IRAQ | Foreign Affairs

[Ishtarporten]

How much money do they want ?

[sheytanElKebir]

we should pay them in paper money, that was first used by an iraqi as toilet paper.

[Ishtarporten]

Hahaha

[sheytanElKebir]

still legal tender. they can't exactly complain.

[Ishtarporten]

you are funny man.

[Sinjar]

Iraq stops registering Turkish firms amid row over Hashemi


Aseel Kami, Reuters, September 13, 2012

Iraq's Trade Ministry has stopped registering Turkish companies, it said on Thursday, as the neighbors sparred over Ankara's refusal to send back a fugitive Iraqi vice president who was sentenced to death in absentia.

The ministry insisted the move was made for "regulatory and statistics" purposes, but Turkish businesses in Baghdad were worried the decision was taken because of the dispute between the two capitals and a government source told Reuters it was political.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi can remain in Turkey as long as he needs to, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. An Iraqi court sentenced Hashemi to death by hanging on Sunday after being convicted of running death squads, a charge he says was politically motivated.

Iraq is Turkey's second biggest export market after Germany, with trade volume reaching nearly $12 billion in 2011, Turkey's economy minister said during a visit to northern Iraq early this year.

But Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan have publicly traded insults several times this year as relations have soured.

Kadhim Mohammed, an advisor in the ministry of trade, said the decision to stop registering companies - which will prevent any new Turkish firms opening in Iraq, but should not affect existing ones - had "nothing to do with politics".

"There are some administrative and regularity problems," Mohammed told Reuters. "It is a mere business thing

He said the measure was ordered by the trade minister on Wednesday and did not know how long it would last.

A government official who works on trade issues, however, told Reuters the move was motivated by politics.

"The decision was taken for political reasons since Hashemi is there and also due to the last visit of the Turkish foreign minister to Kirkuk," he said.

Last month, Iraq said Turkey had violated its constitution by sending its foreign minister without permission to visit Kirkuk, a city at the heart of a dispute between Baghdad and the country's autonomous Kurdistan region.

The Turkish embassy in Baghdad told Reuters it had been informed that a temporary freeze would be applied to all foreign licensing eventually, but that those from Turkey were being covered first because Turkey is Iraq's biggest trading partner.

According to the trade ministry, 1,529 foreign companies are registered in Iraq, up from 109 before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

(Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Barry Malone and Robin Pomeroy)

[SumerianKing]

huge face palm. yes why not? stall all development of the country and stall payments of the iraqi work farce. WTFFFFF!! how small is malikis brain?

[sheytanElKebir]

all decisions seem to be taken at playground fight level. without any thought as to the effect on the macro-economic situation.

but perhaps this is part of the effort to increase trade with Iran to replace the Turks...

[Sinjar]

Britain's foreign minister in Iraq for talks

12 September 2012 / AP, LONDON
Britain's foreign secretary has arrived in Baghdad for talks with senior politicians, vowing to help Iraq on its "path to stability."
The Foreign Office said Wednesday that William Hague will meet officials including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Hague said the politicians would discuss "U.K. support for the political process in Iraq" as well as the violence in neighboring Syria.

Iraq is enduring one of its bloodiest periods since the U.S. troop pullout last year.

Hague condemned as "appalling terrorist attacks" a series of bombings that killed more than 100 people earlier this week.



Foreign Secretary: UK wants to build better relations with Iraq

13 September 2012
Foreign Secretary William Hague is in Iraq where he met Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari and Speaker of the House of Parliament.

Speaking from Baghdad the Foreign Secretary said:

“This visit has helped to reaffirm the UK’s long-standing friendship with Iraq and its people and had helped to further develop strong trade and commercial ties between our countries.

“I told Prime Minister al-Maliki that Britain will continue to support the political process in Iraq and the government’s efforts to deliver stability. The UK recognises that Iraq still faces significant threats from extremists, but the security situation has generally improved. We will continue to be closely engaged on this issue.

“Our economic ties are strong. Foreign Minister Zebari and I agreed to form a new joint Ministerial Council to increase trade between our two countries. The opening of a Visa Application Centre in Baghdad this coming October is also a further signal of our practical commitment to strengthening relations.
“On Syria, Britain and Iraq are in full agreement on the way forward: we want a peaceful and democratic political transition and we both fully support the work of the joint United Nations/Arab League special representative Lakhdar Brahimi.”

