ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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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]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Supreme Court Ratifies Iraq Election Results  [Jun 1]
“Iraq’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ratified the results of the nation’s March 7 parliamentary election, officially declaring the secular Iraqiya alliance the vote’s biggest winner.  The televised announcement by the court’s top judge marked the first major step toward resolving Iraq’s election crisis and the seating of a new parliament. But the government impasse remains far from over, and it could still take weeks, perhaps months, before lawmakers elect new leaders.  The March vote left the country without a clear winner, as none of Iraq’s major political coalitions won an outright majority.  According to the Iraqi constitution, President Jalal Talabani now has 15 days to call parliament to its first session, where lawmakers could vote to elect a speaker and a president..”  [Complete Report]

U.S. Welcomes Iraq’s Certification of Election Results  [Jun 1]
“U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday welcomed the certification by Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court of the March 7 parliamentary elections across the nation’s 18 provinces.  “The electoral commission has worked in a careful, professional way to bring the process to this concluding point,” she said. “This experience demonstrates that Iraqis want to use the political process to choose their leaders and settle differences.”  Clinton called on Iraq’s political leaders “to move forward without delay to form an inclusive and representative government that will work on behalf of the Iraqi people.”..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq’s North Says Villagers Flee Iranian Shelling  [Jun 1]
“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..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq President’s Bloc Opens Crucial Party Congress  [Jun 1]
“Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan opened its party congress on Tuesday, just the third such meeting since its founding in 1975, amid charges of nepotism and graft.  Demands for reform of the PUK are likely to dominate the meeting, due to last several days, as it faces an upstart opposition movement and a loss of ground to the Kurdistan region’s other leading bloc, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of regional president Massud Barzani.  “Today was a good start, and I expect that it will be a successful conference,” said Fareed Asasart, a senior PUK official.  “There will be more opportunities for young members to take part in the leadership of the PUK, and there is a quota for women as well.”  Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi and Ammar al-Hakim, the head of a major Shiite political party, all attended the first day of the congress, which comes as parliamentary factions hold coalition talks nearly three months after a general election..” [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Graveyard in Najaf a Testament to Iraq’s Tragic History  [May 31]
“Pictures of the two brothers stare out, side by side, separated by the gulf of a quarter century.  Rahim Jabr died in 1981, a foot soldier in the bloody eight-year war with Iran, while Naeem was a casualty of the savage sectarian fighting that gripped Baghdad in 2006.  They were reunited in the end, their tombstones placed side by side surrounded by a decorative metal cage in the vast Shiite graveyard of Najaf in southern Iraq.  There is no holier place on earth for Shiites to be buried than this city of the dead, stretching to the horizon from the doorstep of the tomb of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).  While Sunnis put their dead in local plots, Shiites for a 1,000 years have been burying their fallen here and everyone has at least one relative in the graveyard.  That has made it a kind of map to Iraq’s history, at least that of its Shiite majority.. ..The violence that has overwhelmed Iraq since 2003, much of it directed against Shiites, fed a massive expansion of the graveyard, swelling it by 40 per cent..”  [Complete Report]

