Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Kurdish Ministers Woo U.S Oil Firms Regional Bid Angers Iraqi Government

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By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
November 28, 2007

Two top Kurdish leaders are a long way from the mountains of northern Iraq this week.

On Monday night, Omer Fattah Hussain was the toast of a dinner held at the 10,000-square-foot McLean mansion of Ed Rogers, a Reagan White House political director and current chairman of the lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers. In an opulent living room just off an art-filled entryway with a curved double stairway, the deputy prime minister of the Iraqi Kurds' autonomous region mingled with such luminaries as former assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former White House press secretary Tony Snow.

Today, Hussain travels to Houston with Ashti Abdullah Hawrami, the Kurdish regional oil minister, to woo an even more important audience: U.S. oil companies.

After more than a year of political deadlock in Iraq over a national petroleum law, the Kurdistan Regional Government unanimously adopted its own petroleum legislation in August. In the past month, it has signed a dozen oil exploration contracts and hopes that foreign firms will ultimately invest $10 billion in the oil sector and bring 1 million barrels a day of new oil production from the Kurdish region over the next five years.

"Everyone is lining up . . . saying 'I want a piece of this action,' " said Hawrami, who hopes to complete negotiations on two more deals in Houston.

Hawrami said the contracts posed no conflict with Iraq's federal constitution. The Iraqi central government, however, is irate over the Kurdish contracts -- and the State Department isn't happy either. The Bush administration has been striving mightily over the past year to get a national petroleum law approved before international firms jump in.

In addition, a group of 60 Iraqi oil professionals signed a letter saying that the recent Kurdish contracts were a "dangerous step that has no legal or political standing whatsoever." Iraqi oil union leaders have also opposed the contracts.

Earlier this month, Iraqi oil minister Hussein Shahristani called the deals illegal. He warned that foreign oil companies that sign contracts with the Kurdish authorities without central government approval risk retaliation when seeking stakes in the bigger oil prospects in the southern part of the country. There are 51 known but undeveloped fields in Iraq.

Several major international oil companies have been talking to Baghdad about resuming work in the same giant southern fields where they had worked when Saddam Hussein was in power. And the central government indicated to them that it might rely on Hussein-era oil laws or offer service contracts if the new petroleum legislation is delayed, according to Kamal Field Aldasri, an economic adviser to the Iraqi government.

Aldasri said recently that the central government wants help in finding ways to boost output at the 27 operating oil fields throughout Iraq, which are producing well below their potential. The Kirkuk field, for example, used to produce almost 1 million barrels a day and now produces less than 200,000. The government's aims to boost production from the current 2.2 million barrels a day to 3 million, though it is running far behind schedule.

The major oil companies have been giving advice, reviewing data and training Iraqi oil workers -- without compensation. Royal Dutch Shell Group, for example, is drawing up a master plan for tapping for domestic consumption the more than 600 million cubic feet a day of natural gas now being burned off. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Total are also doing technical studies, industry sources say.

But given political uncertainty, legal disputes and security risks, the big international firms are not prepared to reenter the country with their own personnel.

An official of one major oil company, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid compromising talks with central or regional Iraqi officials, said: "Frankly, I don't think there are any opportunities at the moment in northern Iraq that are appropriate for a company [of our] size. . . . They're too small."

Smaller firms, however, have rushed to sign exploration and production contracts there. They include affiliates of Russia's Alfa-Access-Renovo group, India's Reliance Industries, the Korea National Oil Corp. and Austria's major oil firm, OMV.

Asked about the absence of major oil companies, Hawrami said TNK-BP had signed a contract. BP said that it was not involved but that its Russian partner had entered the agreement on its own.

Some of the recent signing activity may have begun when Dallas-based Hunt Oil, whose chief executive Ray L. Hunt is a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and a major contributor to Bush's campaigns, signed a contract in September. Smaller U.S. companies have followed suit.

The Hunt contract upset the State Department, which has been pressing Iraq to adopt a petroleum law that would delineate the division of authority between the central and regional governments.

In a Sept. 28 meeting with the Washington representatives of major oil companies, two State Department officials insisted that the Bush administration's policy was that U.S. companies should not sign separate deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government without approval from the central government in Baghdad.

According to one person at the meeting, the officials warned that some of the blocs being offered by the Kurdish government lay outside its territory and might extend into Turkey or Iran. While conceding that the Hunt deal did not violate any U.S. law, they said it created an "unfortunate and untimely" impression that the U.S. government was changing its position on the need for a national petroleum law.

Reports surfaced nearly a year ago that central and regional authorities were close to a deal on the law, but no agreement has been reached. The key issues in dispute are the types and terms of contracts offered to foreign companies, whether the central or regional governments have the power to sign contracts, what portion of revenue flows to the central government, the composition of a federal commission empowered to review contracts, and whether the committee that distributes oil receipts is part of the central finance ministry or an independent group.

Some Iraqis accuse the Kurdish regional authorities of giving overly generous terms to foreign oil companies in production-sharing agreements. In those agreements, a foreign firm takes on all the risk of exploration but gets a share of production if it finds oil.

Hawrami said the foreign firms would get no more than 15 percent of production under recent contracts and less if the regional government chooses to take a one-quarter stake in the venture after oil is found. He said contracts in relatively peaceful areas would offer smaller percentages to foreign companies.

Production from fields in the Kurdish area would be exported through a pipeline that goes through Turkey, Hawrami said. The pipeline, which has been damaged by frequent explosions, carried 300,000 barrels a day in October, an improvement some industry experts attribute to increased patrols by Kurdish militia and Iraqi helicopter monitoring.

Hawrami said that Shahristani's threats against firms that sign contracts in the Kurdish region were counterproductive and that delays were costing Iraq money. "We don't need his approval," Hawrami said. "Every time we hear the word 'illegal,' we sign two more contracts."

Sweden to resume flights to Kurdistan


Wednesday, 28 November 2007


Swedish Airways

Sr se
Sweden to resume flights to Kurdistan after a three month break.
Swedish Radio News reports that direct air flights from Sweden to Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region are about to resume following a three month break.

Traffic was suspended in August, after the pilots on a Swedish airliner reported being shot at with a rocket over Kurdistan 'northwestern Iraq'.

The attack has never been confirmed, and now the civilian aviation authorities say they believe if there was a rocket fired it was an isolated incident.

Two airlines have applied for permission to resume flights to Iraqi Kurdistan. Some 70,000 Swedes have their roots in the area.

In August, the chairman of the Sulaimaniyah International Airport Authority, Kamaran Ahmed, said a local investigation found no evidence that a missile was fired and blamed the scare on bright lights being used on the ground.