[Spin Cycle]

We're in a global recession, there will be plenty who will happily pick up where the Turks get cut off.

Turkey is a special case, they have us by the balls, and we need to leverage everything at our disposal to make sure the water resources are safe.

Honestly, I think the country that is most dangerous to Iraq is neither Saudi, nor Iran, but Turkey. Water is expected to be resource that people will go to war over in the 21st century, much like oil in the 20th. If they damned the rivers, the only thing we can do is bitch to the UN, and I really don't trust them to do anything.

[sheytanElKebir]

they can't cut off the water completely.
from karbala down the rivers are saline already, so its a moot point. using the euphrates river water for farming is ruining the farmlands. the sooner Iraq is forced to come up with modern alternatives the better (drip irrigation and maybe graphene based desalination en masse).

[Spin Cycle]

Originally Posted by sheytanElKebir

they can't cut off the water completely.
from karbala down the rivers are saline already, so its a moot point. using the euphrates river water for farming is ruining the farmlands. the sooner Iraq is forced to come up with modern alternatives the better (drip irrigation and maybe graphene based desalination en masse).

Have they already commercialised graphene?

[sheytanElKebir]

not yet... but maybe Iraq could buy out the tech and pump money into it? --- something useful to do with the science ministry's money.

[Sinjar]

Iraq's Maliki says backs Syrian people's wish for reform

BAGHDAD | Fri Sep 14
(Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a Syrian opposition delegation on Friday Baghdad supports the Syrian people's wish for legitimate change, saying Iraq's power-sharing experience after the 2003 invasion could offer them lessons.

The meeting showed the political tightrope Shi'ite Muslim-led Iraq walks over Syria, where Sunni Muslim rebels backed by Gulf Arabs are fighting President Bashar Assad, whose family is Alawite, a branch of Shi'ite Islam, and backed by Shi'ite Iran.

Maliki's government has said it backs neither side in the Syrian conflict. But Iraqi Shi'ite leaders fear that if Assad falls, Syria would splinter along sectarian lines and this would bring about the rise of a hardline Sunni regime likely to upset Iraq's fragile security and Shi'ite-Sunni mix.

Close to Iran himself, Maliki has taken a more muted stance on Syria. He has not joined calls for Assad to quit, much less enforce sanctions against Damascus approved by the Arab League, but has called for reforms to end one-party rule in Syria.

"They (Maliki and Syrian opposition group) discussed Syria's crisis and ways to stop the bloodshed and find a solution that achieves the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Maliki told the delegation, which included members of the Syrian National Council, to take advantage of the Iraqi experience after the demise of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.

Ali al-Moussawi, Maliki's media adviser, said the meeting was not the first time Baghdad government leaders had met with Syrian opposition.

"We are with the demands of the Syrian people. We confirmed to the delegation that we are with them, stand with them, but we will never dictate to them and will not interfere in their affairs," he said.

Iraq's violence has subsided dramatically since 2006-07 when the country sank into sectarian slaughter that pitched Sunni against Shi'ite and dragged Iraq close to civil war.

A fragile power-sharing agreement among Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions has replaced Saddam's one-party rule. But Iraq's cross-sectarian government has been mired in crisis even before the last U.S. troops left in December.

Since the fall of Saddam and the rise of Shi'ite leaders, many Iraqi Sunnis feel they have been sidelined. Sunni politicians accuse Maliki of failing to fulfil U.S.-backed deals to share power, a charge his backers dismiss.

Sunni Islamist insurgents and a local al Qaeda wing still fight the government. Bombings and attacks across Iraq killed more than 100 people on Sunday.

Syria is mainly Sunni Muslim, but also has minority Alawite, Christian and Kurdish populations.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as Turkey oppose Assad while Shi'ite Iran supports him. Those splits have complicated diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting in Syria, which threatens to become a proxy battlefield for outside powers.

(Reporting by Raheem Salman; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

[Salem26]

Originally Posted by Sinjar

Iraq's Maliki says backs Syrian people's wish for reform

BAGHDAD | Fri Sep 14
(Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a Syrian opposition delegation on Friday Baghdad supports the Syrian people's wish for legitimate change, saying Iraq's power-sharing experience after the 2003 invasion could offer them lessons.

