Iraq Reconstruction News 28 January 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
28 January 2007


1. Iraq Weekly Status Report 24 January 2007. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79483.pdf

2. Brookings Iraq Index 25 January 2007. http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf

3. Izdihar Round-Up: IRAQI BUSINESS NEWS 7-25 January 2007. http://www.izdihar-iraq.com/news/PDFs/RoundUps/2007_01_january/2007_0108-0125_roundup.pdf

4. Iraqi officials fail yet again to reach compromise on draft oil law. BAGHDAD, Iraq: Iraqi officials say a hotly debated proposed oil law will not favor Americans but acknowledge that foreign companies will be allowed to take their profits out of the country — an incentive to draw foreign investment. The Oil Ministry has been struggling for months to reach a compromise over draft legislation to govern Iraq's most important industry and pave the way for much-needed investment and know-how to revitalize the devastated infrastructure. But the measure faces strong objections by ethnic Kurds and concern about American influence in the sector. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/27/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Oil-Law.php

5. Iraq in talks with Chevron, Exxon on $3 billion petrochemical plant. LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Iraq is in negotiations with Chevron Corp (CVS) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) towards building a new $3 billion petrochemical facility and is in talks with several other Western firms over industrial projects. In an interview Thursday, Iraq's minister for industry and minerals Fawzi Hariri said the discussions with Chevron and Exxon began this week in Washington and are at an early stage. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/iraq-talks-chevron-exxon-3/story.aspx?guid=%7BD4A614E3-7FA7-4BE3-A3BB-C4D8E236EDA1%7D

6. Iraqis: Oil Law Won't Favor Americans. BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi officials say a hotly debated proposed oil law will not favor Americans but acknowledge that foreign companies will be allowed to take their profits out of the country _ an incentive to draw foreign investment. http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=111&sid=1045871

7. Senator challenges State official on Iraq reconstruction. GovExec.com A Senate foreign relations panel took a hard line on Iraq reconstruction spending Thursday, demanding that the State Department show an improved return on its investments or risk losing project funds. "I am not inclined to support any additional funding in this area without strong assurances that this sort of mismanagement has been weeded out," freshman Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., told Ambassador David Satterfield, State's senior adviser on Iraq, at a hearing. Webb cited idle contractors and overhead costs reaching more than half of total project costs, fraud and abuse investigations pending before inspectors general, and "blunders" by the State and Defense departments. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35959&dcn=e_gvet

8. State's Satterfield Outlines Plans To Rebuild Iraq. Reconstruction projects aimed at supporting military operations. USINFO. Washington –The United States plans to improve the distribution of economic reconstruction funds in Iraq as part of a strategy to support military operations aimed at securing neighborhoods from insurgents and sectarian violence, officials tell a Senate Committee. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=January&x=20070125165238ndyblehs2.204531e-02

9. Who Owns and Controls Iraq's Oil? During a workshop organized by the German Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation, Niqash's oil expert Greg Muttitt gave a presentation on the legal aspects of Iraq's oil industry and its future. Examining the relevant articles of the Iraqi constitution, the development of the oil law, and the role of foreign companies in the current situation he suggests that the priorities of the Iraqi state and society need to be better addressed. http://www.niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=171&id=1783

10. Kurds: Kirkuk about history, not oil. IRBIL, Iraq, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Iraqi Kurdistan's prime minister said the push for ownership of Kirkuk is about righting injustice, not oil, as Turkey makes a play at its border. http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20070125-032213-3722r

11. City that is showing the way ahead for Iraq. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/19/wirq19.xml

12. Kurdistan Bolstered by Influx of Arab Academics. Higher education in Baghdad and other troubled cities dealt a blow as lecturers flee sectarian violence for the Kurdish north. http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=328622&apc_state=henpicr

13. Iraq: Provincial Reconstruction Teams building local Iraqi leadership. Teams offer government coordination, training to make Iraqis self-sufficient. USINFO Washington -- Unlike other international aid programs operating in Iraq that focus on infrastructure projects, provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) are designed to expand the capacity of Iraqis to deliver essential services to their own people, helping to establish a permanent mid-level bureaucracy that will be able to respond to needs well after international assistance workers have gone. http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6XKTQ2?OpenDocument&rc=3&cc=irq

14. U.S. Army Probes War Contractor Fraud. WASHINGTON From high-dollar fraud to conspiracy to bribery and bid rigging, Army investigators have opened up to 50 criminal probes involving battlefield contractors in the war in Iraq and the U.S. fight against terrorism, The Associated Press has learned. Senior contracting officials, government employees, residents of other countries and, in some cases, U.S. military personnel have been implicated in millions of dollars of fraud allegations. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,247619,00.html

15. Five industrial parks to be built near Iran-Iraq border. TEHRAN, Jan. 27 (MNA) – A deputy industries and mines minister announced on Saturday that Iranian companies would construct five industrial parks in the provinces bordering Iraq. http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=440579

16. IWPR's Iraqi Press Monitor. http://www.iwpr.net/?apc_state=henmicr&o=c-1-1169596800-2-1169683200-3-icr&o1=month-1,year-2007&month=1&year=2007 and http://www.iwpr.net/?apc_state=henmicr&o=c-1-1169683200-2-1169769600-3-icr&o1=month-1,year-2007&month=1&year=2007

17. Industry Ministry director killed. Baghdad: The director general of Iraq’s Industry Ministry was shot dead along with his daughter and two others as he drove to work in Baghdad on Sunday. Adel Abdul Mehsun Al Lami's vehicle came under fire in the western Yarmouk area of Baghdad. http://www.gulf-news.com/region/Iraq/10100120.html

18. Fuel crisis worsens. Azzaman, January 27, 2007. Disorderly queues at petrol stations in Baghdad stretch for several kilometers and the armed police and soldiers deployed to keep order are no longer capable of containing the chaos. Many filling stations have no fuel to sell leading to even longer queues at the ones which are still operating. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-01-27\kurd1.htm

19. Dollar bids slightly lower, exchange rates stable in Iraqi auction. http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=36114&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

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