"No plane at the Sulaimaniyah International Airport has come under attack. This is untrue and baseless news," its spokesman Khalid Saleh said.

Russian consulate opened in Kurdistan's capital

Wednesday, 28 November 2007


Russia consulate was inaugurated in Kurdistan region

VOI | Agencies
The Russian consulate was inaugurated in the Kurdistan's capital Erbil.
The Russian consulate was inaugurated in the Kurdistan's capital Erbil on Wednesday to provide Kurdish citizens who wish to enter Russia with the necessary visas.

In his word, Russian ambassador to Iraq at the inauguration ceremony said "We are in Erbil today to witness a historic step by inaugurating the Russian consulate."

"This step came after long negotiations between the Russian government from one side and the Iraqi and Kurdish governments from the other," he noted.

"Kurdish citizens can now get Russia's entry visa from the consulate in Erbil instead of going to Baghdad," the ambassador highlighted.

He unveiled his country's plan to open a consulate in the southern city of Basra in Iraq, without providing further details.

For his part, Iraq's Kurdistan region's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani expressed joy over the opening of the Russian consulate.

"The inauguration of the Russian consulate is due to the deep-rooted relations between the two countries," the premier noted.

Erbil witnessed also today the inauguration of the U.N. regional office; the first among the three offices announced by the U.N. two months ago within its plan to expand its role in Iraq.

Earlier, Iraqi Kurdistan government announced that it will open 15 representations abroad, the offices will be opened in Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and other countries, also announced that Greece had decided to open a consulate in Kurdistan.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Kurdistan to become new buffer between West and East

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PanARMENIAN.Net - Formation of independent Kurdistan is nearly finished, senior expert of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian academy of Sciences Kirill Vertyayev said during Yerevan-Moscow space bridge. A Kurdish autonomy can be maintained in Iraq but the proclamation of independence has become an inevitable process, according to him.

“Kurdistan will become a new buffer between West and East. Along with Israel it will become a political unit opposing the Islamic world. Given its strategic consideration, Armenia is also close to Kurdistan,” Vertyayev said. “Turkey was debarred from settling the Iraqi conflict. That is why the Turkish government seeks to convince the population in Turkey’s regional importance.”

For his part, Director of Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide Hayk Demoyan reminded that formation of independent Kurdistan was stipulated by the Treaty of Sevres. “There is official data that correlation of Turks and Kurds in Turkey will be equal by 2010. This means that Turkey won’t benefit from operations in northern Iraq,” he said.


Massoud Barzani’s whereabouts remain in the dark

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London (KurdishMedia.com) 27 November 2007: The whereabouts of the President of Kurdistan region remain in the dark after reports of an alleged assassination attempt by one of his aide. Many reports of attempt on Barzai’s life appeared mainly in Arabic and Turkish media which all been denied by Kurdistan Regional government’s official spokesperson.

Latest public appearance by Massoud Barzani was on 8th of November when he met Iraqi Parliamentary Speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani in Erbil.

Kurdish Regional Government sources say Barzani is out of Kurdistan on holiday in Europe without naming the country. Last week, there were unconfirmed reports that Barzani and his family arrived in Vienna for holiday. Also last week a Turkish newspaper reported that Barzani have been seen shopping in a famous street of Milano, Italy with some of his bodyguards. Pukmedia.com a Kurdish website run by Patriotic union of Kurdistan (PUK) reported on Sunday that Barzani in Vienna for routine health check.

An Israeli newspaper with links to Israeli Intelligent services published report that Barzani was admitted to an Israeli Hospital in Til Aviv for treatment after an alleged assassination attempt by one of his aide. These claims where denied by Fuad Hussein, spokesperson for Barzani.

KRG Expel Turkish Journalist From Southern Kurdistan


AP Associated Press
November 26, 2007

BAGHDAD: A Turkish journalist who reported that Iraq's Kurdish president personally escorted two guerrilla commanders to Europe for eventual extradition to Turkey was expelled from Iraqi Kurdistan on Monday for publishing "false news," the semiautonomous government said.

The journalist for Ihlas news agency, Sadiq Kahraman, cited anonymous sources in his Nov. 24 report saying Massoud Barzani had accompanied two senior Kurdish guerrilla commanders on a military plane to a European country. The report said U.S. or Iraqi Kurdish authorities preferred the two be extradited through a third country.

Saveen Dazi'e, head of foreign relations for Kurdistan Democratic Party, denied the report and said Kahraman was being deported for his role in publishing "false news that escalates the situation with Turkey," which has long been angered that Kurdish rebels seek haven in northern Iraq while launching attacks on Turkish soldiers.

Ihlas said Iraqi Kurdish officials came to the news agency's office on Sunday and demanded he name his sources.

"We can't name our sources, and we believe our sources. I have been working in Iraq for a long time and we are under pressure," Kahraman said Monday, according to Ihlas. He said the rebels, known by their Kurdish acronym PKK, have also threatened the news agency.

Kurdistan plans a $400 million Media City

Tuesday, 27 November 2007,


KRG

Rome (AKI)
The KRG is planning to set up a Kurdish media city.
The Kurdistan regional government in Iraq is planning to set up a Kurdish media city which will act as a hub for media and communications in the region and also attract investment to northern Iraq.

This is according to the Kurdistan regional government's civil society minister, George Yousif Mansour.

On Monday, Mansour paid a visit to the Rome headquarters of Adnkronos, a leading Italian news agency. The minister asked Adnkronos International (AKI) to help turn such a project into reality.

Mansour held a meeting with the director of Adnkronos and president of the GMC-Adnkronos media group, Giuseppe Marra. He said that the media city would be based in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, and would cost 400 million dollars.

The project will have an initial capital of 40 million dollars, with 60 percent of the project covered by the Kurdish government and the remaining 40 percent to be covered by a Dubai-based film and television company.

The aim of the project is to attract the international media to the northern regions of Iraq. The Media City will include television studios, a hotel, shops and places to live for those involved in media production.

Mansour said that in this way they hope to create professional opportunities as they develop the media and tourism industries in the region.

Initially the hub will be able to transmit to 60 television stations and will eventually increase this number to 120.

The political advisor to Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, Gorgs Y. Bakoos, and Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican, Albert Yelda, were also present at the meeting in Rome on Monday.

Mansour thanked AKI for its "impartiality in its reporting on Iraq" and praised the news agency for the training programme in place for four Iraqi journalists at AKI's Arabic news service. The project is sponsored by the Italian foreign ministry's Task Force Iraq programme.

Mansour said that while "information represents the so-called 'fourth estate'" it was important to remember that the news has both "destructive and useful aspects".

The Iraqi minister stressed the need for "neutral, credible and objective" information and that the media "needs to build bridges between communities, populations and societies".

