Iraq Reconstruction News
3 May 2007
1. STATEMENT FROM MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT - IRAQ. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) clarifies its position regarding the latest developments on the Draft Oil Law. http://www.krg.org/pdf/MNR_Statement_20070427.pdf
2. Iran gives $1b in credit to rebuild Iraq - Tehran: Iran has extended $1 billion in credits for reconstruction projects in Iraq, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday ahead of an international conference on stabilizing Iraq. Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said a committee of experts from both countries was discussing possible development projects, including some involving energy, the state-run news agency IRNA reported. http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10122372.html
3. Iraq wins debt relief - Iraq has won a trickle of debt relief pledges at a big international conference in Egypt. Egypt and three East European countries agreed to waive debts owed by Iraq as part of an International Compact to support Iraqi institutions in exchange for political and economic reforms by the Baghdad government. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1096446
4. Report: U.S. investment in Iraqi reconstruction at risk -- BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Poor construction, improper design, substandard materials and lack of maintenance have brought into question the usefulness of seven of eight U.S.-funded Iraq reconstruction projects. So says an inspector general report that recently examined the eight reconstruction projects. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/30/iraq.reconstruction/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
5. U.S.-funded projects falter in Iraq - USA Today -Widespread corruption, an unwieldy bureaucracy and inadequate funding threaten the Iraqi government's ability to complete or maintain U.S.-funded reconstruction projects, according to an oversight report to be released today. The report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says some projects portrayed as successes by U.S. officials have started breaking down because of poor maintenance, shoddy construction or simple neglect. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-04-29-us-funded-projects_N.htm
6. Iraq to but more of Iran electricity - Iran's electricity export to Iraq is set to increase to 500 megawatts as a new power line comes on stream in Khosravi, Kermanshah Province. The 400-kilovolt transmission line, which will be 200 kilometers long, is scheduled to be put into operation through a 450 billion rial (roughly $48.64 million) investment, said Aziz Karimi, Managing Director of the West Regional Power Company. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=8084§ionid=351020103
7. Rick Barton Discusses Iraq Reconstruction - On 30 April 2007, CSIS PCR Co-Director Rick Barton appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 to discuss ongoing problems with the U.S.-led reconstruction effort in Iraq. Read the transcript here: http://pcrproject.com/blog/2007/05/01/rick-barton-discusses-iraq-reconstruction/
8. Iraq Not Getting Power Invest Needed For Reconstruction - Minister -- LONDON - (Dow Jones)- Iraq isn't receiving all investment it needs to rebuild its dilapidated electricity sector and reduce the widespread power cuts experienced every day across the country, Electricity Minister Karim Hasan said. "We have spoken with many investors and there is project money being put into (the power sector in) Iraq but we have many needs and much more is needed," Hasan told a small group of journalists in London. http://news.morningstar.com/news/ViewNews.asp?article=/DJ/200704260650DOWJONESDJONLINE000565_univ.xml
9. Program to combat administrative corruption in Missan - Missan, Apr 13, (VOI) - The New Iraq Academic staff Organization in Missan started on Friday a program for combating the administrative corruption in the province in cooperation with the Development of Civil Society Centre in the southern section of Iraq. http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=41881&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
10. Baghdad International Airport: Iraq's Gateway to the World - Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq – Baghdad International Airport currently has between 18 and 24 flights transporting more than 1,000 passengers daily to destinations inside and outside the country. The environment there feels like any other airport in the world with its duty free shops, restaurant and other stores that sell books and clothes. Allan Nelson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says about 1,200 Iraqis are employed there and he’s proud of the numerous improvements that have been completed over the past two years. http://www.blackanthem.com/News/U_S_Military_19/Baghdad_International_Airport_Iraq_s_Gateway_to_the_World6053.shtml
