Plus:
Targeting the pirates that may be targeting Iraq’s oil
Ahmad Chalabi’s back
Consequences of the Turkish incursion and fight with Iraq
Reliance Industries, the Indian private major, has signed a production sharing contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government for two exploration blocks, Verma and Simon Webb report for Reuters.
Details are slight, and only coming from Reliance officials, but expect even more in Tuesday’s edition.
KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami has said there are a handful of deals in the pipeline, with American and businesses from other countries. He’s mum on names but Reliance obviously sees the potential oil to be found in Iraq Kurdistan as outweighing the uncertainty in Baghdad, with no national oil law signed, and Turkish troops threatening to enter the KRGto hunt down Kurdish separatists.
Iraq’s Pirate Problem
An Aug. attack on a cargo vessel outside the Umm Qasr port in the Persian Gulf has elevated fears that pirates could target the oil facilities in the area, and terrorists could follow the lead.
Neil Mackay writes for the Sunday Herald the British Navy is increasing its patrols and training Iraq’s navy to monitor for such threats.
Umm Qasr, the second largest port for Iraq, is a major source for non-oil goods. It’s neighbor is Basra, the largest port in Iraq, where most of the oil exports flow to the international market. A successful attack on either would cripple the country and send oil prices skyrocketing even further than they are today.
The International Maritime Bureau, the U.N. monitor of such events, says there has been a 14 percent rise in global piracy acts.
Ahmed Chalabi’s Back, Armed with Baghdad’s Power
That’s right.
The man wanted in Jordan for embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars, who gave false and misleading information to the U.S. government (which journalists either failed to, or willingly decided not to, fact check) on the Saddam Hussein weapons of mass destruction and link to al-Qaida, who was initially made oil minister and deputy prime minister but was sidelined as out of touch with Iraqis, is now tasked with providing electricity and basic services to Baghdadis if the surge works.
Another fallen darling, Iyad Allawi, has hired the powerful Barbour Griffith & Rogers lobbyists to help press his case in Washington, D.C.
Allawi, a former prime minister earlier in the occupation, is attempting to lead a coalition to replace Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But the man with CIA connections has been unable to get enough grassroots support, which is not a good side considering Maliki is less popular in Iraq than Bush is in America.
The Turkey Fallout
KRG President Massoud Barzani says if Turkish troops enter his region, “it means war,” Deborah Haynes writes for the Times Online.
Turkey’s Prime Minister, bullish on the war, says he’ll wait until after an upcoming meeting in Washington with Pres. Bush before deciding what action to take.
Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times writes on the free flow of movement of the Kurdish rebels.
The dispute has gone beyond the Turkish-Iraq borders and is now entering into Europe, Stefan Nicola reports for UPI.
And the already horrible refugee crisis will likely be exacerbated, Claude Salhani reports for UPI.
Meanwhile a car bomb exploded in Kirkuk, a city stock full of oil reserves and the next battleground in Iraq. Kirkuk is claimed by the Kurds as historically theirs, but lies outside the “official” boundary. A referendum on that and other disputed territories was called for in the 2005 Constitution, but the vote is far behind schedule.
If it doesn’t happen soon, the Kurds will be none too happy. If it does, everyone else will weigh their response, including increased violence around Iraq’s first and one of its largest oil fields.
Hiba Dawood and UPI’s Iraq Press Roundup.
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