked about how this is really a man-made situation there. We’ve seen the cholera problem as well. The announcement that the ports were being closed down or limited in terms of some of the supplies is an area that’s of concern to us, because the Yemeni people are not the ones at fault for their situation. We would like to see food aid, medical equipment, and all of that be able to be brought into the ports. That is a key area where that – the supplies and the food aid are able to get in. We would like to see that open so that people are not suffering any more.

QUESTION: Well, is it fair to say that you have made that – or that the Secretary or others have made that clear to the Saudis?

MS NAUERT: Well, I think this is something – that’s a part of a series of ongoing conversations. We have often had conversations with people in the region in addition with the Saudis about our concerns about the humanitarian situation. The United States has contributed a lot of money to the humanitarian situation there, so we’d like to see that opened up so people can get their supplies.

QUESTION: But this isn’t --

QUESTION: Just to follow up on this point --

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MS NAUERT: Hold on.

QUESTION: Just to follow up on this point --

MS NAUERT: Hold on.

QUESTION: -- on Yemen.

MS NAUERT: Yeah.

QUESTION: I mean, it’s not only the ports but also the airspace, the borders – the complete closure.

MS NAUERT: Yeah.

QUESTION: So we can understand what you said clearly --

MS NAUERT: Yeah. I don’t know the percentages of what comes through in terms of the ports versus --

QUESTION: Okay. But you are calling on the Saudis to open the borders and open the ports so the Yemeni people can receive these humanitarian aid and so on?

MS NAUERT: We believe that there should be unimpeded access.

QUESTION: Yes.

MS NAUERT: Unimpeded access for commercial and humanitarian goods to get into Yemen.

QUESTION: And you’d like to see this happen immediately?

MS NAUERT: That hasn’t changed. I mean, we called for that months ago, and we would call for that again today.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Just to clarify, do you --

MS NAUERT: Hi, Barbara.

QUESTION: Hi there. So do you support the call by the UN yesterday to open the borders immediately for humanitarian aid?

MS NAUERT: I don’t have the UN comments in front of me, so I’m not going to comment on those.

QUESTION: They called for the airspace and the ports to be opened immediately; otherwise there would be a famine greater than seen in many decades.

MS NAUERT: Look, that has been a concern of ours, that this could --

QUESTION: I’m just – do you support the call?

MS NAUERT: -- hold on – that this could develop into a famine. It’s close. There is tremendous food insecurity in Yemen right now. Some have said that this could be the top humanitarian disaster in the world. I don’t know that we’ve assessed that personally and can actually make that designation, but I have certainly heard that.

I think what you’re saying, that has come out of the UN, is consistent with our overall concerns, our overall concerns about getting humanitarian aid and also medical supplies into the people of Yemen.

Okay. Anybody else on Yemen?

QUESTION: On Lebanon.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: Saudi --

MS NAUERT: Wait, hold on.

QUESTION: Staying on Saudi --

MS NAUERT: Yemen – okay. We’re done with Yemen.

QUESTION: Saudi, Lebanon, go ahead.

MS NAUERT: Okay. Go ahead. Hi.

QUESTION: Yeah, on Lebanon and Saudi. Did Secretary Tillerson spoke with the – his counterpart about the situation in Lebanon? The status of Prime Minister Hariri – have his – has he got assurances about he’s free to go back to Lebanon or not? And did you – do you plan to take some warnings to your U.S. citizens about going or staying in Lebanon, since Saudi Arabia asked them – their citizens to go back?

MS NAUERT: Yeah. Well, let me take that last part first. I believe we have a Travel Warning – and I want to double-check this, but I believe we do have a Travel Warning that is in effect right now for Lebanon, as we do many countries around the world. Robert and Catherine, if you would be kind of enough – Frankie – to double-check on that one?

QUESTION: I think there was one issued in September. I don’t believe that it --

MS NAUERT: Okay. Okay, we’ll just double-check. I just want to make sure.

QUESTION: Okay. So there has been nothing new as of now?

MS NAUERT: I don’t believe there is anything new on that, but there are many countries that we have Travel Warnings for. So these guys are going to double-check on it while we continue our conversation, and I’ll get back to you on that before we go.

QUESTION: Yes --

MS NAUERT: Hold on. Wait, I didn’t finish answering the question.

QUESTION: The situation in Lebanon and --

MS NAUERT: The overall situation in Lebanon.

QUESTION: And the prime minister.