11. Iran halves tariffs on Iraq-bound goods -- TEHRAN, (MNA) -- Iran’s Ports and Shipping Organization (PSO) Sunday announced that it has reduced by 50 percent the port tariffs and costs for the vessels that transport goods to Iraq. In line with the objectives of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the maritime cooperation between Iran and Iraq, PSO made the decision. http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=474448
12. Mixed messages - Economist.com - For some, it was a golden age in Iraq's history: those oil-boom years in the 1970s and early 1980s when women in Iraq combined jobs and children with greater ease than many non-superwomen in the West. Rather than relying on migrant labour like other Arab oil states, Iraq tapped its own unused resource—women—and tempted them to work with generous maternity benefits, free child care and transport to and from school and workplace. Peasant women were taught to read and write. Yet these were also the years when Saddam Hussein was committing some of his worst atrocities against Iraq's Kurds and Shias, men and women. http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=8998263
13. Iraqi government scraps wireless auction plans, reaches deal with current operators - Iraq has scrapped its long-delayed cellular auction and instead decided to license the three national mobile phone carriers in June under an arrangement calling for revenue-sharing and an upfront cash payment of at least $250 million from each operator, according to Iraqi government and industry sources. http://www.rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070420/FREE/70420007/1005/allnews
14. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF FAILURE IN IRAQ: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RECONSTRUCTION - This article examines the course of the disastrous U.S. reconstruction of Iraq from the invasion through the fall of 2006. It locates the source of America's many failings not only in the ignorance that governed the Bush Administration's assumptions about the ease of postwar reconstruction and the absence of appropriate or realistic planning that resulted, but also in a series of equally mistaken decisions by the Bush Administration, the Coalition Provisional Authority, and the U.S. military in the years that followed. It argues that the political deadlock, security vacuum, and absence of a functional Iraqi economy today are all the result of these problems and that only dramatic changes in U.S. policy--not the tactical tinkering that the Bush Administration has engaged in over the past 18 months and that many of its critics continue to recommend today--have any chance of undoing the damage of this long chain of needless mistakes. http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2006/issue4/jv10no4a1.html
15. Ministry plans to create 3 million jobs -- Azzaman -- The Ministry of Agriculture has unveiled a three-year development plan under which it hopes to create ‘three million jobs’. Agriculture Minister Nadhem al-Abadi said most of the new jobs will be created in the southern and central parts of the country. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-04-14\kurd1.htm
16. Iraq corruption commissioner says rampant problem has cost $8B - [JURIST] Iraq has lost $8 billion through corruption over the past three years, Radi al-Radhi, the head of Iraq's public corruption commission, told AP Wednesday. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/04/iraq-corruption-commissioner-says.php
17. Thousands without food and supplies due to failing distribution system - BAGHDAD (IRIN) - Thousands of Iraqis are going without food and basic supplies as the country's food distribution infrastructure crumbles, according to a new report. The country's Public Distribution System (PDS), set up in 1995 as part of the UN's Oil-for-Food programme, has been hit by insecurity, poor management, corruption and a lack of political will. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/3a7e2aaa336e0e7fc808050218b70e6a.htm
18. Years after Widespread Looting of Museums, Iraq's Antiquities Remain Vulnerable. Although home to some of the world's earliest civilizations, Iraq's basic security needs have overshadowed efforts to protect the country's treasured archeological sites, resulting in an increase in vandalism and theft. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/jan-june07/artifacts_04-30.html
END
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
2 May 2007