"The media professional does not have to be a social reformer, but has the duty to transmit the news in as objective a way as possible," he said.

Mansour said that "the media tends to concentrate on security issues when discussing Iraq, while Iraq actually represents so much more, having been the cradle of civilisation and a country with history and culture."

Bakoos, also said that the Western and Arabic media tended to concentrate too much on security issues in Iraq "without giving sufficient attention to the efforts at political, social and economic reconstruction" and said that AKI played a role in "giving a more balanced view of Iraq."

Monday, November 26, 2007

27 Iraqi Kurdish women die in ‘honour killings


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ARBIL, Iraq - At least 27 women have died in so-called ‘honour killings’ over the past four months in northern Kurdish Iraq, an official from the regional government said Monday.

Aziz Mohammed, human rights minister in the Kurdish regional government, said 10 of the murdered women were from the Arbil, 11 from Dohuk and six from Sulaimaniyah—the three provinces making up the Kurdish region.

‘These are alleged honour killings. We can say that the violence against women continues’ in Kurdish Iraq, Mohammed told AFP.

He said 97 women -- 60 in Arbil, 21 in Dohuk and 16 in Sulaimaniyah—had attempted to commit suicide by self-immolation during the four months.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has regularly highlighted ‘honour killings’ of Kurdish women as among Iraq’s most severe human rights abuses.

Most of such crimes are reported as deaths due to accidental fires in the home.

Aso Kamal, a 42-year-old British Kurdish Iraqi campaigner, says that from 1991 to 2007, 12,500 women were murdered for reasons of ‘honour’ or committed suicide in the three Kurdish provinces.


Nechirvan Barzani: Kurdistan will continue with the oil contracts

Monday, 26 November 2007,


Kurdistan Prime Minister

AFP
Iraqi Kurdistan government defy Baghdad on oil deals
The Kurdistan regional government in 'northern Iraq' defied Baghdad on Monday, vowing to sign more contracts with international oil firms despite the national government's opposition.

"The (regional) government will continue with the contracts and they will be implemented," Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said.

"No one can cancel any contract of the KRG (Kurdistan regional government) signed with foreign companies," a defiant Barzani told reporters in the regional capital Erbil.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani has declared all oil contracts between the Kurdish administration and foreign companies null and void, saying they have been signed illegally in the absence of a national oil law. www.ekurd.net

Barzani insisted the contracts are legal and fall within the provisions of the region's constitution.

The Kurdistan government has inked 15 exploration and export contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil law in August, infuriating the Baghdad government.

The regional government says the contracts will benefit all Iraqis as 85 percent of the returns from the deals will be for Iraq and the rest will go to the contractor.

Iraq's oil and gas bill is stalled in the national parliament amid bitter differences between rival factions.
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government (

When approved, the new law will open up Iraq's long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment.

It will also stipulate that receipts be shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces, a key concern for the Sunni Arab minority that Washington says has fuelled the anti-American insurgency.

Iraq's oil reserves -- the world's third largest -- lie mainly in the Kurdish north and Shiite south and the Sunnis fear the two communities could monopolise future income.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The End of Faith

The End Of Faith, by Sam Harris


The End of Faith opens with a literary account of a day in the life of a suicide bomber – his last day. In an introductory chapter, Harris calls for an end to respect and tolerance for the competing belief systems of religion, which he describes as being "all equally uncontaminated by evidence." While focusing on the dangers posed by religious extremist groups now armed with Weapons of mass destruction, Harris is equally critical of religious moderation, which he describes as "the context in which religious violence can never be adequately opposed."

Harris continues by examining the nature of belief itself, challenging the notion that we can in any sense enjoy freedom of belief – for as he points out, "belief is a fount of action in potentia." Instead he posits that in order to be useful, beliefs must be both logically coherent, and truly representative of the real world. Insofar as religious belief fails to ground itself in empirical evidence, Harris likens religion to a form of mental illness which, he says, "allows otherwise normal human beings to reap the fruits of madness and consider them holy."

Harris follows this with a brief survey of Christianity down the ages, taking in the Inquisition and the historic persecution of witches and Jews. He contends that, far from being an aberration, the torture of heretics was simply a logical expression of Christian doctrine – one which, he says, was clearly justified by men such as Saint Augustine. Going still further, Harris sees the Holocaust as essentially drawing its inspiration from traditional Christian anti-Semitism. "Knowingly or not," he says, "the Nazis were agents of religion."

Possibly the most controversial aspect of The End of Faith is an uncompromising assessment and criticism of Islam, which Harris describes as being a "cult of death." He infers a clear link between Islamic teaching and terrorist atrocities such as 9/11, something which he backs up with five pages of quotations from the Koran. He also presents some Pew Research data, showing that significant percentages of Muslims worldwide would justify suicide bombing as a legitimate tactic. In an attack on what he terms "leftist unreason," Harris criticises Noam Chomsky among others for, in his view, displaying an illogical willingness to lay the entire blame for such attitudes upon U.S. foreign policy.

However, Harris makes an equally strong critique of the role of the Christian right in contemporary America, in influencing such areas as sex and drugs policy, stem-cell research, and AIDS prevention in the developing world. In what he sees as a steady drift towards theocracy, Harris strongly criticises leading figures from both the legislature and the judiciary, for what he perceives as an unashamed failure to separate church and state in their various domains. "Not only do we still eat the offal of the ancient world," he says, "we are positively smug about it."

Next, Harris goes on to outline what he terms a "science of good and evil" – a rational approach to ethics, which he claims must necessarily be predicated upon questions of human happiness and suffering. He talks about the need to sustain "moral communities," a venture in which he feels that the separate religious moral identities of the saved and the damned can play no part. But Harris is critical of the stance of moral relativism, and also of what he calls "the false choice of pacifism." In a controversial passage, he even goes so far as to argue in favour of the use of judicial torture under certain conditions.

Finally, Harris turns to spirituality where he takes his inspiration from the practices of Eastern religion, arguing that as far as Western spirituality is concerned, "we appear to have been standing on the shoulders of dwarfs." He discusses the nature of consciousness, and how our sense of "self" can be made to vanish by employing the techniques of meditation. To support his claims, Harris quotes from Eastern mystics such as Padmasambhava, but he does not admit any supernatural element into his argument – "mysticism is a rational enterprise," he says, "religion is not."

The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love. The only demons we must fear are those that lurk inside every human mind: ignorance, hatred, greed, and faith, which is surely the devil's masterpiece.

Harris also mentions the possibility of using certain drugs in the act of spritual exercise.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Mahmur camp in N Iraq surrounded by Iraqi soldiers

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Sirnak, (Xinhua) -

A large camp in northern Iraq has been surrounded by Iraqi army, reported a Xinhua correspondent at the Turkish-Iraqi border on Thursday.