The meeting showed the political tightrope Shi'ite Muslim-led Iraq walks over Syria, where Sunni Muslim rebels backed by Gulf Arabs are fighting President Bashar Assad, whose family is Alawite, a branch of Shi'ite Islam, and backed by Shi'ite Iran.

Maliki's government has said it backs neither side in the Syrian conflict. But Iraqi Shi'ite leaders fear that if Assad falls, Syria would splinter along sectarian lines and this would bring about the rise of a hardline Sunni regime likely to upset Iraq's fragile security and Shi'ite-Sunni mix.

Close to Iran himself, Maliki has taken a more muted stance on Syria. He has not joined calls for Assad to quit, much less enforce sanctions against Damascus approved by the Arab League, but has called for reforms to end one-party rule in Syria.

"They (Maliki and Syrian opposition group) discussed Syria's crisis and ways to stop the bloodshed and find a solution that achieves the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Maliki told the delegation, which included members of the Syrian National Council, to take advantage of the Iraqi experience after the demise of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.

Ali al-Moussawi, Maliki's media adviser, said the meeting was not the first time Baghdad government leaders had met with Syrian opposition.

"We are with the demands of the Syrian people. We confirmed to the delegation that we are with them, stand with them, but we will never dictate to them and will not interfere in their affairs," he said.

Iraq's violence has subsided dramatically since 2006-07 when the country sank into sectarian slaughter that pitched Sunni against Shi'ite and dragged Iraq close to civil war.

A fragile power-sharing agreement among Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions has replaced Saddam's one-party rule. But Iraq's cross-sectarian government has been mired in crisis even before the last U.S. troops left in December.

Since the fall of Saddam and the rise of Shi'ite leaders, many Iraqi Sunnis feel they have been sidelined. Sunni politicians accuse Maliki of failing to fulfil U.S.-backed deals to share power, a charge his backers dismiss.

Sunni Islamist insurgents and a local al Qaeda wing still fight the government. Bombings and attacks across Iraq killed more than 100 people on Sunday.

Syria is mainly Sunni Muslim, but also has minority Alawite, Christian and Kurdish populations.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as Turkey oppose Assad while Shi'ite Iran supports him. Those splits have complicated diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting in Syria, which threatens to become a proxy battlefield for outside powers.

(Reporting by Raheem Salman; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

bullshit my cousin who is still in Damascus told me there were iraqi shias and mahdi terrorists roaming in his neighborhood couple of months ago. 2 of them had the iraqi flag on his baseball cap. we all know who sends them to our country.

the sort of reform this imbecile is talking about is keeping his father assad in power in syria. If Iraqis are that dumb enough to have this guy as their leader in their country then good. but please dont f**k with syrians we will deport all of our enemies back to their country one by one.

[Spin Cycle]

Originally Posted by Salem26

bullshit my cousin who is still in Damascus told me there were iraqi shias and mahdi terrorists roaming in his neighborhood couple of months ago. 2 of them had the iraqi flag on his baseball cap. we all know who sends them to our country.
.

[Chounz]

Originally Posted by Salem26

bullshit my cousin who is still in Damascus told me there were iraqi shias and mahdi terrorists roaming in his neighborhood couple of months ago. 2 of them had the iraqi flag on his baseball cap. we all know who sends them to our country.

the sort of reform this imbecile is talking about is keeping his father assad in power in syria. If Iraqis are that dumb enough to have this guy as their leader in their country then good. but please dont f**k with syrians we will deport all of our enemies back to their country one by one.

Who's 'we'? You are not Syrian.

[Sinjar]

Mahdis are different from Al Maliki. This is from Reuters so I don't think it's bullshit. Al Maliki could have changed his stance to Syria?

Anyway, I don't like that they're fighting in Syria either. Do you have the same opinion about all those "jihadists" who have killed and ruined several of innocent Iraqi lives?

[Chounz]

Originally Posted by Sinjar

Iraq's Maliki says backs Syrian people's wish for reform

BAGHDAD | Fri Sep 14
(Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a Syrian opposition delegation on Friday Baghdad supports the Syrian people's wish for legitimate change, saying Iraq's power-sharing experience after the 2003 invasion could offer them lessons.

OH MY GOD. That is actually the funniest thing I've read in a while.

[Salem26]

Originally Posted by Chounz

Who's 'we'? You are not Syrian.

My parents are syrians and I have relatives still there.