MS NAUERT: Okay. So I addressed the part of U.S. citizens who may be there. I want to mention that our charge d’affaires, who’s serving in Saudi Arabia – his name is Chris Henzel – he met with Prime Minister Hariri yesterday, so had a chance to speak with him. I cannot provide you with a readout of that conversation or any specifics of it, but we have seen him. In terms of the conditions of him being held or the conversations between Saudi Arabia and the Prime Minister Hariri, I would have to refer you to the Government of Saudi Arabia and also to Mr. Hariri’s office.

QUESTION: Sorry. You said the conditions of him being held. Is he in detention?

MS NAUERT: Well, I’m not going to put that word – I’m not going to associate that word with it. But where he is right now --

QUESTION: Where is he? Does he have a nice room at the Ritz Carlton? (Laughter.)

MS NAUERT: I can’t – I don’t know personally where he is.

QUESTION: Or is he at another --

MS NAUERT: I’ve heard different reports; I can’t confirm where he is. But where he is right now --

QUESTION: Well, where did the charge meet him?

MS NAUERT: He met him – I don’t think I’m --

QUESTION: Don’t say he --

MS NAUERT: I don’t think I’m permitted to say that, but I will double-check on that.

Okay. Yeah, hold on.

QUESTION: So in your view, is he free to leave? Is he free to go back to Lebanon, submit his resignation?

MS NAUERT: For that – listen, I have not had a chance to talk to our charge about that meeting. A lot of this is going to be under sensitive, private, diplomatic conversations right now because it’s a sensitive time, as I’m sure you can understand. So they had a meeting. I can just confirm that meeting; I don’t have the details to provide you, and I will see if I can double-check and find out where exactly that may --

QUESTION: Do you see his --

QUESTION: But was it brought up in Secretary Tillerson conversation with his counterpart, Saudi counterpart?

MS NAUERT: The issue was brought up, yes.

QUESTION: Do you feel that – do you feel that --

MS NAUERT: Okay? But that’s all I have.

QUESTION: Heather, does the U.S. --

MS NAUERT: Hold on.

QUESTION: Do you feel that his resignation --

MS NAUERT: Hold on. Guys, guys, guys hold on.

QUESTION: I’m sorry. On Lebanon. Do you feel that his resignation and this heightened rhetoric may lead to a war, or is war inevitable against Hizballah and in Lebanon? And what would be the American advice in this --

MS NAUERT: Said, I’m not going to go there. These are all very sensitive matters, and we’re not going to get into hypotheticals at this time right now. Yeah, okay.

QUESTION: So what --

MS NAUERT: Did you have something on Lebanon?

QUESTION: Just quickly on that. Does the United States have a comment or support the decision to resign by the prime minister?

MS NAUERT: That is something – an internal matter that we wouldn’t comment on.

QUESTION: So you can’t comment on comments to Reuters by two cabinet members of Lebanon who say that Mr. Hariri is being held against his will?

MS NAUERT: I’m not going to – look, I’ve not seen the comments on the part of those two Lebanese cabinet members. We have government officials from all around the world who are always giving press statements and quotes that we’re not necessarily going to comment on.

QUESTION: So stay – but staying on Lebanon, there is a Travel Warning. Do you know if there are any preparations to update it, to modify it, to issue a new one?

MS NAUERT: Not that I’m aware of, but I’m having my colleagues check on that. There is a Travel Warning. It has been in effect since February 2017.

QUESTION: Right. I understand that.

MS NAUERT: In terms of whether there is something else in the works --

QUESTION: Right.

MS NAUERT: -- that I don’t know. If there is something, we’ll bring it to you, okay?

QUESTION: And Heather, also on Lebanon, is – the French President Emmanuel Macron is traveling to meet with the Saudi crown prince. Is that something that the United States is coordinating with the French? Does the U.S. believe there needs to be greater international coordination with everything that’s happening within and surrounding?

MS NAUERT: That I’m not aware of.

QUESTION: Question on also --

QUESTION: More follow-up, also on Lebanon.

MS NAUERT: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Is the U.S. Government considering changing how it deals with the Lebanese Government, given that Mr. Hariri says that he was threatened by Hizballah and the government, and the Saudis have – no longer see the distinction between Hizballah and the rest of the government? Is there any discussion about whether the U.S. will change its stance to the Lebanese Government?

MS NAUERT: I don’t believe there is. I don’t believe there is.

QUESTION: No discussion?

MS NAUERT: Anything else on Lebanon?

QUESTION: Yeah. Me.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: One question, please.

MS NAUERT: Hi.