Iraqi soldiers set up check points in front of the Mahmur camp in which people ran away from Turkey in 1990's are living, and do not let foreign people, including the members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) to enter into the camp. Turkey has claimed that the Mahmur camp was under control of the PKK and was logistics source for the PKK.

Vehicles and people who want to enter into the camp are being checked by Iraqi soldiers.

The Iraqi soldiers dug positions near the camp to prevent foreign people from reaching it and by the way, they patrol near the camp with jeeps.

They don't let anybody, except people who are living in the camp, to enter, said Youssef Abdurrahman, the chief of subdivision of soldiers, adding, "we do check 24 hours and put the camp under control. We are checking everywhere."

"Nobody can enter and the daily life is going on normally in the camp which is closed to journalists," added Addurrahman.

Local media reported that there are nearly 10,000 people living in the camp and there is a school and hospital in it.

Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops along the mountainous border with Iraq in preparation for the cross-border operation to crush the about 3,000 strong PKK rebels in northern Iraq, which was approved by the Turkish parliament last month.

The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in more than two decades conflict.


Italian minister warns a Kurdish invasion would be a "disaster"

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Istanbul, (AKI) -

Italian foreign minister Massimo D'Alema has warned Turkey against kind of military occupation of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Such an occupation would be a "disaster" D'Alema said during a two-day visit to Turkey.

"Focused, limited military action by Turkey would be considered acceptable, especially with an agreement by Iraqi authorities," D'Alema said during an interview aired on the Turkish TV channel, Canal D, on Wednesday.

"But an occupation of northern Iraq would be unacceptable, a disaster for Turkey as well."

D'Alema was referring to the possibility of a military attack by Turkish forces on bases of separatists from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in the mountains on the border of Turkey and Iraq.

His comments came as two US generals assured Turkey on Wednesday that the PKK would be eliminated by May next year.

During the interview, D'Alema said authorities in Ankara should recall the Israeli-Lebanese experience of July 2006, when Israeli troops invaded Lebanon to respond to attacks from Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah guerrillas. The crisis the July war unleashed in both countries was still unresolved, D'Alema noted.

D'Alema said the solution to the intensified attacks by the PKK "cannot only be military, but should also be political".

Referring to moves to close the Democratic Society Party (DTP) which has 21 members in parliament and is accused of being too close to the PKK, he said such a move would send " a very dangerous message".

The DTP is a pro-Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey, considered by many as the political wing of the PKK.

Turkish media reported two top generals of the US army have assured Turkey that the PKK will be wiped out in 2008.

Sources told the Turkish daily Today's Zaman that Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint chiefs of staff, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, gave their word that cooperation between Turkey and the US would flush out terrorists by May, 2008.

In a meeting with Turkish deputy chief of general staff Gen. Ergin Saygun and general staff chief of operations Gen. Nusret Tasdelen in the capital, Ankara, Cartwright and Petraeus evaluated the success of the real-time intelligence flow provided to Turkey by the US.

The two countries had agreed to share intelligence on the PKK after US President George W. Bush and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Washington earlier this month.

The two US generals expressed their opinion that cooperation between the two countries against terrorism would yield positive results soon.


Human rights in Syria. How is it to live paralyzed by fear?

http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9605/09/newsbriefs/human_rights.jpg

by Nicolien den Boer
Radio Netherlands

Nov 23, 2007


Being afraid for your own safety is one thing, worrying about the safety of your family can paralyse you with fear. This is why some human rights activists in Syria decide to throw in the towel. However, most activists continue to fight for what they believe even if both they and their families face threats, imprisonment and torture.

One evening Husam left a Damascus bar after having had one too many drinks. He took a taxi home and started to chat with the driver, who began criticising Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Husam enthusiastically joined the driver in criticising the president. It was a lot of fun to secretly poke fun at the regime in the taxi, with the windows closed.

Suddenly the taxi took a wrong turn. Husam was taken to a police station, arrested and sentenced to several months in prison for insulting the president.

Human rights lawyer and activist Razan Zeitouneh tells the story in her Damascus home. Many Syrian human rights activists can tell similar anecdotes. Taxi drivers have a reputation for working for the Mukhabarat (the secret police), but your neighbour or fellow student can also turn out to be a secret agent. It is not easy to recognise them, which is why there is so much paranoia in Syria.

Like mushrooms

Syrian human rights activists are used to living in fear. During the regime of former president and dictator Hafez al-Assad many human rights activists were jailed for decades and often tortured. It seemed that things would change when his son Bashir succeeded him in 2000.

The new president promised more freedom and democracy. Human rights activists started to collect petitions calling for more freedoms. They also held demonstrations, and new groups have sprouted like mushrooms. However, the Human Rights Watch organisation reports that in recent years activists have been rounded up in one wave of arrests after another. In 2006, seven young human rights activists were sentenced to up to seven years in jail.

Fear and concern
Razan Zeitouneh, who was arrested last year, says the human rights movement has been paralysed by fear. Her organisation, the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies conducts research into the situation in Syria. Ms Zeitouneh interviewed other human rights activists. She concluded that there were two dominant feelings: fear and concern about those close to you:
"The fear returns every time you're arrested or someone close to you is arrested or tortured. But the fear also gradually fades away. However, concern about your family stays and can paralyse you completely."

It's a tried and tested method of keeping someone under one's thumb. Threatening a member of someone's family is like having the person in the hands of the police.

"You've got to learn to live with the concern, because you never get rid of it. Your first step is to recognise it. You must let it become part of you. And you must understand that there are other emotions. This gives you the perseverance you will need to continue your work."
Practical protection

Human rights activist Ammar Qurabi, former member of an outlawed Syrian opposition party, says he has been arrested six times. On the telephone he proposes to meet in the busy lobby of a hotel in Damascus. Wouldn't he prefer a quieter place? "Why? I'm not afraid!"

In the lobby, Qurabi tells he is no longer allowed to leave the country. He knows no fear, he says with a smile,
"Because the secret services are becoming bored with reading all of my e-mails and reports."

His organisation reports on issues such as women's rights and the Kurdish minority in Syria. Incidentally, Qurabi enjoys a certain measure of protection because of his contacts with Amnesty International, among other organisations. He is known as a good international networker, creating a bit of security for himself. Yet another prison term for Qurabi would be guaranteed to make international headlines.
"Morons"

Some human rights activists possess a remarkable mechanism for self-protection: their sense of relativity. The agents of the Mukharabat? They don't frighten the activists. Most of them are 'morons' anyway, they say, referring to the barely-qualified taxi drivers acting as secret agents.

