December 2008Monthly Archives

This law is not even close to being completed when you have the Iraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani, continuing to give interviews on Iraqi TV denouncing the oil contracts signed by the Kurdistan government with foreign oil companies as illegal contracts.
Talks are still ongoing between the Central Baghdad government and the Kurdistan Regional government. There are other underlying issues concerning the Iraq oil and gas law maybe some other time I will comment on them in more detail.

In regards to the Iraq U.N. Charter Chapter Seven this will not be lifted until a new U.N. Resolution has been issued to protect Iraqs Funds in the United States and the Central Bank of Iraq DFI Funds Baghdad office.
Remember that Iraq controls these funds now, only under U.N. resolutions and they need another U.N. Resolution for one year in order to protect these assets.
Also the DFI funds will remain in New York and with the CBI Baghdad and will not be held by any other bank.
American Contractor

The next important thing that the Iraqi government has to accomplish which is vital to the people of Iraq and that is to protect their assets abroad. If they do not accomplish this in a timely fashion then Iraq will go back to the ways of the previous regime when they sold oil for cash and way below market value just like saddam did in the oil for food program.
Everything would come to a standstill because the Iraqi government funds that are on deposit in the Development Fund Iraq (DFI) would be seized if no agreement is put in place.
If you remember in December 2007 the U.N. Security Council passed resolution 1790 until December 31, 2008 for when U.S. Forces will remain in Iraq. The effective date of the newly passed SOFA agreement is January 1, 2009.

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After the signing of the SOFA agreement between Iraq and the United States government, banks world wide will soon stop selling the Iraqi Dinar for good. Banks will be distancing themselves from any liability that they have been placing themselves in since the Iraqi law forbids Iraqi Dinar from leaving its borders.
The SOFA Agreement Article 20 also states in plain English that it is illegal to export Iraqi Dinar currency. The Iraqi government placed this in there because they are fully aware of how much dinar is outside the borders of Iraq.
The Iraqi government has put banking institutions on notice to stop this practice of selling their Iraqi currency. When you have it stated inside the text of the SOFA agreement, you know their serious about protecting their economy. I have mentioned this in this blog about currency leaving Iraq being illegal just nobody believes it.
On another note 2009 will be much the same as 2008.
Have a great day!