QUESTION: Heather, several country in the region, among them Kuwait, called their people to leave Lebanon, and that happened today after Saudi Arabia did so, the same. Speculation in the region that there is something coming up in terms of fighting war in Lebanon. Are you concerned – first, do you have any comment on that speedy development in calling other people to leave?

MS NAUERT: Sure. I – we would just say we’re monitoring the situation very closely. Our – we have a good relationship with Prime Minister Hariri, with the Government of Lebanon. As you all know, he was here earlier this year, where he met with the President, and Secretary Tillerson was a part of that. I do not anticipate that our relationship will change as a result. We’ve watched the news and seen the news that some countries are making the decision to encourage their citizens to leave the country. That is something that a country has the right to do. We often will do that with our citizens, whether it’s --

QUESTION: But are you concerned?

MS NAUERT: -- through travel alerts, travel warnings, or asking them to leave a country. Countries have the right to do that to protect their citizens, if that’s why they would choose to make that --

QUESTION: Yeah. But that concern you under the circumstances?

MS NAUERT: Yeah, look, we would call for no kind of escalation of any sort of threats or something in that arena. But we also recognize that a government has the right to communicate with its own citizens. That’s about sovereignty. They have a right to be able to suggest that their citizens leave if they do not feel that their citizens should be there.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: Can I get a follow-up on the Secretary’s conversation with the Saudi foreign minister? Did they discuss the intelligence that they have showing that they believe the missile that was launched into Riyadh was an Iranian missile? Was the Secretary at all moved in his position as to still evaluating? Is there any progress on that?

MS NAUERT: I – that would be an intelligence matter, so we’re just not going to get into it, okay? I’m sorry.

Okay. Let’s move to another place.

QUESTION: One more Saudi question.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: Can I do one more Saudi question?

MS NAUERT: Okay. Sure.

QUESTION: Okay. So last year, the U.S. started working with the minister of justice in Saudi Arabia, trying to kind of like basically revamp, transform their judicial system. Is that something that’s still going on now? Or has it been impacted by what’s happened recently?

MS NAUERT: I’m not aware of that, so some of the – some things that predate my time that are so into the nitty gritty, I’m just not aware of whether or not --

QUESTION: I guess there’s no reason it would have been curtailed though?

MS NAUERT: I can tell you this. Concerns about corruption in the Saudi Government, within members of the government, is not something that’s new. We have followed that closely. We continue to follow that matter, but in terms of whether or not that is still taking place, what you just mentioned, I’m not aware of it.

QUESTION: Can you look into it though?

MS NAUERT: Certainly.

QUESTION: Okay. Thanks.

MS NAUERT: Okay, okay. Let’s move on. Laurie, let me guess: Iraq.

QUESTION: Oh, you got it. Yeah.

MS NAUERT: All right.

QUESTION: Last week, the Iraqi parliament approved in principle a law that would allow child marriages for girls as young as nine years old and that would impose Shiite jurisprudence on all Iraqis. Today, an MP in the Kurdistan region parliament rejected it, saying that it’s unenforceable in the Kurdistan region because the Kurdistan region has its own laws. What’s your comment on the Iraqi draft law?

MS NAUERT: Yeah. So often we don’t comment on draft legislation; often we don’t comment on other country’s legislation. But we are completely against and oppose the idea of children marrying adults. And let’s remember, it was not that long ago that we called out the depravity of ISIS for taking child prisoners, child brides, and the sort. Some of this will be an internal Iraqi matter, but we remain firmly opposed to the idea that any adult would attempt to marry a child in that fashion. A child is a child.

QUESTION: Thank you. Iraq again? Iraq?

QUESTION: One more question. The Iraqi Central Bank has said that all Iraqi banks operating in the Kurdistan Region have to halt their operations. What is your comment? This seems like a form of economic warfare, like sanctions on Venezuela, which you just announced. So what is your comment on a decision like that?

MS NAUERT: I saw a report on that earlier today. We can’t confirm that report just yet, so at this point it’s simply a report. I’d have to refer you to the Kurdistan Regional Government and also the Iraqi Government on that. Sorry, I don’t have anything more for you on that.

QUESTION: Back on this child marriage thing.

MS NAUERT: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you know, have your – has your opposition to this legislation been made clear to the Iraqi Government and parliament?

MS NAUERT: We have a lot of conversations with the Iraqi Government. I would imagine that our view on this is well known. I know our ambassador over there meets with them a lot. Our primary conversations taking place with Iraq right now concern the territorial integrity and democracy of Iraq. But whether or not this has been brought up, that I just don’t know. I know that this issue has come up in its parliament before and it’s had – it’s failed in the past. So I’m not going to speculate where this is going to go.