Even a 30-year prison term is something to be philosophical about, as human rights activist Mustapha demonstrates, pointing at a house as he gets out of a taxi in Damascus.

"See that house over there? That's where a friend of mine lives. He was in prison for 30 years, but he has still got a zest for life. Thirty years, it is terribly long, but you know, you may be tortured at first, but later you spend so much time with your warders, they can't help but becoming your friends. Then it's not so bad."


Iraq Nullifies Kurdish Oil Deals

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BAGHDAD,
Nov 24, 2007 (AFP) -

Iraq's oil ministry has declared all crude contracts signed by the Kurdish regional authorities with foreign companies null and void, a government official said on Saturday.

"The ministry has nullified all contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government," the official told AFP, asking not to be named. "They will not be recognised."

The Kurdistan Regional Government has signed 15 exploration and exportation contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil law in August, infuriating the Baghdad government.

Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani has in recent weeks angrily denounced the Kurdish authorities for signing the contracts before the national parliament approves a new oil and gas law, declaring them "illegal".

The government official said the minister had now gone further and nullified all the contracts and had warned the foreign companies involved that they would be blacklisted.

"Minister Shahristani had warned companies who sign contracts without taking the advice of the oil ministry that the ministry would ... blacklist them from any future deals with Iraq," the government official said.

"The minister had told them the oil ministry in Baghdad is the only institution authorised to sign oil contracts before the approval of the oil law."

Shahristani told Monte Carlo radio on Friday that countries neighbouring Iraq would prevent the Kurdish authorities from exporting oil.

"There is an understanding between Tehran, Ankara, Damascus and Baghdad," he said.

"The Iraqi government had warned these companies of the consequences of entering into these contracts," the minister added. "And the consequence is that Iraq will not allow these companies to extract the oil."

The Kurdish authorities reacted sharply on Saturday, saying Shahristani should take the matter to the federal tribunal which deals with disputes between the provinces and the central government.

"The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed contracts according to laws passed by the Kurdistan provincial parliament which comply with the Iraqi constitution," said a statement on the KRG website.

"The KRG considers that the minister is exceeding his authority in making these statements," it added. "His statements will not affect our contracts with foreign companies."

It said his comments were reminiscent of the Arab chauvinism of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"We are sorry to hear such statements, which are close to Baathist ones," it said, referring to the Baath party of the ousted dictator.

Regarding the minister's comments on preventing oil being exported, the statement said: "Who said we are exporting oil? We said we signed oil contracts to explore and produce oil -- we know that there must agreement with the federal government on the issue of exporting oil."

The regional government says the contracts will benefit all Iraqis as 85 percent of the returns from the deals would be for Iraq and the rest would go to the contractor.

Iraq's oil and gas bill is stalled in the national parliament amid bitter differences between rival factions.

When approved, the new law will open up Iraq's long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment.

It will also stipulate that receipts be shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces, a key concern for the Sunni Arab minority that Washington says has fuelled the anti-American insurgency.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Struggle never ends for Iraqi Kurds in Kirkuk

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Agence France Presse

By Michel Moutot

November 21, 2007

KIRKUK - Driven from their homes in 1987 by Saddam Hussein because they were Kurds, the Fakeh and Nasser families have now returned to the northeastern Iraqi city of Kirkuk . Full Text


Why American troops belong in Kurdistan

Zakho










USA Today, Opinion

By Lionel Beehner

November 21, 2007


ZAKHO, Iraq — To shuttle between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan as an American is to feel both liked and loathed: Liked because you are crossing a border separating the two most pro-American people in the Muslim world, and loathed because the United States hasn't done enough to defuse the tension between the two sides. Should war erupt, Washington could come to regret its hands-off approach. Full Text

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

AKP Condemns Judicial Attempts to Close Kurdish Party


Jamestown Foundation, Eurasia Daily Monitor

By Gareth Jenkins

November 19, 2007

Leading members of Turkey 's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have condemned attempts by the country's judiciary to close down the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). Full Text

KRG responds to Dr Shahristani’s threats to international oil companies

Kurdistan Regional Government

Press Release

November 20, 2007

Dr Hussein Shahristani, the Iraqi Oil Minister, has issued threats against oil companies who have signed contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government. He warns that Iraq 's oil will not be allowed to be exported.

Dr Shahristani has failed to deliver any meaningful projects through his Ministry year after year. He has not managed to spend even a quarter of the annual federal budget allocated to his Ministry, and is now trying also to deter others from doing the right thing for the country. It is amazing that a Minister in Baghdad should continue to threaten international oil companies (IOCs) with sanctions and punishment because they have decided to invest in one of the secure and safe parts of Iraq . Full Text


Monday, November 19, 2007

Turkish courts wrestle with Kurdish problem under EU spotlight


By Andrew Finkel

November 19, 007

A delegation of European MPs to Ankara this week is expected to urge Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to speak out against the possible closure of a political party with strong Kurdish nationalist roots.

This latest challenge to Turkey-EU relations follows action by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals to open a case against the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on grounds that is pursuing a separatist agenda. If successful, the prosecution would force the expulsion of 20 DTP deputies from Parliament and deprive many of the party's mayors and local councilors of office. Full Text

raqi parliament opens probe into delays over status of northern oil-rich Kirkuk


Associated Press

November 17, 2007

Baghdad - Iraq 's parliament on Saturday ordered an inquiry into the delay of a referendum over whether the oil-rich city of Kirkuk will join the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north. Full Text

WKI Position Paper: The Territorial Status of Kirkuk


November 2007

This position paper by Washington Kurdish Institute addresses the administrative status of Kirkuk governorate (province) and Kirkuk city within the Federal Republic of Iraq.

Read the Full Position Paper

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Turkish strike on Kurdish guerrilla bases in Southern Kurdistan was "almost certain.



Nov 17, 2007

Jalal Talabani said Friday a Turkish strike on Kurdish guerrilla bases in Southern Kurdistan was "almost certain. Any strike would be limited and would not affect relations between Iraq and Turkey or between Turkey and the Kurds, KUNA quoted Talabani as saying in an interview during a visit to Kuwait.

South Korean consortium to explore Iraqi Kurdistan oilfield

Tuesday, 13 November 2007,


Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an oilfield

Reuters|koreatimes
The Korea National Oil Corporation has secured an oilfield.
A South Korean consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an oilfield with an estimated deposit of over 500 million barrels in Kurdistan autonomous region in 'northern Iraq'.

According to KNOC Sunday, the consortium signed a contract in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan-Iraq, on exploration and production sharing of the Bazian oilfield with the Kurdistan Regional Government in the northeastern part of the Middle East country.

With the first-ever deal in Iraq, South Korea expects to set up a bridgehead to advance into the war-devastated country, which boasts the world's second-largest oil deposits.