1. SIGIR April 2007 Quarterly Report http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Apr07/Default.aspx
2. SIGIR: Status of the Advanced First Responder Network http://www.sigir.mil/reports/pdf/audits/07-002.pdf
3. SIGIR Project Assessment Reports http://www.sigir.mil/reports/onsite.aspx
4. Brookings Iraq Index 30 April 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
5. Report Cites Problems with Iraq Rebuilding Costs - Morning Edition, April 30, 2007 · A report from the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says Iraqis are doing a poor job maintaining buildings and equipment paid for with U.S. money. The report offers a snapshot on how more than $20 billion of U.S. taxpayer funds are being spent. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9910519
6. New Report Details Reconstruction Failures in Iraq - Billions of U.S. dollars have been invested in improving Iraq's infrastructure since 2003, but the effort has been beset by problems. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen discusses his latest report. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june07/bowen_04-30.html
7. Kurds Will Oppose Oil and Gas Law - Kurdish MPs have reversed their position on the US-backed draft legislation that would regulate Iraq’s oil and gas industries, Reuters reports. On Monday, Kurdish spokesman Khalid Saleh said that Kurdish lawmakers would oppose the bill on the basis of a provision added since February, when the Kurdish bloc said it would support the draft legislation. http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2595/Kurds_Will_Oppose_Oil_and_Gas_Law
8. Iraqi blocs opposed to draft oil bill - ERBIL, Iraq: Kurdish and Sunni Arab officials expressed deep reservations on Wednesday about the draft version of a national oil law and related legislation, misgivings that could derail one of the benchmark measures of progress in Iraq laid down by President George W. Bush. The draft law, which establishes a framework for the distribution of oil revenues, was approved by the Iraqi cabinet in late February after months of negotiations. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/03/africa/03iraq.php
9. Iraq’s oil law architect confident draft will pass - Reuters - BAGHDAD - Iraq’s deputy prime minister said on Tuesday he was confident a draft oil law will be approved in parliament after officials from the central government and Kurdistan meet to iron out differences. Barham Salih said the meetings could take place as early as the weekend. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/May/focusoniraq_May4.xml§ion=focusoniraq
10. Analysis: Fight rages over Iraq oil law -- WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Discussions turned contentious among the more than 60 Iraqi oil officials reviewing Iraq's draft hydrocarbons bill last week in the United Arab Emirates. But the dispute highlighted the need for further negotiations on the proposed law that was stalled in talks for nearly eight months, then pushed through Iraq's Cabinet without most key provisions. Tariq Shafiq, one of three authors of the law, said he attended the Dubai summit "reluctantly," at the request of Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani. http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/04/27/analysis_fight_rages_over_iraq_oil_law/
11. Analysis: Iraq oil law author now a critic -- WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- A critic of Iraq's draft oil law with perhaps the biggest shadow -- one of its original authors -- says the version penned by oil experts has been compromised by politics and he no longer wants it approved. "I think really the majority of the oil technocrats are against it," Tariq Shafiq, director of the oil consultant firm Petrolog & Associates and one of three authors of Iraq's draft hydrocarbons law, told United Press International in a telephone interview from his home in Amman, Jordan. http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/05/02/analysis_iraq_oil_law_author_now_a_critic/
12. SOC Takes Control of South Rumaylah Gas Compressor Station - Blackanthem Military News, BASRAH, Iraq – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently turned over the biggest gas compressor station in Basrah to the Southern Oil Company which will help to boost Iraq’s economic position in the global marketplace. http://www.blackanthem.com/News/U_S_Military_19/SOC_Takes_Control_of_South_Rumaylah_Gas_Compressor_Station6279.shtml
13. Iraq’s Petroleum Law: Politicized Management Vis-à-Vis Optimal Resource Management - The following article was written for MEES by Tariq Shafiq, Founding Executive Director, Iraq National Oil Company (INOC), Director, Petrolog & Associates, and Chair, Fertile Crescent Oil Development Co (based in Baghdad).