QUESTION: Iraq again?

MS NAUERT: Okay. Hi.

QUESTION: What – hi. What is your position on the ongoing crisis between Baghdad and Erbil, now that Baghdad is still unwilling to sit with the KRG officials after they freeze the results of the elections and Barzani stepped down?

MS NAUERT: Well, I know they’ve been talking, so I’m not sure --

QUESTION: That was the --

MS NAUERT: I’m not sure that I --

QUESTION: -- their security --

MS NAUERT: -- would agree with the premise of your question. I know they’ve been talking. We certainly see dialogue as a good thing, a good thing to get Iraq sort of back together again and have a peaceful resolution and a peaceful situation so that we can go back – all of us, including the members of the coalition – to the fight against ISIS.

QUESTION: The talking is between the Peshmerga commanders and the Iraqi Security Forces. It’s not on the level of the two governments, between KRG and Baghdad.

MS NAUERT: Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t have anything for you on the particular militaries having conversations.

QUESTION: Are you doing any sort of mediations between Baghdad and Erbil in --

MS NAUERT: We’ve had a lot of conversations. I can refer you back to a lot of days of our press briefings here, where we’ve talked about and covered the conversations taking place between Erbil and Baghdad, and the U.S. worked to help support that. I know our Secretary Tillerson has had conversations in the past, with the Barzanis in the recent past, and also with Prime Minister Abadi. Our ambassador is doing that virtually every single day, if not every day, and there are lots of people who are engaged in this.

Okay. Hi.

QUESTION: Afghanistan?

MS NAUERT: Okay. Hi, Nazira. How are you?

QUESTION: Hey, how are you? Yes, any comment about Brussels conference, and also NATO has plan to send --

MS NAUERT: I’m sorry, the first part was what?

QUESTION: Brussels conference. We call Bruxelle. NATO conference. NATO has plan to sending 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

MS NAUERT: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you think that this amount is useful and solves the problem?

MS NAUERT: Well, I’m sorry I’m not going to have an answer for you on that, because when it comes to troop issues and bringing additional troops to Afghanistan, that would fall under the Department of Defense. Overall, we recognize that – and remain very concerned about the security situation in Afghanistan. We talked about this the other day, where two reporters – I don’t know if you knew them; let me express our condolences to you for that, because you are from Afghanistan, you are a reporter – two of those reporters who were killed working for the television station there in Afghanistan.

The security situation there is very, very challenging. We recognize that more needs to be done to help bring peace to Afghanistan. Afghanistan needs to be committed to a peaceful resolution, but in the long term, this government doesn’t believe that a military situation is what is going to resolve the peace issue there, and that’s going to have to be between the government and various negotiations and conversations.

QUESTION: Sure.

MS NAUERT: Thank you. Okay. Hey, Cindy.

QUESTION: Hi. With Turkey’s prime minister here – and the White House put out a statement saying that Vice President Pence expressed concern about American prisoners in Turkey, and I know that the Turkish prime minister before had said about Turkish citizens here who are – there are court cases and things like that. Do you have any updates on the discussions and what came out of that?

MS NAUERT: Yeah. So first let me say the Vice President has done such a terrific job, and I mean that in the most respectful way, of highlighting some of the issues that are so important not just to Americans but to fundamental democracy, human rights, and also religious liberties. I know that the Vice President was pleased to have welcomed the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

I have a readout; many of you have seen it. If you will, just indulge me and I’m going to read it out for those folks overseas who may be reading a transcript later so that they have it, because they may not have access to what you have access to. So here we go:

At the White House today, Vice President Mike Pence met with the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to reaffirm the enduring strategic partnership between the United States and Turkey. The leaders expressed hope that their meeting would help usher in a new chapter in U.S.-Turkey relations and agreed on the need for constructive dialogue as friends and allies on bilateral challenges. They highlighted the United States’ and Turkey’s mutual interest in stability and security in the Middle East and agreed to further intergovernmental consultations toward that end.

The Vice President also thanked the prime minister for Turkey’s contributions to global security in the fight to defeat ISIS, and he underscored the U.S. commitment to stand with Turkey against the PKK and other terrorist threats. The Vice President expressed deep concern over the arrests of American citizens, our Mission Turkey local staff who worked for our embassy there – or who still do work, journalists, and also members of civil society under the state of emergency, and urged transparency and due process in the resolution of their cases.

