Monthly Archives: July 2010
Iraq Likely to Delay Gas Fields Auction
| July 31, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Reuters – Iraq is considering postponing an auction for companies who want to develop its gas fields to give them more time, its oil ministry said. The ministry will hold a workshop in Istanbul on August 1-2 to discuss details of the gas bidding round and contract terms with interested bidders. Baghdad had said it will invite all 45 international companies,…
Al Qaeda Flag Flies in Baghdad
| July 30, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Rebecca Santana, Associated Press– Militants flew an al Qaeda flag over a Baghdad neighborhood Thursday after killing 16 security officials and burning some of their bodies in a brazen afternoon attack that served as a grim reminder of continued insurgent strength in Iraq’s capital. It was the bloodiest attack in a day that included the deaths of 23 Iraqi soldiers, policemen…
Iraq Political Deadlock Worsens
| July 29, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Parliament session postponed until further notice as political entities fail to reach any agreement. By Salam Faraj – BAGHDAD– Iraq’s parliament on Tuesday postponed indefinitely what would have been only its second session since a March election, extending a political deadlock that has plagued the country. “We are postponing the session until further notice because the political entities failed to reach…
Kuwait Gets $650 Million in Iraqi Reparation
| July 29, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Payment brings total sum of compensation paid to Kuwait to $30.15 billion, further $22.3 billion is due to emirate. GENEVA – The United Nations released 650 million dollars in Iraqi compensation to Kuwait on Thursday, the latest payment of a war reparation scheme that began in 1994. The payment brings the total sum of compensation paid to Kuwait to 30.15 billion…
US Orders Pullout of Filipino Workers in Iraq
| July 28, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Filipinos who were hired by American contractors to work in military installations in war-torn Iraq may have to return to the Philippines soon after the US government ordered all its military contractors to send home all foreign workers coming from countries that have imposed a deployment ban to Iraq. Filipinos have been prohibited from working in Iraq since 2004 following a…
US Cannot Account for $8.7B in Iraqi Funds
| July 28, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer Tarek El-tablawy, Ap Business Writer – BAGHDAD – A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation. The $8.7 billion in question was Iraqi…
You Want a Portrait of Failure in Iraq? Try Joe Biden
| July 28, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Which American has done the most harm to Iraq in the 21st century? The competition is stiff, with former President George W. Bush, former Vive President Dick Cheney, former deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer, among others, to choose from. But, given his game efforts to grab the spotlight, it…
GE Pays $23 Million Over Iraq Bribery Charges
| July 28, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
GE had been accused by the SEC of being part of a $3.6 million kickback scheme with Iraqi government agencies to win contracts to supply medical equipment and water purification equipment. By Agence France-Presse – To settle allegations that it bribed Iraqi officials, General Electric has agreed to pay over $23 million, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on July 27.…
Hans Blix Slams Bush, Blair Over Iraq War
| July 28, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Ex-UN weapons inspector Hans Blix questioned on Tuesday the judgment of Britain and the United States in invading Iraq on the basis of evidence of weapons of mass destruction that was clearly “poor”. Giving evidence to an independent British inquiry into the March 2003 war in London, Blix said “I have never questioned the good faith” of then US president George…
Audit Says Pentagon Mismanaged $2.6 Billion in Funds for Iraq
| July 27, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Report alleges weak oversight led to theft, abuse By Ernesto Londono/ The Washington Post – BAGHDAD — Because of poor record keeping and lax oversight, the Defense Department cannot account for how it spent $2.6 billion that belonged to the Iraqi government, according to the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. An audit of a $9.1 billion fund of Iraqi oil proceeds…
Former IAEA Chief Blix to Testify at Iraq War Inquiry
| July 27, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix will testify on the US-led invasion of Iraq at a British inquiry on Tuesday. Blix headed the team charged with finding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and has been a vocal critic of the 2003 invasion. REUTERS – Former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is likely to heap further criticism on the U.S.-led invasion…
Bail for Former Saddam Singer
| July 26, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
An Iraqi Wedding Singer Who Performed for Saddam Hussein Left an 87-year-old Woman Fearing for Her Life During an Aggravated Burglary in Melbourne, a Court Has Heard. Esam Moshi, 35, who fled Iraq with his family because of their connection to the executed dictator, was granted bail today, after being charged over two aggravated burglaries on vulnerable women earlier this month.…
Accusations of Iraq War ‘Cover-Up’
| July 25, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