U.S. on Track in Iraq, Casey Says  [May 31]
“The drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq remains on track, and the military will meet the troop level benchmark laid out by President Obama, according to the Army Chief of Staff.  In an interview with CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, Gen. George Casey said the military is slated to reduce troop levels to 50,000 by the end of August.  “[I]t’s something we’ve been working on with the leadership in Iraq for more than 18 months. We have been gradually moving the extra equipment and things out. There’s a great plan in place and we’re executing that plan right now,” Casey said on CNN’s John King, USA.  The U.S. now has more troops in Afghanistan than Iraq for the first time since 2003.  When asked about the need for additional resources in Afghanistan – beyond the 30,000 additional troops scheduled to be deployed there – Casey said the number should be sufficient..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq Arrests Two Over Baghdad Hotel Bombs  [May 31]
“Iraqi security forces said on Monday they had arrested two suspected al Qaeda militants for the January bombing of three Baghdad hotels in which 36 people died. A spokesman for the Baghdad security command described the two men — Abbas Najim al-Jawari, 26, and Mohammed Nuri al-Abadi, 32 — as leaders of the Sunni al Qaeda network.  Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi said they were accused of “supervising” the bombing of three well-known hotels in Baghdad on January 25. Abadi is also accused of running an assassination squad targeting police officers and government officials.  Jawari was arrested on April 16 and Abadi on May 1 as part of an ongoing operation codenamed “Lion’s Leap,” he said. The operation resulted in the killing last month of al Qaeda’s top two leaders in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.  “Operation Lion’s Leap continues to strike a strong blow at the al Qaeda leadership,” Moussawi told a news conference..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq’s Shi’ite Powers Haggle Over Powers of PM [May 31]
“raq’s two main Shi’ite political blocs agreed to unite weeks ago but the merger is hung up on disagreements about how to choose a prime minister and ways to limit his power, officials with the two coalitions said.  Sorting out the disputes may further delay a new government after an inconclusive parliamentary election nearly three months ago, deepening a power vacuum that has opened a door to insurgents determined to attack Iraq’s nascent democracy.  State of Law, headed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a bloc whose leaders have close ties to Iran, said on May 4 they would join to form a single bloc in parliament..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Iraqi Police Recover $1.3 Million From Bank Heist [May 30]
“Police investigating a bank robbery near Najaf in southern Iraq have recovered $1.3 million of the $5.5 million stolen and made one arrest, a local official said on Sunday.  The theft on Thursday evening was the second major Iraqi heist this week, coming just two days after masked gunmen swooped on jewellers in Baghdad in a rampage that left nine dead, including a policeman and one of the assailants.  “We found 1.5 billion Iraqi dinars ($1.3 million) buried near the house of one of the criminals involved in the Meshkhab operation,” said Luay Yassiri, the head of Najaf provincial council’s security committee.  Yassiri added that police had arrested a man in connection with the robbery at state-owned Rafidain bank’s branch at Meshkhab, south of Najaf city, out of six suspected gang members who took part.  The robbery took place after one of the guards at the branch put sleep-inducing drugs into the other guards’ tea and let in the gang, who then entered the bank’s safe and took the money, Yassiri said..” [Complete Report]

US Saves War Memorials in Iraq  [May 30]
“In words etched in stone, painted on concrete barriers, scribbled on hospital walls with magic markers, American troops in Iraq have followed a tradition as old as war itself: honoring their dead.  Now, as the United States prepares to dramatically decrease its military presence in Iraq this summer, American commanders are trying to decide what to do with the vast collection of plaques, street signs, and painted concrete barriers dedicated to the men and women who shed their blood in this desert country.  In the Vietnam War, units brought home their memorabilia and memorials when they rotated out of the country. When the U.S. closed down bases around Germany at the end of the Cold War, the memorabilia was also preserved.  Now, it’s Iraq’s turn. But preserving some of the memorials could prove a difficult task..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Iraqi Police Recover $1.3 Million From Bank Heist [May 30]
“Police investigating a bank robbery near Najaf in southern Iraq have recovered $1.3 million of the $5.5 million stolen and made one arrest, a local official said on Sunday.  The theft on Thursday evening was the second major Iraqi heist this week, coming just two days after masked gunmen swooped on jewellers in Baghdad in a rampage that left nine dead, including a policeman and one of the assailants.  “We found 1.5 billion Iraqi dinars ($1.3 million) buried near the house of one of the criminals involved in the Meshkhab operation,” said Luay Yassiri, the head of Najaf provincial council’s security committee.  Yassiri added that police had arrested a man in connection with the robbery at state-owned Rafidain bank’s branch at Meshkhab, south of Najaf city, out of six suspected gang members who took part.  The robbery took place after one of the guards at the branch put sleep-inducing drugs into the other guards’ tea and let in the gang, who then entered the bank’s safe and took the money, Yassiri said..”  [Complete Report]

