July 2010Monthly Archives

Things are still at a deadlock in forming the new Iraq Government and I do not believe a Government will be formed before the Islam celebration of Ramadan which begins on 11 or 12 August depending on if your of the Shia or Suni religious sect.
The United Nations has no power to force Iraq to have another election or force a new government. The Iraqi government has been a caretaker government since 16 March.
The Al-Iraqiya List and Iraq National Alliance (INA) is maneuvering to remove the powers of the outgoing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. This will be done by gathering the new Iraqi Parliament together and holding an ‘extraordinary session’. One problem they have in trying to hold an extraordinary session is that they do not have a Parliament Speaker in place. The Iraqi government is an open session and can not have an extraordinary session until this is resolved. The newly elected parliament the word is that they will not show up until it is agreed upon by the different political blocs of who the Parliament Speaker will be. So, if your a caretaker government are you going to making it easy for them to remove you.
The hope is that they will decide who the parliament speaker will be on or before 1 August and hold the session. The United Nations (UN) meeting is 4 August. The political blocs have already agreed that the current government is a caretaker government. They will have to set up a committee to monitor the activities of the caretaker government which is still trying conduct government business so someone as to be monitoring this activity.
It appears that the INA will soon break away from the SLC which will cause the Al-Iraqiyah List to form the government.
The meeting with the UNSC will not issue any binding resolutions against Iraq will only voice their concerns of the need to form the government.
More to follow…
American Contractor

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12July2010 Newsletter

American Contractor News Briefs
We are getting down to the wire, with tomorrows meeting of the newly
elected members of the Iraqi Parliament. It looks like some elected
Parliament members, will be a no-show on 13 July causing
constitutional problems and No quorum as they say. There are already
Iraqi politicians announcing the next date for the meeting of the
Iraqi Parliament. I guess they do not have any faith in tomorrows
meet. My prediction is that the Parliament meeting on Tuesday, 13
July will be canceled.
The Iraqi National Alliance (INA) have changed there minds about Dr.
Iyad Allawi, Al-Iraqiyah List, and have decided to drink tea and have
serious discussions about the Top Spot to run the country. This is
very upsetting to the outgoing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, who was
attempting to form an alliance with the INA until he found out that
the INA choice nominee was not him for the Top Spot. In any case PM
Maliki, is sticking with the INA in any future continued talks with
INA and Al-Iraqiyah list. You know what they say keep your friends
close and your enemies closer. PM Maliki and his team will be very
close to any meeting being conducted between the INA and Al-Iraqiyah
List.
Update on Meeting. INA and Al-Iraqiyah List.
The meeting was as they call it “successful.”
The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, still does not have a diplomatic presence
in Baghdad but it did not stop them from having direct flights to
Baghdad by Saudi Airlines. It has only taken 25 Years. Flights
started today.

I told you this in past newsletters that the DFI fund would be extended beyond Dec 2010. Have faith in the American Contractor!

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 (KUNA) — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said the Development for Iraq (DFI) will remain in the Federal Reserve Bank in New York beyond December 31 of this year with the same existing mechanism and arrangements, including payment of five percent of the oil revenues to the Compensation Fund.
In his second quarterly report to the UN Security Council on the issue since last year, Ban said “the Government of Iraq has received confirmation from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York of continuation of the existing mechanism in place for the DFI, to be effective after 31 December 2010.” As a result, he added, a sub-account to compensate the victims of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 will be established to enable the Iraqi Government to continue to deposit five percent of its oil and natural gas proceeds in the Geneva-based Compensation Fund.
By its resolution 1483 of May 2003, the council transferred the authority to manage the expenditures from Iraq’s oil revenue from the United Nations to the DFI, and created the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) to monitor it.
By its resolution 1905 of December 2009, the council extended until 31 December 2010 the arrangements for depositing those proceeds into the DFI, and asked Baghdad to put in place arrangements to ensure a “timely and effective transition” to a post-DFI mechanism by 31 December 2010.
It also asked Ban to report every three months on the progress by Iraq in preparing for such arrangements and decided to review the provisions of resolution 1483 at the request of the Iraqi Government by mid 2010.
Starting January 2011, the IAMB will disappear and Ban said he is “encouraged” that Baghdad, in coordination with the Iraqi Committee of Financial Experts (COFE), will continue to select an independent international auditor to monitor the successor entity to the DFI.
Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Hamid Al-Bayati told KUNA earlier this week that beginning next year, the DFI will also carry another name, different from the one given to it by the council.
Ban commended Iraq in his report released today for its efforts to make the new arrangements and encouraged Baghdad to continue to meet the deadlines set in a letter by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to the council earlier this year for the successor entity for the DFI.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2099906&Language=en

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6 July 2010 Newsletter