I was not in that meeting so I can’t provide you any more than this readout, but I do know the Vice President is very passionate about the cases of Americans who are being detained in Turkey. That would include Pastor Brunson; I know that’s an issue he’s brought up in the past. I don’t know whether or not that was brought up today. I certainly imagine it would have been, though.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.

MS NAUERT: Okay. Anything else on Turkey? Okay. Let’s move on.

QUESTION: Can we move on to the Palestinian-Israeli issue --

MS NAUERT: Sure.

QUESTION: -- for a little bit? The Israelis have closed many Palestinian media outlets, harassed journalists, arrested – took licenses and so on. I wonder if you have any comment, because you do consistently express your support for freedom of expression and you urge not to violate that freedom.

MS NAUERT: Well, thank you. Thank you for mentioning that. It’s an important thing to me and I think to all of you as well. We’re certainly aware of the reports and aware of what has taken place there. I’m going to have to refer you to the Government of Israel for specific questions about that.

But as an overall matter, as you referenced, we put out a statement the other day about protecting the rights of a free press and journalists. We believe that more voices rather than fewer voices contribute to the overall health of a society and a country, whether it’s a democracy or not. We prefer those voices being heard. But beyond that, I’d just have to refer you to the Government of Israel.

QUESTION: And I have one more question.

MS NAUERT: Certainly.

QUESTION: The Israeli Channel 10 said that former Secretary of State John Kerry has put the blame on the Israeli Government and on Prime Minister Netanyahu for not reaching a peace settlement with the Palestinians when he was secretary of state, that the Palestinians on their part tried all they could. And I wonder if you have any comment on that or whether the current Secretary Tillerson has spoken with his predecessor on this matter.

MS NAUERT: Yeah, I’m not aware if Secretary Tillerson has spoken with former Secretary Kerry on this matter or any other matter for that matter. It is – Israeli-Palestinian peace is an extremely important issue to this President and to this administration. I know the President, through Mr. Kushner and also through Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, are trying to forge something there. They are flying over there a lot and having an awful lot of meetings to try to bring both sides to the table to try to forge for – forge ahead with some sort of peace agreement. Okay.

QUESTION: Mm-hmm. So this current State Department does not have any comment on the conduct of the former State Department?

MS NAUERT: (Laughter.) Look --

QUESTION: Or you won’t say?

MS NAUERT: It has bedeviled many secretaries of state – the issue of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Lots of secretaries, lots of administrations have wanted to get this done and have not been able to do so. I know this President is very – is reinvigorated by the idea of trying to accomplish this in his administration. I know he’s optimistic. If he were not passionate about it, he would not have put his son-in-law and also Special Envoy Greenblatt in charge of this. They are spending a lot of time there.

I can just tell you that they are optimistic about the overall chances to get something resolved. It’s obviously a delicate matter. Both sides have to be willing to come to the table; both sides need to be willing to make some sacrifices. That’s what it’s like when you’re going through negotiations. So we remain hopeful, and we’ll keep working on it.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MS NAUERT: Okay?

QUESTION: So this building and the Secretary is comfortable with the White House having delegated the entire effort --

MS NAUERT: No, they haven’t --

QUESTION: -- for Middle East peace --

MS NAUERT: They haven’t --

QUESTION: -- to the President’s son-in-law --

MS NAUERT: They haven’t – okay, I will say – I will say a couple things.

QUESTION: Well, I – that’s what you just said, right?

MS NAUERT: Well, the State Department – no, I said putting them on this matter. The State Department always backs people in their meetings. When we have members of Congress who are headed on a CODEL going to any given place, the State Department backs them on those meetings, meaning we brief them ahead of time, we attend those meetings, we debrief them, we’re engaged in every step of the way.

There are more than enough world events going around, there’s enough to share. I wish there weren’t enough to share. I wish it were something that we could – that we could accomplish right here in this building, but there’s a lot of stuff going on. So we’re happy to have other people help with the work. Okay?

Hey, Carol.

QUESTION: Hey. So in recent days, several senior officials in Russia’s national security and military establishment have called for President Putin to order the reopening of military bases in Cuba and Vietnam. What do you think of that?

MS NAUERT: Who has called for this?

QUESTION: Several officials in Russia in – both in – senators and a couple of the defense ministry officials as well.

MS NAUERT: Yeah, I – this is – I’m hearing this for the first time. I have not had a chance to ask any of our folks about that. It wouldn’t surprise me. I’ll leave it at that.

QUESTION: Why wouldn’t it surprise you?