Beside KNOC, which holds a 38-percent stake, several private energy development firms including, among others, SK Energy (19 percent) and Daesung, Samchully, Beuma (9.5 percent wach respectively) took part in the project.
Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an oilfield with an estimated deposit of over 500 million barrels in Kurdistan autonomous region in 'northern Iraq'.

Seated in the Zagros basin, the Bazian oilfield is located southeast of Irbil, where South Korean rehabilitation forces are stationed. South Korea deployed thousands of soldiers, largely medics and engineers, as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the Gulf country since 2004.

In January, KNOC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Kurdistan Regional Government and implemented technical evaluations in a dozen exploratory oilfields there.

KNOC officials said the consortium would sign a contract among participating companies for the joint operation of the oilfield by the end of this year and set up an office there to make preparations for future exploration. www.ekurd.net

Currently, they added, the Bazian oilfield is estimated to have more than 500 million barrels of crude oil. But a more exact deposit will be calculated through future exploration activities scheduled up until 2010.

``We hope that we could secure a crucial bridgehead to advance into Iraq, which has the second-largest oil deposits, with the signing of the production sharing contract,'' a KNOC spokesman said.

In the meantime, the Kurdistan Regional Government has been actively pushing for oil exploration projects. It struck seven new petroleum contracts with firms from the United States, Britain and India and also approved five existing contracts last week.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Struggling against the changing times: the real Issue for Turkey is not 3,000 rebels, but 15 million Kurds

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Bashdar Pusho Ismaeel - Kurdish Globe
Fighting the branches of your problem is fruitless, without addressing its root.

Authorization of military action
On October 17, the Turkish Parliament passed a controversial motion that effectively allowed the Turkish military a year's pass to launch incursions into northern Iraq as it sees fit, under the pretext of preserving national security and eradicating the long-standing PKK threat emanating from the Qandil Mountains of the Kurdistan region.
Despite strong objections from Iraq, the U.S. administration, NATO, the EU, and a plethora of major States, Turkey approved the bill in defiance. With a huge occupation force in the shape of the U.S. Army still on the ground, this hardly gives a positive image of Iraqi sovereignty and may well set a benchmark for future invasions by neighbors.
Turkey's battle with the PKK is not new. In fact, Turkey has been waging war on the PKK for 28 years in the impoverished and largely neglected lands of southeastern Turkey. This war reached a peak in the mid-1990s, culminating in a series of large cross-border campaigns by the Turkish military to oust rebel bases across the porous borders.
Clearly, these campaigns did no significant damage to the PKK nor did they eradicate the threat, even as those campaigns were supported by some Iraqi Kurdish parties at the time. However, although five years of unilateral truce by the PKK on the back of the arrest of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, resulted in some peace and a motion to readdress its adverse international image, the PKK made very little political gains with the Turkish government persistent in its refusal to negotiate with their 'terrorist' arch-nemesis or issue amnesty.
Feeling lost and weary on the back of the dramatic arrest and trial of their revered leader, the influence and power of the PKK steadily dropped. However, clearly the onset of the Iraqi liberation in 2003 and the newfound prominence and political stature of the Iraqi Kurds served to embolden PKK desire and reignited their passion for making another stand against the Turkish regime.
Clearly, this time the PKK has more political coverage than ever before along with broader media attention. The status of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is now enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution and widely recognized by major global powers. Arguably, the long-standing rivalry with the PKK became second nature to a Turkish state that long-denied its substantial Kurdish population cultural and linguistic rights and before that systematic denial altogether, but now to its horror was witnessing a strong Kurdish national renaissance a stone's throw across the border.

Iraqi Kurds-the real Turkish danger
It is likely that with parliamentary approval of military incursions valid for one year, this will give the Turkish state time to maneuver and watch the KRG closely with an upcoming decisive year that will determine the future of Iraq. The ideal scenario for Turkey would be to maintain a long-term foothold and influence over northern Iraq, rather than attack at will.
Under a period of self-rule, the Iraqi Kurds have grown from strength to strength, witnessing an economic boom, status as key strategic allies to the U.S. administration and widely acknowledged as the only island of peace and prosperity in the mess that is Iraq. Whilst Kurdish confidence has reached alarming new heights for the Turkish state, which as of today still refuses to recognize the Kurdish administration or negotiate with them on an official level, many of the red lines set by the Turkish government have long passed with the Iraqi Kurds hungry and determined to bolster their status and political gains further.
In the year officially set for a referendum on the status of oil-rich Kirkuk, frequent Turkish calls for the abandonment of such a momentous milestone have gone unheard. Turkey has lobbied with the Iraqi government extensively to dismiss the referendum out-of-hand or at least delay it indefinitely citing various concerns. In contrast this has only increased Kurdish determination and desire and with the knowledge that they are almost certain victors in any vote they have pressed on without fear.
Undoubtedly, Turkey and the surrounding neighbors fear that if Kurdish aspirations are unchecked, this may well create an unstoppable ripple affect for the millions of Kurds inhabiting those countries.
Although, the PKK issue has acted as the focal point in channeling Turkish fears, the presence of an estimated 3,000 rebels in the rugged mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan is clearly a side issue to the greater concerns of the ramifications of the potential destabilization affect of 15 million Turkish Kurds.

Prospects of a full-scale invasion
Clearly, launching any military incursion into Iraq may well backfire. The PKK rebels will disperse into Kurdish towns and villages and even major air raids may lack the effectiveness of getting the job done. A highly unpopular Turkish invasion will only encourage support and sympathy for the PKK amongst Iraqi Kurds.
Any major incursion deep into KRG territory may well induce direct confrontation with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which is likely to only deepen the issue and increase the risk of an all-out Turkish-Kurdish war.
As a result of these factors, a full-scale invasion in reality is unlikely and much more costly than the limited gains it may provide. Alienating Kurdish populations on either side of the border who heavily rely on one another for billion of dollars in trade is political and economical suicide. This motion, for the time being, at least, is more sabre-rattling and show of power and intent. It is designed to further pressurize the U.S. and Iraqi governments into action and warn the Iraqi Kurds of the dangers of defiance, harboring the PKK, or continuing separatist ambitions.