http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/v50n18-5OD01.htm
14. Foreign Oil Projects Stall In Wait for Iraqi Permits -- ZAKHO, Iraq -- After building a 42 kilometer pipeline and sending out a flurry of optimistic news releases over the past three years, Det Norske Oljeselskap, a small Norwegian oil company, is still waiting for permission to open the taps on what could be post-Saddam Hussein Iraq's first foreign-developed oil field. The holdup: Iraqi politicians in Baghdad, a nine-hour drive south of here, have yet to approve a hydrocarbon law laying down the legal framework for foreign investment in the country's sensitive oil industry. Lawmakers could vote on a version of the law in May, but the legislation has already missed a series of deadlines since the American-led invasion four years ago. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117789465618586522.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
15. Iraqi oil reserves may surpass those of Saudi Arabia, oil minister says - Azzaman, May 1, 2007 - Explorations and surveys done in the past four years show that Iraqi oil reserves may exceed those of Saudi Arabi, said Oil Minister Husain al-Shahristani. Speaking at Babylon University in the southern city of Hilla, the minister said Iraq has 115 billion barrels of proven reserves already explored and perhaps more than that number of reserves yet to be explored. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2007-05-01%5Ckurd1.htm
16. Foreign Minister Song to attend Egypt conference on reconstruction of Iraq -- SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Song Min-soon arrived in Cairo Wednesday to attend an international conference on the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq, the Foreign Ministry said. The inaugural meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) will be held Thursday at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Congress Center with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other political leaders from across the world attending, the ministry said in a press release. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20070502/630000000020070502092322E2.html
17. Iraq pleads for funds to rebuild - BBC - Iraq's prime minister has appealed for other countries to write off its debts, at the start of a summit called to try to rebuild and stabilise the country. Nouri Maliki urged delegates at the talks in Egypt to help "build a united, democratic and federal Iraq". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6616841.stm
18. China to grant Iraq 6.5m dollars in aid in 2007 - foreign minister. Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) ["China To Grant Iraq 50 Mln Yuan in Aid This Year: FM" - Xinhua headline] Sharm El-shaykh, Egypt, May 3 (Xinhua) - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi announced here on Thursday morning that the Chinese government will give a grant of 50m yuan of RMB ( about 6.5m US dollars) to Iraq in 2007 and forgive all the debts owed by the Iraqi government. The sum will be used to provide assistance in Iraq's public health and education, Yang said at a ministerial meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) opened in the day at this Egyptian Red Sea resort. "The Chinese government is ready to substantially reduce and forgive the debts owed by Iraq. In particular, it will forgive all the debts owed by the Iraqi government," he said. Yang, who was named as Chinese foreign minister on April 27, also said China is ready to resolve through continued friendly consultation with Iraq the issue regarding its request for debt reduction and forgiveness according to the arrangement of the Paris Club. Yang, who arrived at this Red Sea resort on Wednesday afternoon, was on his first international mission after he replaced retired Li Zhaoxing as Chinese foreign minister. The ICI meeting, with the attendance of some 60 nations and 12 regional and international organizations, was the largest international meeting on Iraq ever since the US-led coalition forces seized Baghdad in April of 2003. The ICI was initially launched on July 28, 2006, in the hope of creating "a permanent partnership between Iraq and the international community" to help Iraq in its reconstruction efforts and to pursue political, economic and social development over the next five years. The initiative, with strong support from the United States, looks like a type of five-year plan for Iraq, yet it is also based on economic, political and security commitments by the Iraqi government in the next five years. The ICI is supposed to be chaired jointly by Iraq and the UN, with the support of the World Bank. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0920 gmt 3 May 07
19. Police Pay-Wagons of Iraq - How Do Iraq’s Finest Get Paid? Not exactly the way New York’s finest get paid, as Richard Miniter - on assignment for PJM in Iraq - discovered. Since so few have a bank account, Iraqi cops (and other public officials) are paid in cash - just as they were under Saddam. And they like it that way. http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/04/iraqi_pay_wagons.php