US Saves War Memorials in Iraq  [May 30]
“In words etched in stone, painted on concrete barriers, scribbled on hospital walls with magic markers, American troops in Iraq have followed a tradition as old as war itself: honoring their dead.  Now, as the United States prepares to dramatically decrease its military presence in Iraq this summer, American commanders are trying to decide what to do with the vast collection of plaques, street signs, and painted concrete barriers dedicated to the men and women who shed their blood in this desert country.  In the Vietnam War, units brought home their memorabilia and memorials when they rotated out of the country. When the U.S. closed down bases around Germany at the end of the Cold War, the memorabilia was also preserved.  Now, it’s Iraq’s turn. But preserving some of the memorials could prove a difficult task..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Iraq’s Al Maliki Says He is Sole Party PM Nominee [May 29]
“Iraq’s prime minister says he is the only nominee from his political party to lead the next government.  Nouri Al Maliki’s comments appear to rule out any consensus candidate. Other Shiite political groups and religious leaders whose support is key are lukewarm at best about his continued leadership.  Reporters asked Al Maliki on Saturday if his State of Law political coalition would compromise on a candidate.  He replied that there’s “only one nominee to be a prime minister.”  The State of Law coalition has joined up with the religious Shiite Iraqi National Council in hopes of capturing enough seats in parliament to run the next government.  The indecisive result of the March 7 election makes forming a governing coalition necessary..”  [Complete Report]

Baghdad’s Wildlife Trade Runs Wild  [May 29]
“A dozen fluffy white kittens with piercing blue eyes frolic in a wire cage, perched perilously atop a pen containing two African lion cubs. Neighbourhood schoolchildren stop to feed sunflower seeds to a chained monkey, while three red foxes cower in their kerbside enclosure from the street noise.  Iraqis can get just about whatever animals they want, whether as pets, novelties or status symbols or for a private zoo — and as violence subsides many are stocking up at Baghdad’s several pet markets.  The lack of government regulation means animals like lions and crocodiles are going home with people unequipped to take care of them.  “There is no wildlife legislation here in Iraq, and that is what encourages these kinds of dealers to export and import wild species,” said Omar Fadil, of the conservation organisation Nature Iraq..”  [Complete Report]

Instability in Iraq Could Hurt Support for U.S. Withdrawal [May 29]
“Support for President Obama’s planned removal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the August could drop significantly if Iraq cannot solve its current problems in time, according to a new national poll.  A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Saturday indicates 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 public approval of the plan falls to 51 percent if Iraq does not have a stable government by August and there is widespread violence at that time, with opposition rising to 48 percent..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Iraq War Badly Planned, Poorly Resourced: Bremer  [May 28]
“Planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq was inadequate and not enough troops were sent to ensure post-conflict security, the former U.S. diplomat who led the civilian occupation authority after the war has told a British inquiry.  Paul Bremer, who governed Iraq’s Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) for 13 months after President Saddam Hussein was toppled, said there had been a serious miscalculation by those responsible for planning the invasion. “It is impossible to exaggerate the difficulties created by the chronic under-resourcing of the CPA’s efforts,” Bremer said in a statement, made public Friday, to an inquiry examining Britain’s role in the war.  “This problem, and the fact that the coalition was unable to provide adequate security for Iraqi citizens, pervaded virtually everything we did, or tried to do, throughout the 14 months of the CPA’s existence.”..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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CIA Plotted Faking Saddam Hussain Sex Video  [May 27]
“Kuwaiti bloggers have played down the significance of an allegedly secret attempt by the CIA to flood Iraq in 2003 with a video that depicts Saddam Hussain as gay and having sex with a teenage boy.  According to the report, published by the Washington Post on Wednesday, and quoting two former American intelligence officials, the CIA’s Iraq Operations Group, during the planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, looked at a number of ideas for discrediting Saddam Hussain in the eyes of his people.  “One was to create a video purporting to show the Iraqi dictator having sex with a teenage boy. It would look like it was taken by a hidden camera,” said one of the former officials familiar with the project.  “Very grainy, like it was a secret videotaping of a sex session. The idea was to then flood Iraq with the videos.” [Complete Report]

Iraq Vote Results Face Another Possible Delay [May 27]
“Iraq’s Supreme Court asked election officials on Thursday to clear up legal issues surrounding an appeal against a candidate, a move that could further delay the certification of March 7 election results. Tensions have been rising in Iraq after the inconclusive parliamentary election, with a proposed alliance of major Shi’ite electoral blocs raising concern that minority Sunnis could be marginalized.  The high court said it had received the election results for certification on Wednesday but had asked the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) for a clarification due to an appeal by Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law Party against one of the candidates on the 325-seat parliament list..”  [Complete Report]

