ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Iraq’s North Says Villagers Flee Iranian Shelling [Jun 2]
“Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said on Tuesday dozens of families had been displaced in days of shelling by Iranian forces pursuing Kurdish rebels in the border region. Senior Kurdish officials denied reports that Iranian troops had entered Iraqi territory in pursuit of rebels from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). They said more than 100 families had fled shelling over the past week along the northern stretch of Iraq’s border with Iran. “Iranian troops did not make any incursion into the Kurdistan region, but the villages near the border have faced artillery shelling for the past week, displacing some 120 families from Joman near the border,” said Major General Jabbar Yawar, spokesman for the Kurdish peshmerga security forces. Iranian forces frequently clash with rebels of the PJAK, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which took up arms in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey..” [Complete Report]
Ayad Allawi: Sectarianism Could Lead to ‘Severe Violence’ in Iraq [Jun 2]
“At the March elections in Iraq Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya party won the largest share of the vote. But no single party won an outright majority and the current Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki has joined with the Iraqi National Alliance in an attempt to stay in power. This would thwart Ayad Allawi’s attempt to again be Prime Minister after he briefly held the office from 2004 to 2005. Mr Allawi says the political power vacuum could worsen the sectarian divisions in Iraq leading to more violence and even a “sectarian war.”..” [Complete Report]
Iraq Oil Minister Says Crude Prices ‘Reasonable’ [Jun 2]
“Iraq’s oil minister said Tuesday that world crude prices are “reasonable” and are high enough to encourage oil investment without hurting the global economic recovery. Hussain al-Shahristani’s remarks in an interview with The Associated Press added to perceptions that OPEC is not eyeing any immediate changes in output despite the past weeks’ large price swings. The 12-nation group has left its output targets unchanged for about a year-and-a-half, fearing that any sharp revisions could undermine slow gains as the world struggles to emerge from its worst recession in over six decades. It is scheduled to meet next in October. Al-Shahristani said there has been “good progress” in the economic recovery and oil prices are not impairing that process. “On the one hand it (oil price) is sufficiently high to encourage investment, to develop marginal fields, mostly outside of OPEC countries,”..” [Complete Report]
Foster Wheeler Awarded Contract for New Grassroots Refinery in Iraq [Jun 2]
“Foster Wheeler AG announced today that its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a feasibility study and front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil for a new grassroots refinery at Nassiriya in southern Iraq. The proposed refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. The Foster Wheeler contract value for this project was not disclosed and will be included in the company’s second-quarter 2010 bookings. In executing this contract, Foster Wheeler will develop the configuration of the new refinery to meet the client’s processing objectives, evaluate proprietary technologies, prepare a report covering the feasibility of the project and the design basis of the refinery facilities, engage the selected licensors and prepare the front-end engineering design package for the total project..” [Complete Report]
Obama to Meet With Top U.S. Commander for Iraq [Jun 2]
“President Barack Obama will meet with U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno at the Oval Office Wednesday morning to get a first-hand account of conditions in Iraq from the top commander for the country. Odierno is responsible for determining the pace of withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. But the administration has said the deadline — the end of August — remains on schedule despite the recent spike in violence there. “We plan for everything. But right now, every expectation is that we will meet the 50,000 as of the first of September,” said Secretary Robert Gates on May 20. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Saturday found that 64 percent of Americans favor the president’s plan to keep just 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of the summer, with 35 percent opposed. But the national poll indicated that support for the planned removal could drop significantly if Iraq cannot solve its current problems in time..” [Complete Report]