Changing political climate
Turkey has long accused the U.S. administration of not doing enough to tackle the PKK issue and has called on the Iraqi government to take action.
However, the key problem with any U.S. action to deal with the PKK is the potential to undermine their strong relationship with the Iraqi Kurds and destabilize the only stable part of Iraq. Noticeably, for a Turkey suffering from a dramatic decline of their traditional closeness with the U.S., this is seen as preferential treatment of the Kurds and double standards in the fight against terrorism.
The occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. forces and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon last year set a dangerous precedent for superpowers combating terrorism and threats against national security. Turkey feels it is no exception to the rule and only wider strategic and political implications stopped it from invading in 2003 to dispel Kurdish drive toward power and the expansion of their region.
However, events in the last year and more recently have irked Turkey beyond care of the repercussions of their actions. First, Turkey introduced mild reforms and introduced more cultural tolerance of their Kurdish minority under EU accession talks. However, despite what it perceived as more than a gesture of goodwill, the reforms on the back of EU pressure did not continue apace. Talks have all but stalled and the divide has only deepened with major reservations from key European nations over the potential influx of millions of largely impoverished Muslims into their Christian super club.
Turkey, in its gradual changing political stance and its fast emerging ties with the controversial governments in Syria and Iran, has seemingly all but given up on the idea of an imminent entry into the European Union and turned its attention to its more immediate concerns. Turkish public opinion has hardly helped, as a strong sense of nationalism has kicked in over the Iraqi Kurdish calls of defiance, frequent PKK attacks, and the fast-declining popularity of the U.S. in the country.

Turkish-U.S. ties under strain
Whilst the frequently failed promises by the U.S. administration to deal with the PKK hardly helped, two events that arguably swayed Turkish political opinion and deep-rooted anxiety into overdrive was their disappointment over a U.S. Senate motion, referred to as the Biden-Brownback amendment, to push through the break-up of Iraq into three federal entities; then, there was their downright anger over the passing of a non-binding resolution by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee to officially recognize the Armenian massacre between 1915-1923 under Ottoman rule as genocide.
This created uproar in public, political, and military circles alike, with Turkey swiftly condemning the resolution and warning President Bush of the massive ramifications that this would have in their relationship and their logistical support of U.S. troops in Iraq, if the resolution was formally passed.
Similar moves by France caused similar rage and ended military ties between both nations.
Turkey is moving through a time of great sensitivity and fears that perhaps they can only rely on themselves in the present era. The changing face of the political and strategic makeup of the Middle East and international focus has rocked Turkey's once unbreakable alliance with the U.S., reaching a peak at the time of the Cold War. However, the U.S. has greater priorities than ever before and faces its gravest danger in the form of terrorism.
The global aspects and wider implications of their foreign policies are more important than any relationship with a single country.

Iraqi Kurds bypassed
The region and the international community are now watching closely at Turkey's next steps. What is clear, however, is that Turkey's next steps must be taken cautiously and wisely. Any hasty or controversial adventure that goes beyond the remit of a limited incursion may well result in a major backlash.
The Iraqi Kurds, keen as ever to strike friendly and productive terms, fully appreciate that for their long-term prosperity and survival they must cooperate very closely with Turkey. However, even they are feeling increasingly undermined by the actions of regional powers and the insistence of Turkey in bypassing them in negotiations with the Iraqi government.
A recently signed security deal between Iraq and Turkey bypassed the Iraqi Kurds directly with the Baghdad government insistent that all elements of national foreign policy must be channeled through them.
However, evidently the region at the focus of the debate is the Kurdish administration. Turkey will be effectively invading the autonomous KRG region and as such violating their rights and sovereignty directly.
It is ironic that a nation that refuses to recognize a political entity would directly invade their area of jurisdiction and expect to bypass them as any matter of importance.
Despite the rhetoric of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Turkey's ignorance, there is nothing that Baghdad can do in the Kurdish region. There is no Iraqi Army in Iraqi Kurdistan and no sense of bending backwards to fight their ethnic brethren to satisfy the vain nationalist desires of a neighboring country who even refuses to acknowledge them as a credible entity.

PKK-a terrorist issue or a Kurdish problem
It is more ironic that Turkey sees the PKK as a terrorist threat and not as a Kurdish problem. Violence is not a solution and never an adequate substitute for diplomacy; however, Turkey has a much bigger problem than a few thousand rebels. It may be painful to concede, but Turkey has a huge restive Kurdish population and if Turkey does not tender its next steps correctly and advocate a greater solution to its long-standing Kurdish headache, this will only exasperate tensions beyond what it currently perceives as a problem.
The PKK is simply the fruit from the seeds of problems that were sewn decades previously in the aftermath of World War I. Unless the root of these problems are addressed, the branches may be cut under all the pretexts that one can imagine; however, they will only grow back at a more vicious rate. If the PKK as an organization is hypothetically eradicated all together, there is no guarantee that another Kurdish offshoot will not arise by next year.
It is time for the Turkish regime to stop an impractical game of incongruous politics and recognize the existence of the Iraqi Kurdish administration. They cannot preserve their stability without the help of the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi Kurds are unable to survive without Turkish help.
Turkey will never solve the PKK dilemma through ignorance or arrogance. Although rebel actions and their presence in northern Iraq create leverage for negotiations on either side, ultimately PKK violence and insurgency will never benefit the greater Turkish Kurdish population. In the great global battle against terrorism, such actions in the present era will hardly strike the right sentiments of international opinion that is vital in winning concessions and achieving success.

The need for a reality check
Turkey must finally open its eyes and realize that after decades of fighting the ghosts of its past legacies and outdated ideals, it will never win this battle against Kurdish nationalism until it takes a firm reality check.
The recent majority Kurdish vote for Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Party of Justice and Development is proof that Turkey Kurds can be swayed into playing a supportive and productive role in a new Turkey, and they must be embraced with open arms into forging new brotherly ties for the benefit of the greater Turkish state, whilst accepting the emergence of a Kurdish entity in Iraq, not as a choice but as a natural eventuality that cannot be stopped no matter how much they delay its end.
This is simply the wrongs of the past correcting themselves-it was always inevitable that all the explosive seeds that were planted by the artificial creation of the Middle East could never remain underground forever. Unfortunately for the Middle East, the wave of change is not over and will continue. There are far too many volcanoes waiting to erupt from Iran to Lebanon and possibly beyond.
As for Turkey, it is like fighting a tidal wave that you know will sweep you ashore, but rather than fight a storm that will eventually prove costly and counterproductive, you must use the tides of the stream to ensure maximum gains and benefit and the least painful of landings.

Iraqi president: crisis with Turkey has passed and Iraq situation better

Thursday, 15 November 2007,


The Iraqi president

AP | AFP

Tensions between Iraq and Turkey have subsided and relations are improving, asserted Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in an interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper Wednesday.

"The crisis with Turkey has passed," he told the daily Alrai in an interview, without further explanation, even as Turkish troops remain massed at the Iraqi Kurdistan borders over the presence of anti-Turkish rebel fighters in the Iraqi Kurdistan region's
mountainous hinterland.