He was told certain records, including those related to a visit to Syria by then prime minister Tony Blair, could not be found – something he said was “simply not plausible”. UK News The Government has been accused by a former diplomat of covering up key information from the Iraq Inquiry to hide mistakes. Carne Ross, who quit the Foreign Office…
US Sought to Set Up Sham State in Iraq
| July 25, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
An American war veteran in the US warfare in Iraq says the United States initiated the hostilities as a pretext to establish its dominion over the country. Speaking in a recent interview with Press TV, Michael Prysner, the US war veteran and peace activist said that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was “a complete sham” and not meant to liberate…
Restore More Than 40 Billion Dinars to the State Treasury Within the 11 Cases of Corruption at the Ministry of Agriculture
| July 25, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
Announced that the Inspector General at the Ministry of Agriculture, Zia Ghanimi said his office was able to restore more than 40 billion dinars to the state treasury within 11 cases of corruption in the ministry. Said Ghanimi in a statement to Al-Sabah said his office put his hand, during the period, in the last 11 cases financial and administrative corruption…
Baghdad Wants Answers on Kurdish Oil
| July 24, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
BAGHDAD, (UPI) – Oil produced in the Kurdish provinces of Iraq must be exported through state exporting companies, the Iraqi oil minister said. Kurdish officials in Iraq are accused of shipping as much as 100,000 barrels of oil per day to Iran. The New York Times, in an early July article, said more than 1,000 tankers leave the Kurdish region of…
Iraq’s Battle for Football Control Turns Sectarian
| July 23, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
By BARBARA SURK/ Associated Press Writer– BAGHDAD Iraq is again dangerously close to being banned from international football for alleged government meddling in the leadership of Iraqi Football Association after armed men stormed into the headquarters last week waving arrest warrants. The battle over who will lead Iraq’s most popular sport after an election set for Saturday has become a window…
Iraqi Central Bank Confirms Its Intention to Delete the Three Zeroes From the Currency
| July 22, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
By Ghassan Ali, July 22, 2010- The Central Bank of Iraq that he was serious in the application of deleting three zeros from the national currency in the near future. Bank adviser said the appearance of Mohammed Saleh, said that it depends at the present time to form the next Iraqi government and parliament two new Siokman on them, determining the…
Iraq Needs $7 Billion to Rebuild Industry: Minister
| July 22, 2010 | Filled under Uncategorized |
by W.G. Dunlop– BAGHDAD (AFP) – Improved security is allowing Iraq to rebuild its shattered industry but up to seven billion dollars is needed to help the sector recover from years of war and sanctions, the industry minister told AFP. “At the present estimate, I would think it will require between five and seven billion dollars (3.9 to 5.5 billion euros)…
“At the present estimate, I would think it will require between five and seven billion dollars (3.9 to 5.5 billion euros) of investment” to “re-invent the industrial sector in Iraq in a modern way,” Fawzi Hariri said in an interview.
“What has been spent to date has been less than one billion dollars,” said Hariri, a 52-year-old Christian member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party who has held the post since 2006.
Iraq’s industrial sector, which was once among the region’s most advanced, has been decimated by 30 years of destructive wars and sanctions.
“Probably 97 percent” of government revenue over the past several years has come from oil,” Hariri said.
Iraq fought Iran from 1980-88, invaded Kuwait in 1990 and was expelled in 1991. It was then targeted by crippling UN sanctions until the 2003 US-led invasion, which unleashed a wave of internecine violence that persists to this day.
By “2003, almost 99 percent of Iraq’s industry was at a standstill,” Hariri said. “It was either destroyed … looted or was shut down.”
Since then, some progress has been made.
“Today, over 70 percent of the factories are actually working and producing,” although “they are not working to the right capacity.”
Hariri’s ministry controls 70 companies in six sectors: construction, chemicals and petrochemicals, engineering, food, pharmaceuticals and textiles. Various other ministries own another 122 companies.
But while many companies are state owned and could theoretically be well-funded, Iraq’s myriad needs have drained the country’s coffers and created intense competition among government enterprises for scarce cash.
Security, health, education, oil and other needs “took a priority on the government budget in comparison to the needs of industry,” Hariri said.
“Therefore, we were working with very limited resources.”
Since government funding has been lacking, private-sector investment has taken on crucial importance in rehabilitating the sector.
“Due to our need (for) more funding to come in for rehabilitation and due to the lack of funding from the government … we had to go for private sector” investment, said Hariri.
There are currently at least 10 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in joint ventures with private firms, he said.
“These are joint venture agreements based on…(More Story)
^
^
^
^
^
Related Iraqi Dinar Articles-
Buy New Iraqi Dinars and Put Them in a Drawer
^
^
^
Recent Comments