MS NAUERT: That’s just my personal opinion. I mean, that they would want to – well, that they would want to – I’m not going to speculate. Okay? I’ll leave it at that. (Laughter.)

Okay, hi.

QUESTION: On North Korea?

MS NAUERT: Sure.

QUESTION: There’s a report out today suggesting a diplomatic negotiation between the U.S. and North Korea, suggesting that there might be the opportunity for a dialogue if there is no military action taken within 60 days. Do you have any response to that report?

MS NAUERT: Yeah, so I certainly saw that report, some comments made by – allegedly made in an off-the-record session. We certainly hope that our people could have the freedom to speak in an off-the-record fashion, but I think overall, the President and the Secretary have been very clear about where we stand on the issue of North Korea. We support the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We do not seek regime change. We do not seek the collapse of the regime. We do not seek the accelerated reunification of the Korean Peninsula. And we don’t seek an excuse to bring our people north of the 38th Parallel. Those things are all very clear.

In terms of talks, the President and the Secretary I think have been very clear on this matter that now is not the time for talks. At some point, if North Korea is showing that it is serious in its interest to denuclearize, perhaps we could look at doing that, but they’re still not showing any sign of seriousness on that matter.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?

QUESTION: There hasn’t been any progress necessarily in that direction?

MS NAUERT: Well, I think there’s – I think there has been progress in terms of the sanctions. The Secretary spoke to this, I believe the President touched on this last night as well, that we’re starting to see the maximum pressure campaign work. We’re starting to see that sort of squeeze on the North Korean economy. Those things can take time. We just saw some additional sanctions announced on the part of the Republic of Korea and also Japan. We’re pleased with that. We continue to ask more countries to do more to try to choke off that money supply that goes to North Korea, so we’re hopeful that that will keep working. The President in his meetings with President Xi was given some assurances that they are adhering to UN Security Council resolutions and that they’ll fully implement them. So we expect them to adhere to that, we think that they have taken some positive steps in the right direction – China has – but of course, countries can always do more on that.

But in terms of your overall question about talks, we’re not there yet. Okay?

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that?

MS NAUERT: Hey.

QUESTION: In August, after a 25-day window where North Korea hadn’t fired any missiles, the Secretary said he was encouraged; he praised North Korea and he said it looked like they were showing restraint.

MS NAUERT: Right.

QUESTION: We’re now in a window of 56 days, I think it is --

MS NAUERT: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- where they haven’t fired any ballistic missiles, conducted any nuclear test. Do you see that as a sign of restraint? Do you think that that’s a – there’s an opening in there?

MS NAUERT: Gosh, I’d go back to something I think of when I’m at home. When my son Peter doesn’t hit my son Gage, I don’t praise him for exercising restraint in not hitting his brother. Matt before gave the cookie jar example. This one is actually a better example. I’m not going to praise one for not hitting the other.

Look, we’ve got a long way to go on this. The Secretary has even said himself when he acknowledged that North Korea – and I don’t recall the exact word he used, but when he acknowledged that North Korea hadn’t shot off any missiles for a certain period of time, that he was perhaps being overly optimistic at the time. He’s acknowledged that publicly and certainly here at the department as well. We hope North Korea won’t do it. We hope they won’t take any escalatory actions. We would like to see more of a period of quiet. That’s all I’m going to have on that. We just – we hope that this will continue, that this period will continue.

QUESTION: Is there – previously he said we’ll know – we’ll see – we’ll know it when we see it.

MS NAUERT: Yeah.

QUESTION: Is that – does that still stand, or is there a barometer of how long?

MS NAUERT: I think since we first talked about knowing it when we see it, North Korea has in the recent past taken more escalatory actions. So I think I’ll just go back to what we’ve said, and now is not the time to sit down and have talks. We’d like to at some point if the time is right, but the time’s not right yet.

Okay.

QUESTION: When did Peter and Gage acquire nuclear weapons? (Laughter.)

MS NAUERT: I feel like my kids have nuclear weapons, yes. I feel like they do sometimes.

QUESTION: Okay. Because perhaps this – I mean, has there been some escalation between the two kids that is --

MS NAUERT: Between the children?

QUESTION: -- that is somehow equivalent to what’s been going on between --

MS NAUERT: Matt, let me just say you are so lucky that you have a daughter, because we spend a lot of time in the emergency room. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: So maybe you should praise them for not hitting each other.

MS NAUERT: Maybe I should praise them. I’ve got the parenting thing all wrong. I’ll take my cues from North Korea. (Laughter.) Okay.