"I don't think there is any danger of a Turkish invasion of (Iraqi) Kurdistan," Talabani, himself a Kurd, told Egyptian government newspaper Al-Ahram.

His remark came as Turkish helicopters swooped into Iraqi territory Wednesday firing on villages in renewed efforts to dislodge the fighters of the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy for Turkish Kurds since 1984.
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd

Talabani, who began a four-day visit to Kuwait on Wednesday, said conditions in war torn Iraq have improved, but more efforts at national reconciliation were needed to make the situation last.

"The situation is better now. Most of the areas are safe and many Iraqis are fighting terrorists," the president said. He said Iraqis now see members of al-Qaida as a "danger" to them.

He cautioned, however, that the execution of Sultan Hashim al-Tai, a Saddam Hussein-era defense chief sentenced to death for his role in Anfal campaigns against the Kurds in the 1980s, would "harm the general atmosphere and impede reconciliation efforts."

Talabani also warned against the premature withdrawal of U.S. forces, saying it could lead to the fracturing of the country.
"When we complete building our armed forces and police, coalition forces can pull out, maybe at the end of next year," he told Alrai.

"But such a withdrawal now and under current circumstances could lead to a sort of civil war, and will not result in stability but into the partitioning of Iraq into more than three entities." he added.

The U.S. military says attacks around Iraq have fallen to their lowest level since February 2006, and U.S. military deaths are on the decline partly due to a surge of nearly 30,000 troops sent by President George W. Bush earlier this year. www.ekurd.net

Although the streets of the capital are still not entirely safe, Iraqis are venturing more out of their homes. Many Sunni Iraqi fighters who belong to Islamic insurgent groups have turned against al-Qaida and are cooperating with American forces to drive the extremists from their neighborhoods and villages.

Talabani will meet with Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and ask that the oil-rich neighbor which Saddam invaded in 1990 and occupied for seven months, to "settle" Iraqi debts owed from Saddam's time.

The Iraqi president did not specifically say he wanted the US$15 billion worth of debts forgiven, but the request has been made previously. Kuwait says it is a matter for its parliament to decide.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Richard Dawkins - BBC HARDtalk

KRG signs five more petroleum contracts


Kurdistan Regional Government

Press Release

November 12, 2007


KRG signs petroleum contracts with affiliates and subsidiaries of TNK-BP, Korea National Oil Corp, Hillwood, Sterling Energy, Aspect Energy

Following the unanimous decisions of the Regional Oil and Gas Council (“the Council”) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) at its second and third meetings, Dr Ashti Hawrami, the KRG Minister for Natural Resources, today announced that the five production sharing contracts (PSCs) previously approved by the Council have been signed by the KRG with TNK-BP affiliate Norbest Limited, with a Korean consortium headed by Korean state-owned oil company KNOC, with Hillwood International Energy company HKN Energy, and with subsidiaries of UK-listed Sterling Energy LLC and Denver-based Aspect Energy LLC. Full Text

Monday, November 5, 2007

War or Peace?

Kurdistan’s Hope for Talks

              Kurdish premier Nechirvan Barzani, seen here in August 2007, has defended the region's adoption of an energy law and the clinching of global deals, saying the moves were aimed at making oil 'work for the people of Iraq.'               Photo:Safin Hamed/AFP

Washington Post, Opinion

By Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government

November 5, 2007

When President Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet today to discuss ongoing conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey , we in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) will be listening with hope. We welcome this meeting. The only solution to this decades-old problem lies in diplomacy.

Let me be clear: The KRG is, and will remain, fully prepared to find a long-term solution to this problem. To this end, we propose talks among Ankara , Baghdad , Erbil and Washington . This is a transnational issue, complicated by ethnic ties, and no party can find a solution on its own. We will sit down at any time with anyone who seeks a negotiated, diplomatic resolution.

We must discard the rhetoric of violence and recognize that a military response to the current crisis would be a disaster for everyone except the PKK. We in the Kurdistan region of Iraq would be slowed on our path to peace, democracy and prosperity; the Turkish army would become bogged down in a bloody and unproductive struggle against the PKK outside its borders; the United States and Western allies would become estranged from a vital NATO ally; and the economies and peoples of the region -- particularly Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq -- would suffer.

We have tried to explain to our Turkish friends that we want only peace and cooperation with them. Our region depends heavily on investment and trade with Turkey . The great majority of foreign businesses operating here are Turkish, nearly all of our construction is done by Turkish contractors, we receive much of our electricity from Turkey and well over 75 percent of our imports arrive via Turkey . Why would we provoke Turkey into a military action that would severely damage our economy?

The history of this conflicted part of the world carries a message: Problems such as the PKK cannot be solved through military means. For decades the government of Saddam Hussein tried to liquidate the Kurdish people by violence, at a tremendous price for both sides. We ourselves fought against the PKK in the late 1990s with help from the Turkish military, and 10 years later we again find ourselves at a crisis point. The mountains inside our region and in Turkey have protected the PKK for decades, and there is little reason to believe that new military actions would be any more successful than past attempts. Problems for which military solutions are sought here seem to have a way of never getting resolved.

We have condemned and will continue to condemn the PKK for its unwarranted attacks in Turkey . We insist that its members lay down their arms immediately. We do not allow them to operate freely, contrary to what some have suggested. Turkey , with its substantial military capability, has not been able to eradicate the PKK within its own borders, yet some Turks inexplicably expect us to be successful with far fewer capabilities and resources.

Just as we ask the Turks to seek a peaceful resolution, so must the PKK abandon its failed strategy of armed conflict. Diplomacy and dialogue must be given a chance. With time, patience and stability, we believe that peaceful change can occur. Just 10 years ago the PLO and the IRA were considered terrorist organizations. Today they have begun a process of transformation and are working within the political arena. Can such a transformation take place within the PKK? We cannot be certain. But we do know that military action will only radicalize the situation further, and violence will surely breed more violence.

We want peace along our border with Turkey . We want to cooperate on economic, social and cultural issues. We want to be a good neighbor and to exercise our responsibilities as good neighbors. Our successful efforts in cooperation with Ankara and Baghdad to secure the release of Turkish soldiers demonstrate our sincere desire to find peaceful solutions to the problem. We will continue taking concrete steps to improve the security environment at the border. But the Turkish government needs to overcome its refusal to talk to us as neighbors.

The Kurdistan region is the only part of Iraq where peace and development have prospered since the liberation of 2003, and we are the constitutionally recognized regional government in the area. We have come a long way both economically and politically. But much more work remains. We have chosen to become part of a federal Iraq and will uphold that commitment. We threaten no one as we move toward greater development. We hope that we can extend the hand of friendship to Turkey and work together to find solutions to this crisis that will lead to long-term stability and peaceful relations.