Iraq Reconstruction News
18 April 2007


1. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Weekly Update 04/16/07 https://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/pls/portal/url/ITEM/07251F2EFBCA801DE040A8C00B0741F5A

2. Top Iraqi Officials Arrive in Dubai to Discuss Draft Oil Law - Dow Jones Newswires - Iraqi officials and businessmen arrived in the United Arab Emirates Tuesday ahead of a meeting in Dubai on April 18 to discuss their country's controversial but crucial draft hydrocarbon law, intended to attract investments into the country's ailing energy sector. The 85-strong Iraqi delegation is led by Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and also comprises Planning Minister Ali Baban, Oil Minister Hussein Al Sharistani, former oil minister Thamir Ghadban and several other parliamentarians as well as Iraqi oil specialists and businessmen. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=43956

3. Iraq oil law to go to parliament next week: minister - DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraqi cabinet will present an oil law to parliament next week that aims to lure billions of dollars in foreign investment, the country's oil minister said on Wednesday. "It will be ready next week to be presented to parliament," Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070418/wl_nm/iraq_oil_law_dc_1;_ylt=At3NPBTEuNdSJSSPTpy0JCuAsnsA

4. Iraq out $165M a day in pipeline attacks -- KIRKUK, Iraq, April 9, 2007 (UPI) -- Iraq's Oil Ministry says northern pipeline attacks cost $165 million a day in potential revenue and wants the Kirkuk council to do more to prevent it. The Voices of Iraq news agency reports the ministry said the pipeline from Kirkuk, in Iraq's north, to a port in Ceyhan, Turkey, is "now defunct" because of attacks. http://www.upi.com/Energy/Briefing/2007/04/09/iraq_out_165m_a_day_in_pipeline_attacks/

5. Oil, gas law national achievement for Iraqis - minister - Baghdad, (VOI) - Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahrestani said on Wednesday the enactment of an oil and gas law is a national achievement for Iraq’s people, underlining that it would have a positive affect on Iraq’s unity. "The law tops Iraqis' interests and its clauses are based on realizing national interests," the state-run al-Iraqia satellite channel quoted the minister as saying during a forum held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday. http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=42332&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

6. Analysis: Oil victim of Turkey, Kurd fight -- WASHINGTON April 17 (UPI) -- Iraq's already-fragile northern oil sector could be the victim -- along with Iraqis and Turks -- if Ankara gives the green light for troops to invade northern Iraq on the hunt for the Kurdistan Workers Party. The PKK -- the party's Turkish acronym -- is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. It's accused of slipping into Turkey from bases in Iraq's Qandil Mountains to plant mines and detonate bombs. Sixteen PKK fighters were killed in the Kurdish area of Turkey Sunday and Monday by Turkish soldiers. http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/04/17/analysis_oil_victim_of_turkey_kurd_fight/

7. Kurds wary as Iraq oil law goes to vote - Upstream.com - Iraq's Cabinet will present a much-awaited oil law to parliament next week, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said today, despite reports that officials from the Kurdish region are deeply unhappy with aspects of the emerging legislation. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article131413.ece

8. Price Check: Baghdad Neighborhoods - IraqSlogger.com - http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2264/Price_Check_Baghdad_Neighborhoods

9. Smoke and Mirrors - What the State Department is not accomplishing in Iraq - The Atlantic - http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200704u/iraq-state-department

10. USACE Installs New 132kv Overhead Lines South of Iraq http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-04-13.pdf

11. In a Major Step, Saudi Arabia Agrees to Write Off 80 Percent of Iraqi Debt -- Washington Post -- Saudi Arabia has agreed to forgive 80 percent of the more than $15 billion that Iraq owes the kingdom, Iraqi and Saudi officials said yesterday, a major step given Saudi reluctance to provide financial assistance to the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. But Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr said in an interview that Russia was holding out on debt forgiveness until talks begin on concessions that Russian oil and gas companies had under Saddam Hussein. Russian Embassy officials in Washington declined to comment late yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701950.html

12. Iraq's Northern Kurdish Area Offers Business Opportunities -- VOA -- Few foreign companies, aside from those dealing directly with the military, are contemplating business in Iraq until the security situation improves. Yet despite the violence, U.S. officials say opportunities do exist, primarily in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region where the economy is expanding rapidly. As VOA's Bill Rodgers reports, U.S. officials are touting the northern Kurdistan area as a gateway for eventually doing business in the rest of the country. http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-04-12-voa36.cfm

13. UN official urges ad for Iraq -- NEW YORK, April 12, 2007 (UPI) -- The U.N. official monitoring Iraqi reconstruction is urging other countries to provide aid for economic development. Ibrahim Gambari, a U.N. undersecretary-general, told the Washington Times in an interview this week that he is optimistic about the May 3 conference to be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik. He said that the results would be disastrous if international donors fail to respond. http://www.upi.com:80/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/04/12/un_official_urges_aid_for_iraq/

14. Reconstruction Team Arrives on Taji - CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 12, 2007 — The 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, just received a helping hand as it works with Iraqis to rebuild government capabilities and capacities which are necessary to enable the new Iraqi nation’s transition to a self-reliant government under the control of the Iraqi people. This new-found assistance comes in the form of members of the brigade’s newest attachment, the Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (EPRT), which arrived here, April 10. http://www.defendamerica.mil:80/articles/apr2007/a041207ej2.html

15. Forgiving Iraq's Debts - The French were at it again in April 2003. Any reduction in Iraq's mountainous $120 billion external debt should be negotiated within the Paris Club of creditor nations, they insisted. It ought not - indeed, cannot - be tackled bilaterally. And what about another $200 billion in war reparations and contractual obligations? This, said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau, is to be discussed. http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=2632&cid=2&sid=38

16. Turks are reconstructing northern Iraq - 3 -- Under the control of Iraq President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Sulaimaniye is getting a university similar to Bilkent, which is Turkey's first private university. Founder of Bilkent University and the Tepe group İhsan Doğramacı, who was born in Arbil, is heading the “Sulaimaniye University Campus” project on a 370,000 square meter construction site at a cost of $260 million. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=70656

17. Iraq: Oil Lamps Return To Iraqis' Lives - April 17, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Below RFE/RL presents a transcript of the last broadcast report of Khamail Muhsin Khalaf, a Radio Free Iraq correspondent in Baghdad who was found killed on April 5. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/04/E42196EC-DB83-47A3-8EE4-0F7EB4F25141.html

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