Biden: U.S. Troops Will Leave Iraq on Deadline  [May 27]
“President Obama called Iraq his predecessor’s war of choice. Now it is his war to exit — and quickly.  The challenge for Obama, whose opposition to the Iraq invasion helped propel him to the presidency, is sticking to his timeline for a U.S. military withdrawal despite a jump in violence and continued wrangling among Iraqi politicians over who will lead the country.  The sensitive departure is being managed by Vice President Biden, who says the U.S. military will reduce troop levels to 50,000 this summer, even if no new Iraqi government takes shape.  “It’s going to be painful; there’s going to be ups and downs,” Biden said in a 40-minute interview in his West Wing office this month. “But I do think the end result is going to be that we’re going to be able to keep our commitment.”..”  [Complete Report]

Pushing The Investment Frontier in Iraq [May 27]
“Fancy investing in Iraqi tourism? It doesn’t sound like an immediate growth area.  But this week two new investment funds which pinpoint hotels in Baghdad as a golden opportunity are being launched in London.  On the plus side for international investors, Iraq is a country under reconstruction, with huge oil reserves and an educated middle class. But as far as the rest of the world is concerned Iraq has a mountain to climb, as far as its business reputation is concerned.  Fow example, while the UK has a top AAA credit rating, the internationally-recognised projection of a country’s credit risk, Iraq has no credit rating at all.  This makes it difficult to attract investment as many see the risks as simply too high.  But to a small section of the financial community, elevated risk signals opportunity..”  [Complete Report]

Arab League Urges Quick Action on Iraqi Cabinet  [May 27]
“Arab nations are warning Iraqi politicians that they need to form a new government soon.  The Arab League said Thursday that Iraq’s political factions need to come to an agreement on a national unity government, warning it is not in the country’s interest to take more time. Iraq held parliamentary elections in March but none of the political groups won enough seats for a clear majority.  Election officials say former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s bloc won 91 seats, the most of any political group.  Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition won 89.   But 163 seats are needed for the slimmest majority..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Iraqi Airways May Be Disbanded Over Kuwait Row [May 26]
“The Iraqi government is considering dissolving state-owned Iraqi Airways, after a row with neighbouring Kuwait over war reparations.  Baghdad and Kuwait have been locked in a long-running dispute over billions of dollars in reparations from Iraq, including some $1.2 billion related to aircraft and parts seized during former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s 1990-91 invasion of Kuwait.  An aide to Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki told Reuters the cabinet, or Council of Ministers, had decided on Tuesday to dissolve the flag-carrier.  But Transport Minister Abdul-Jabbar said the decision was not final and that the cabinet would meet advisers on Wednesday to discuss the issue, adding: “After the meeting we will announce whether or not we will dissolve the company.”  Iraqi Airways has regular flights to Beirut, Dubai, Tehran and other cities. Last month it made its first commercial flight to London in 20 years, only for a lawyer for the Kuwaiti authorities to try to seize the plane on landing..”  [Complete Report]