QUESTION: Syria. We haven’t talked about Syria for --

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: -- for the --

MS NAUERT: By the way, they’re coming tonight. Anybody want to babysit? No? Said, you’re a grandfather. Come on.

QUESTION: I’d be a great grandpa.

MS NAUERT: Okay.

QUESTION: So anyway --

MS NAUERT: Sorry, guys. We can have fun here once in a while, right? Okay.

QUESTION: You talk about Syria.

MS NAUERT: Yes.

QUESTION: Today the Syrian army has cleared the last – the last hurdle in the fight against ISIS in the Bukamal area, which is on the Iraqi-Syrian border. It’s Tal Afar on the Iraqi side; it’s the same town. So update us on your efforts and your activities. There’s also political engagement with Astana, and there is a prelude to Geneva, so just sort of --

MS NAUERT: Sort of overall? Overall where are we?

QUESTION: The overall situation, where we are.

MS NAUERT: Okay. Starting from today, let me just mention Brett McGurk is in the region. I don’t know if we have sent out any information from – on that. We have. Okay. So he is in Brussels today meeting with Secretary of Defense Secretary Mattis and their counterparts to talk about the overall global coalition’s contributions to the contributors in the D-ISIS coalition, which now is 73 governments and also various entities that take place in that.

So let me just give you a little bit of information on that meeting. That is taking place on the sidelines of a NATO meeting. Brett McGurk will brief defense leaders on the civilian lines of effort that are part of our overall campaign to defeat ISIS, including the post-liberation – pardon me – stabilization. We expect that he will return to Washington tomorrow.

So that – that’s a little bit of information to give you right now. Overall in the fight against ISIS, Raqqa has been the big campaign that we have been engaged in. Ninety percent, we assess, of the territory that ISIS held in Raqqa has now been – excuse me, pardon me. With Mosul plus Raqqa, combining Iraq and Syria, 90 percent of the territory that ISIS once held has now been liberated, which is a tremendous, tremendous feat. We still have a long way to go.

A lot of people have been asking questions about Secretary Tillerson and the President and whether or not they will sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. So let me just mention to you that if they were to – and we don’t have any meetings to announce, because that was not a part of the official schedule – an issue that we are interested in having conversations about is looking for new ceasefire zones.

I continue to go back to the success we’ve had, the coalition has had, with the ceasefire zone that’s held since July – a tremendous success. If we can get to another ceasefire zone, that helps get us closer to the Geneva process. We are not a party to the Astana process. We support the Geneva talks led by Staffan de Mistura. We believe that the Geneva process is the right way to go under the UN Security Council resolutions and that ultimately the people of Syria will decide who is going to lead that country. But go back to saying, once again – unfortunately, it’s a long way off, but we’re getting a little bit closer to that point. The fight is not over; the fight is still going to take quite a bit of time. Caution everybody on patience on that, but we’re plowing ahead with it.

QUESTION: Follow up?

MS NAUERT: Laurie, Sure.

QUESTION: Yeah. Said’s question about Albu Kamal, on the – on the Syrian side it was Syrian forces, the Syrian army. On the Iraqi side, because it was also liberated from the other side, it was Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, headed by Qais al-Khazali, who was in prison – I meant to ask about him last time. I apologize. You were right; I asked about the wrong person. He was imprisoned in Camp Cropper for killing Americans.

MS NAUERT: I know, I know. I know.

QUESTION: The House has legislation designating him and his organization as Iranians’ proxies and terrorist organizations. What is your comment about the involvement of such a group? It’s very prominent in the Hashd al-Shaabi, the popular mobilization units. What is your comment about such a group doing such a thing, which is important to the Iranians in terms of creating that land bridge to the Mediterranean and to Lebanon?

MS NAUERT: Yeah. We certainly recognize the destabilizing influence of Iran. We recognize this, Israel recognizes this, Saudi Arabia recognizes it – a lot of countries do. And if you talk to some of our friends in the Middle East, they will be among our staunchest advocates in saying – in agreeing with the United States that Iran is a real problem and Iran brings with it – the government does – some pretty bad things to follow. Iraq has a – an agreement that militia units should serve under the prime minister, under the Iraqi central government. That is supposed to be the law. We certainly hope that Iraq would continue to maintain that.

QUESTION: Do you think it was in effect when Qais al-Khazali took Albu Kamal from the Iraqi side, that the prime minister was enforcing his writ?

MS NAUERT: I don’t want to comment on that. I mean, that would – some of that would just be in Department of Defense’s lane. Okay.