20. War News Radio: Expatriate Dreams http://warnewsradio.org/
END
2 May 2007
1. SIGIR April 2007 Quarterly Report http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Apr07/Default.aspx
2. SIGIR: Status of the Advanced First Responder Network http://www.sigir.mil/reports/pdf/audits/07-002.pdf
3. SIGIR Project Assessment Reports http://www.sigir.mil/reports/onsite.aspx
4. Brookings Iraq Index 30 April 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
5. Report Cites Problems with Iraq Rebuilding Costs - Morning Edition, April 30, 2007 · A report from the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says Iraqis are doing a poor job maintaining buildings and equipment paid for with U.S. money. The report offers a snapshot on how more than $20 billion of U.S. taxpayer funds are being spent. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9910519
6. New Report Details Reconstruction Failures in Iraq - Billions of U.S. dollars have been invested in improving Iraq's infrastructure since 2003, but the effort has been beset by problems. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen discusses his latest report. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june07/bowen_04-30.html
7. Kurds Will Oppose Oil and Gas Law - Kurdish MPs have reversed their position on the US-backed draft legislation that would regulate Iraq’s oil and gas industries, Reuters reports. On Monday, Kurdish spokesman Khalid Saleh said that Kurdish lawmakers would oppose the bill on the basis of a provision added since February, when the Kurdish bloc said it would support the draft legislation. http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2595/Kurds_Will_Oppose_Oil_and_Gas_Law
8. Iraqi blocs opposed to draft oil bill - ERBIL, Iraq: Kurdish and Sunni Arab officials expressed deep reservations on Wednesday about the draft version of a national oil law and related legislation, misgivings that could derail one of the benchmark measures of progress in Iraq laid down by President George W. Bush. The draft law, which establishes a framework for the distribution of oil revenues, was approved by the Iraqi cabinet in late February after months of negotiations. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/03/africa/03iraq.php
9. Iraq’s oil law architect confident draft will pass - Reuters - BAGHDAD - Iraq’s deputy prime minister said on Tuesday he was confident a draft oil law will be approved in parliament after officials from the central government and Kurdistan meet to iron out differences. Barham Salih said the meetings could take place as early as the weekend. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2007/May/focusoniraq_May4.xml§ion=focusoniraq
10. Analysis: Fight rages over Iraq oil law -- WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Discussions turned contentious among the more than 60 Iraqi oil officials reviewing Iraq's draft hydrocarbons bill last week in the United Arab Emirates. But the dispute highlighted the need for further negotiations on the proposed law that was stalled in talks for nearly eight months, then pushed through Iraq's Cabinet without most key provisions. Tariq Shafiq, one of three authors of the law, said he attended the Dubai summit "reluctantly," at the request of Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani. http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/04/27/analysis_fight_rages_over_iraq_oil_law/
11. Analysis: Iraq oil law author now a critic -- WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- A critic of Iraq's draft oil law with perhaps the biggest shadow -- one of its original authors -- says the version penned by oil experts has been compromised by politics and he no longer wants it approved. "I think really the majority of the oil technocrats are against it," Tariq Shafiq, director of the oil consultant firm Petrolog & Associates and one of three authors of Iraq's draft hydrocarbons law, told United Press International in a telephone interview from his home in Amman, Jordan. http://www.upi.com/Energy/Analysis/2007/05/02/analysis_iraq_oil_law_author_now_a_critic/
12. SOC Takes Control of South Rumaylah Gas Compressor Station - Blackanthem Military News, BASRAH, Iraq – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently turned over the biggest gas compressor station in Basrah to the Southern Oil Company which will help to boost Iraq’s economic position in the global marketplace. http://www.blackanthem.com/News/U_S_Military_19/SOC_Takes_Control_of_South_Rumaylah_Gas_Compressor_Station6279.shtml
13. Iraq’s Petroleum Law: Politicized Management Vis-à-Vis Optimal Resource Management - The following article was written for MEES by Tariq Shafiq, Founding Executive Director, Iraq National Oil Company (INOC), Director, Petrolog & Associates, and Chair, Fertile Crescent Oil Development Co (based in Baghdad).