Iraqi Election Results Closer to Being Certified  [May 26]
“Iraq’s election commission says it’s sending the final results of the March 7 elections to the Supreme Court for certification.  Commission spokesman Qassim al-Aboudi says the results will be sent to the court on Wednesday. He didn’t say when their certification was expected but once they are certified, it will clear a major obstacle to the formation of the new government.  Al-Aboudi says the commission has rejected all appeals of the results by candidates, which paved the way for submitting the tally to the court.  A Sunni-backed bloc won the most seats in the 325-member parliament, but fell far short of a majority.  An alliance of two Shiite blocs — which together are just four seats short of a majority — is now expected to form the next government..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq’s Ex-Oil Chief Criticizes Baghdad Deals  [May 26]
“The former head of Iraq’s largest state-owned oil company and advisor to the country’s oil ministry criticized long-term deals that Baghdad signed with international oil majors to develop some of its biggest fields, saying the country instead should have agreed to short-term technical deals.  “There is no clear national plan on how to develop these huge oil fields,” Jabbar Al Luaiby told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.  BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Cnooc Ltd., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Italy’s Eni SpA have bagged deals with Iraq to develop fields in the war-torn country, which holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran, according to BP. Mr. Al Luaiby’s remarks could increase pressure on Baghdad to revise contracts awarded to foreign companies. Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc, which won the most seats in the recent parliamentary election, said it would like to review oil contracts signed with the majors..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq Eyes 8 Foreign Firms for $3bln Metro Project  [May 26]
” Iraq has shortlisted eight foreign firms for the construction of a $3 billion metro rail through the capital Baghdad as it seeks to rebuild infrastructure damaged by decades of war and underinvestment.  Baghdad’s municipality media office said on Wednesday the companies — which include British engineering consultancy firm WS Atkins (ATKW.L) and U.S. project management company Versar (VSR.A) — would have to present their bids to the project consultants, French engineering group Systra.  The other companies shortlisted for the contract are a consortium of British project managers Halcrow Group, German consulting firm Dorsch and Finnish engineering and consulting group Poyry (POY1V.HE); British firms Mott MacDonald and Arup; Italy’s Torno and IECMB; and U.S. firm Parsons Brinckerhoff. “The metro rail will help to solve a big part of the problem in Baghdad’s streets, which suffer from huge traffic jams due to the continuous rise in the number of cars that have entered Iraq (since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion),” the office said in a statement..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq PM Details ‘Several’ Assassination Attempts  [May 26]
“Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki claimed in remarks released Wednesday that he had escaped several assassination attempts, including one where insurgents tried to shoot down his plane.  “There have been several attempts,” Maliki told London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, according to a transcript of the interview released by his office. One of the alleged attempts “was targeting a plane I was flying in while returning from Mosul (northern Iraq) to Baghdad in 2009, but it failed,” he said.  “A missile was fired against the plane, but thermal decoys diverted it,” he added.  “There have been several attempts like this but they have all failed,” Maliki said.  He also warned of a return to sectarian violence as Iraq languishes without a new government, more than two months after elections in which no group has yet assembled a parliamentary majority..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Gunmen Kill 15 in Baghdad Gold Heist: Police  [May 25]
“Gunmen shot dead 15 people, mainly goldsmiths, and made off with gold and cash in a bustling shopping area of Baghdad on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source told Reuters.  The brazen daylight heist took place on a long, busy street lined with shops in southwest Baghdad, usually heavily protected by Iraqi security forces.  They set off a roadside bomb near the shops, killing four bystanders and wounding three, city police officials said.  Then they opened fire on 12 shops, killing nine gold shop owners or their workers and two bystanders. They threw percussion grenades into the shop as a distraction, then fled, police said.  A witness said he heard an explosion, and the Interior Ministry source said police had defused a number of bombs left by the gunmen.  “I heard an explosion and then I saw four dead bodies on the ground close to the gold shops,” the witness said..”  [Complete report]

Al-Qaeda Denies World Cup Terror Plot Alleged by Iraq  [May 25]
“Al-Qaeda in Iraq denied it was planning to attack the soccer World Cup in South Africa, a week after officials in Baghdad said they had captured a member of the group who confessed to plotting a terrorist act there.  “We deny this news entirely,” the group said late yesterday in a statement posted on websites used by al-Qaeda. It described the charges as empty allegations and said its “dreams and aspirations” didn’t stretch as far as Johannesburg.  Iraq’s Baghdad Military Command announced in a televised news conference on May 17 the capture of an al-Qaeda member, who it said had worked with Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy to Osama bin Laden, “to plot terrorist attacks during the World Cup.”  The suspect was identified as Abdullah Azzam Saleh al- Qahtani, a Saudi Arabian national described as chief of the group’s security in Baghdad. The Iraqi military said he was a lieutenant in the Saudi army and had entered Iraq in 2004..”  [Complete Report]