QUESTION: Follow-up.

MS NAUERT: All right, guys. We’ve got to wrap it up.

QUESTION: Syria. What is your reaction to threats made by the regime, the Assad regime, to attack positions of U.S. partners, SDF?

MS NAUERT: Yeah. We are in Syria to go after ISIS. The United States supports the Syrian Democratic Forces as being a key unit or units that are battle-tested, comprised of locals – Arabs, Christian, Turkmen, all of that. We support the Syrian Democratic Forces, and they’ve done a tremendous job in liberating Raqqa. And that’s all I have for you on that.

Okay, folks. We’ve got to go. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 3:43 p.m.)

DPB # 63

[Floridian]

I don't understand the reasoning for closing the banks in Kurdistan.

Why does Baghdad think this is a good idea?

Does anyone have any guesses as to the logic of closing the banks?

[blueskyline]

Thank You very much Yota . Interesting times Indeed ! 

[blueskyline]

Florian earlier Yota posted an article that Lebanon has 10 banks in Erbil . Abadi said the next war would be curruption . Money laundering could be taking place inside of Kurdistan through banks like these . Abadi is putting a stop to it and other corruption. 

[Floridian]

50 minutes ago, blueskyline said:

Florian earlier Yota posted an article that Lebanon has 10 banks in Erbil . Abadi said the next war would be curruption . Money laundering could be taking place inside of Kurdistan through banks like these . Abadi is putting a stop to it and other corruption. 

 

Thanks, Blueskyline, I did see the article about Lebanese banks, but that’s only 10 banks.  Why close ALL THE BANKS in Kurdistan?  Why not close just the Lebanese banks and whatever others that may be suspected of corruption?  That’s the part so don’t understand.  Why close ALL the banks in the region?

[Synopsis]

58 minutes ago, blueskyline said:

Florian earlier Yota posted an article that Lebanon has 10 banks in Erbil . Abadi said the next war would be curruption . Money laundering could be taking place inside of Kurdistan through banks like these . Abadi is putting a stop to it and other corruption. 

 

 BlueSkyLine and The Best Of Your Day To You! 

 

1 hour ago, Floridian said:

I don't understand the reasoning for closing the banks in Kurdistan.

Why does Baghdad think this is a good idea?

Does anyone have any guesses as to the logic of closing the banks?

 

Good Question, Floridian, and The Best Of Your Day To You, Too!

 

I about fell over when I read about the Saudi housecleaning, Lebanon upheaval, and the bank closings in Kurdistan.

 

Could these all possibly be interrelated???!!!

 

I dunno.

 

Looks pretty kwinki dinki to me!!!

 

              

 

Strangling the money supplied seems to "halt" the corruption so maybe something to watch since I think the news on this will really, really pick up.

 

I still remember Ole Donald showing up in Saudi Arabia and getting an 800 million dollar yacht and a 200 million dollar gem studded golden sword.

 

Kinda sounds pretty extravagant for a "party favor" if You ask me.

 

But, hey, what do I know???!!!

 

Imagine now Greece, of all nations, is flying into Iraq like 10 times a week or so.

 

Saudis, Yes. Greece, ???.

 

I yeuh think something is going on here with the amount of seemingly unrelated events.

 

Syria is getting cleaned up, too, of all the ISIS held areas. Maybe more surprises or seemingly unrelated events when ISIS is all cleaned up in Syria and there are no more Syrial Killers (well, OK, a little humor here ).

 

Whatever it is, seems like money, money, money could be the common denominator.

 

My personal opinion is major shifts at the onset of the Iraq reconstruction. Iraq is a key piece economically and strategically so getting Iraq stable long term is likely the thing most Western and regional (like Saudi Arabia) powers are after.

 

I suspect Ole Nouri will be collateral damage for an assortment of very powerful folks to tie off consequences to their culpability. I could be wrong, but I suspect Ole Nouri will get all kinds of attention he was and is trying to desperately avoid very soon! 

 

The removal of corruption in Iraq to provide a stable foreign investment arena is likely a very high priority but time and circumstances need to play out before the "precision" corruption removal occurs. With ISIS wrapping up in Iraq, the time and circumstances appear to be lining up real, real good. Hey, today or tomorrow may be a brand new era!

 

Worth watching for. eh?

 

And (of course).....................................................

 

Go, Go, Go Moola Nova!

 

(YEAH!!!)

[Floridian]

Yup, Synopsis, it looks like a lot is happening all at once.  I think the closer we get to the first of the year, the more things will happen, and then hopefully RV in January.