http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/v50n18-5OD01.htm
14. Foreign Oil Projects Stall In Wait for Iraqi Permits -- ZAKHO, Iraq -- After building a 42 kilometer pipeline and sending out a flurry of optimistic news releases over the past three years, Det Norske Oljeselskap, a small Norwegian oil company, is still waiting for permission to open the taps on what could be post-Saddam Hussein Iraq's first foreign-developed oil field. The holdup: Iraqi politicians in Baghdad, a nine-hour drive south of here, have yet to approve a hydrocarbon law laying down the legal framework for foreign investment in the country's sensitive oil industry. Lawmakers could vote on a version of the law in May, but the legislation has already missed a series of deadlines since the American-led invasion four years ago. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117789465618586522.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
15. Iraqi oil reserves may surpass those of Saudi Arabia, oil minister says - Azzaman, May 1, 2007 - Explorations and surveys done in the past four years show that Iraqi oil reserves may exceed those of Saudi Arabi, said Oil Minister Husain al-Shahristani. Speaking at Babylon University in the southern city of Hilla, the minister said Iraq has 115 billion barrels of proven reserves already explored and perhaps more than that number of reserves yet to be explored. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2007-05-01%5Ckurd1.htm
16. Foreign Minister Song to attend Egypt conference on reconstruction of Iraq -- SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Song Min-soon arrived in Cairo Wednesday to attend an international conference on the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq, the Foreign Ministry said. The inaugural meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) will be held Thursday at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Congress Center with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other political leaders from across the world attending, the ministry said in a press release. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20070502/630000000020070502092322E2.html
17. Iraq pleads for funds to rebuild - BBC - Iraq's prime minister has appealed for other countries to write off its debts, at the start of a summit called to try to rebuild and stabilise the country. Nouri Maliki urged delegates at the talks in Egypt to help "build a united, democratic and federal Iraq". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6616841.stm
18. China to grant Iraq 6.5m dollars in aid in 2007 - foreign minister. Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) ["China To Grant Iraq 50 Mln Yuan in Aid This Year: FM" - Xinhua headline] Sharm El-shaykh, Egypt, May 3 (Xinhua) - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi announced here on Thursday morning that the Chinese government will give a grant of 50m yuan of RMB ( about 6.5m US dollars) to Iraq in 2007 and forgive all the debts owed by the Iraqi government. The sum will be used to provide assistance in Iraq's public health and education, Yang said at a ministerial meeting of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) opened in the day at this Egyptian Red Sea resort. "The Chinese government is ready to substantially reduce and forgive the debts owed by Iraq. In particular, it will forgive all the debts owed by the Iraqi government," he said. Yang, who was named as Chinese foreign minister on April 27, also said China is ready to resolve through continued friendly consultation with Iraq the issue regarding its request for debt reduction and forgiveness according to the arrangement of the Paris Club. Yang, who arrived at this Red Sea resort on Wednesday afternoon, was on his first international mission after he replaced retired Li Zhaoxing as Chinese foreign minister. The ICI meeting, with the attendance of some 60 nations and 12 regional and international organizations, was the largest international meeting on Iraq ever since the US-led coalition forces seized Baghdad in April of 2003. The ICI was initially launched on July 28, 2006, in the hope of creating "a permanent partnership between Iraq and the international community" to help Iraq in its reconstruction efforts and to pursue political, economic and social development over the next five years. The initiative, with strong support from the United States, looks like a type of five-year plan for Iraq, yet it is also based on economic, political and security commitments by the Iraqi government in the next five years. The ICI is supposed to be chaired jointly by Iraq and the UN, with the support of the World Bank. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0920 gmt 3 May 07
19. Police Pay-Wagons of Iraq - How Do Iraq’s Finest Get Paid? Not exactly the way New York’s finest get paid, as Richard Miniter - on assignment for PJM in Iraq - discovered. Since so few have a bank account, Iraqi cops (and other public officials) are paid in cash - just as they were under Saddam. And they like it that way. http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/04/iraqi_pay_wagons.php
20. War News Radio: Expatriate Dreams http://warnewsradio.org/
END
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