Iraqi Lawmaker Killed in Mosul  [May 25]
“A newly elected lawmaker from a cross-sectarian list that narrowly won March polls was killed in an apparent drive-by shooting at his home in northern Iraq, according to the Iraqi interior ministry.  Bashar Hamid al-Lagaidi was shot on the doorstep of his house in the northern city of Mosul on Monday evening, according to the ministry. He was taken to a hospital in the city, where he was pronounced dead.  Mr. Lagaidi was elected to parliament as part of Iraqiya, the slate of candidates led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which won 91 seats. Iraqiya, which includes a number of high-profile Sunni candidates, narrowly beat a coalition led by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which captured 89 seats.  It’s unclear exactly how the killing might affect the political horse-trading now taking place among Iraq’s various political blocs in the run-up to forming a new government. Mr. Lagaidi would most likely be replaced in parliament by another member of his slate..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
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Shi’ite Cleric Wants Sunnis in Iraq Government, Allawi Says  [May 24]
“The leader of the Sunni-backed coalition that won the most seats in Iraq’s March election said the country’s most influential Shi’ite cleric assured him in a meeting yesterday that no group would be excluded from the new government.  There are concerns that Sunnis will be largely excluded after the two Shi’ite blocs that came in second and third in the parliamentary vote formed an alliance that probably will lead to another Shi’ite-dominated government, much like the current one. The Iraqiya coalition, led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, is not part of the alliance.  Allawi met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf, where the cleric lives. He said Sistani said the next government should serve without “excluding and marginalizing any group,’’ an apparent reference to minority Sunnis who have felt politically sidelined since 2003..”  [Complete Report]

Iraq Confirms Plans for 4th Mobile Network License  [May 24]
“Iraq’s government has approved plans to offer a fourth mobile operators license, local news media has reported.  Hiam Al Yasiri, an adviser to Iraq’s communications minister, said that 15 firms had expressed interest in the license since it was first proposed last year.  Full details of the tender are still to be announced, although the advisor said that a bidder will own 65% of the company, with the remainder held by the government as part of the deal and that the license would call for full nationwide coverage.  The government has been increasingly frustrated by what it says is poor service from the existing three networks – although they cite the difficult security situation and repeated attacks on their networks as a primary cause..”  [Complete Report]

UAE Developers Set to Win Iraq Projects  [May 24]
“Negotiations between the Iraqi National Investment Commission (INIC) and several UAE real estate developers and investments companies on “big and giant” projects in different parts in Iraq have reached “advanced stages”, a top Iraqi official said.  Sami Al Araji, chairman of the Iraqi National Investment Commission said the projects under negotiations are worth nearly $70 billion (Dh257 billion) and that the talks are expected to be finalised in the near future.  “The two sides [the INIC and Emirati companies] are serious in their desire for the talks to succeed, and things are going well, and in the right direction ” Al Araji told Gulf News in an exclusive interview from Iraq.  Talks have reached “advanced stages”, and “the details are now under discussion”, he added, without giving further details.  Once completed, the total value of these contracts is estimated at $70 billion, Al Araji said..”  [Complete Report]

ARABIALINK Daily News – IRAQ – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki Has Iranian Support [May 23]
“Iran is throwing its weight behind Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s bid for a second term, political insiders say, an endorsement that could seal his hold on power. Tehran wields considerable influence over Iraq’s two largest Shiite blocs, which formed an alliance this month after coming in second and third in the March 7 parliamentary election. That alliance has virtually ensured they will form another Shiite-dominated government even though a Sunni-backed party won the most seats. The US is concerned about Iranian attempts to influence Iraq’s political process, a State Department spokesman said on Friday. He reiterated Washington’s call not to exclude minority Sunnis from government something many in Iraq fear could inflame sectarian tensions anew. Shiite coalitions have ruled Iraq since the end of Saddam Hussain’s regime but were pressured by the US into accommodating the Sunnis. Sunni anger over being largely excluded from government fuelled sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war several years ago. The US will no longer have such leverage as its military role fades..” [Complete report]

Top Shiite Cleric Calls for Unity [May 23]
“Iraq’s Sunni-backed coalition that narrowly won the March election says the country’s most influential Shiite cleric has assured them that no group will be excluded from the new government. Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, says Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani told him during a meeting Sunday that national unity is crucial and that a new government should be formed as quickly as possible. The cleric also told Iraqiya leaders he has “no veto” on which politicians serve, alliance members said. Allawi’s list won the March 7 vote by two seats over the Shiite prime minister. Neither bloc won a majority to form a government, although al-Maliki has come close by joining forces with another Shiite coalition. Allawi insists his bloc should get the first chance at forming a government..” [Complete report]