Iraq Reconstruction News 17 February 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
17 February 2007


1. Charting Iraq Progress: Security, Electricity, Oil. Morning Edition, February 16, 2007 · As President Bush seeks to measure success in Iraq, key areas of focus are the development of Iraqi security forces, electrical output and oil production. How are things going in those areas? Michael O'Hanlon, director of the Iraq Index Project at the Brookings Institution, gives Steve Inskeep a status update. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7445117

2. Al-Qaeda Affiliate Urges New Attacks on Oil Facilities. The Associated Press reported yesterday that in the online magazine Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of the Jihad), the terrorist faction Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called for attacks on oil facilities throughout the world. The terrorist group included Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela in the list of targeted countries. http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/02/alqaeda_affiliate_urges_new_at.php

3. Iraq’s Draft Petroleum Law: An Independent Perspective. The following paper was presented by Tariq Shafiq at a conference for Iraqi oil technocrats in 'Amman on 17 February. Mr Shafiq, a principal drafter of the petroleum law, is director of Petrolog & Associates, Chair Fertile Crescent Oil Company, and a former Executive Director and Vice Chairman of Iraq National Oil Company. http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/v50n08-5OD01.htm

4. IWPR Iraqi Press Monitor
http://www.iwpr.net/?apc_state=henmicrc-1-1171411200-2-1171497600-3-icr&o=c-1-1171411200-2-1171497600-3-icr&o1=month-2,year-2007&month=2&year=2007
http://www.iwpr.net/?apc_state=henmicrc-1-1171411200-2-1171497600-3-icr&o=c-1-1171497600-2-1171584000-3-icr&o1=month-2,year-2007&month=2&year=2007

5. Cheney to ask Japan for Iraq, Afghan aid boost -- WASHINGTON -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will ask the Japanese government to make a bigger contribution to reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan during a visit to Tokyo this week, a senior U.S. government official said Friday. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20070218TDY03003.htm

6. Iraq searches for oil compromise. Norwegian oil company Den Norske Oljeslkep says that the first oil from the company's Tawke well in Kurdistan is on target to be extracted by the end of March this year. http://www.kurdmedia.com:80/news.asp?id=14058

7. Wolfowitz takes actions to gear up World Bank for Iraq. Washington, D.C.: The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has learned from inside sources that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is currently negotiating a contract with a new resident Iraq Country Director. This step strongly suggests that Wolfowitz intends to expand Bank-funded projects there dramatically in the near future, despite the deteriorating security situation and recent disclosures of massive corruption in "reconstruction" efforts. http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=17057

8. Provincial Reconstruction Teams Manage Infrastructure Projects in Iraq - AN NASIRIYAH, Iraq – In Iraq, the ultimate goal of the multinational coalition is for the Iraqi people and their newly formed government to run their country themselves. To this end, an important initiative is to empower local and regional Iraqi government and community leaders with the responsibilities and the decision-making for construction projects that support their needs. Richard Riley, a deputy team leader with the U.S. Department of State in Dhi Qar, said that the U.S. government with its coalition partners has established Provincial Reconstruction Teams(PRTs) in the provinces of Iraq. http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-02-04.pdf

9. Baghdad renovationg 18 gas stations http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-02-12-2.pdf


10. The Fallujah Police Transition Team Mission. I arrived in Fallujah just as the bulk of American troops were pulled out of barracks in the city and back to the heavily fortified Camp Fallujah on the outskirts of town. There remain exceptions, however: the Military and Police Transition Team advisors to the Iraqi Army and police continued to operate and live in the city proper, embedded with the Iraqi units recently charged with taking primary responsibility for security. http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/002942.php

11. Success Story: Istanbul Workshop Brings Consensus on Draft Secured Transactions Law. USAID economic advisors provide GOI with technical assistance for commercial legal framework. As part of efforts to facilitate economic reconstruction and policy reform in Iraq, the USAID-funded Economic Governance II project is working with the Government of Iraq (GOI) to implement a sound and transparent commercial legal framework that fosters the rule of law and promotes a burgeoning private sector. A workshop held January 7-10, 2007, in Istanbul, Turkey, focused on educating key Iraqi stakeholders on the importance of a modern Secured Transactions Law and significantly assisted project advisors and their Iraqi counterparts in developing a final draft of such a law. http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/accomplishments/eg_ss0107_stl.html

12. The Struggle to Study at a Baghdad University. The Los Angeles Times today profiles two female students at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University. Zala Ghefori, 31, is a doctorate student in Arabic who lives in the university's dorm with 175 other women. The once co-ed student body is now mostly women (young men are favorite targets of militias and insurgents). http://electroniciraq.net/news/2896.shtml

END