Iraq: Ninevah seeks own deal

Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad over the energy issue were stoked further this month when Ninevah waded into the heart of the battle. The head of the Ninevah governorate council, Atheel Al-Najayfi , a member of Iraqiya and brother of the head of parliament, Osama Najayfi , put the cat among the pigeons when he declared that he was in support of ExxonMobil 's Kurdish deal. It was also alleged that Al-Najayfi had struck his own deal with the Kurds, in which he had agreed to hand over 10km 2 of land from the governorate, comprising the oil-rich areas of Sheikhan and Quosh, so that the area could be included in the ExxonMobil deal.

It later emerged that such allegations were somewhat overplayed. Al-Najayfi admitted that his discussions with the KRG were still in their early stages and had not got as far as striking any deal. He told the local media, “We never discussed the reality of these contracts with the KRG… We were just in the initial stages. The second stage would be to go through legal bodies.”

However, it also emerged that Al-Najayfi had got as far as establishing and heading a factfinding mission and that he had contacted the US embassy in Baghdad to ask for its help in contacting ExxonMobil. When the embassy declined to contact the oil major on the mission's behalf, it asserted that it would find other ways to get in touch with the oil giant.

Atheel's request was a totally unexpected move from the Sunni camp. Given the tensions between the Sunnis and the Kurds in the area, it seems almost inconceivable that Atheel would have made such an overture to the KRG. However, his doing so was his way of sending a clear message to Baghdad: the government has failed to invest enough in Ninevah and thus the governorate wants greater control over its own resources. Atheel complained that the governorate has been marginalised and that it has had no say in the contracts signed for blocks in the region so far.

Furthermore, the move should be considered within the context of the political crisis that has enveloped the country. This was Atheel Al- Najayfi's way of taking a pot shot at Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki . As he told the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper after the news broke, “Until now we are not party to the contract but I am saying that we have to negotiate with our brothers in the KRG and the American company to guarantee our governorate rights and the governorate council needs to give its authorisation to enter into discussions.” He also declared, “Ninevah must be engaged in oil investments and not away from them, whether through contracts that the KRG has signed or that the central government has signed. We need oil and electricity.”

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Top Iraqi corruption investigator resigns

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has accepted the resignation of Judge Rahim Hassan Al-Uqailee, the man leading Iraq's fight against corruption, in a blow to efforts to clean up the country's government and parliament.

Al-Uqaliee, the head of the country's Integrity Commission, submitted his resignation on 8th September, citing “pressure from political parties” to cover up corruption and a lack of political support for his agency.

Despite al-Uqaliee's public frustrations with stonewalling politicians, other explanations for his resignation are already circulating in Iraq's febrile political atmosphere. One of the members of the parliamentary committee on integrity, Sabah Saadi, claimed that the ruling party was pushing al-Uqaliee to launch “false and fabricated” corruption probes against political figures including Ahmad Chalabi, the US's former protégé in Iraq.

One of Saadi's fellow committee members, however, said that al-Uqaliee's resignation was a result of his failure to produce results in tackling Iraq's rampant corruption, ranked as the fourth worst in the world by Transparency International.

A third MP, Shakir Kitab claimed that the resignation “sheds light on complicated political relations and lack of transparency and stability in the government” rather than on the activities of one or another political bloc.

On 12th September, al-Uqaliee reiterated his reasons for resigning in a public letter to the integrity committee. In it, he declared that “the fight over stealing the money of the state and its property is the unspoken part of the struggle for power in Iraq today”. Despite such obstacles, however, in 2010 the Integrity Commission issued 4,082 arrest warrants for government officials, including 197 high-level figures.

According to Iraqi MPs, al-Maliki is planning to replace al-Uqaliee with a fellow member of his Dawa Party, Ala' al-Sa'idi. It remains to be seen whether the new head of the Integrity Commission will be able to ignore the pressures and obfuscations of shady officials.

Sources: AFP, Los Angeles Times, Aswat Al Iraq

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Iraqi parliament approves new cabinet, after a nine month deadlock

The Iraqi parliament has unanimously approved Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's 43 selected appointees for the country's cabinet, a record breaking nine month after the parliamentary elections.

After months of political wrangling among the country's main factions, the parliament has finally agreed a unity government consisting of representative from the Kurdish, Sunni and Shi'a blocs. The parliament approved three deputy prime ministers, 29 other cabinet ministers and the new government programme. It also approved nine remaining interim ministers, and agreed that control of the three security portfolios should rest with al-Maliki.

Speaking about the delay in nominating the remaining ministers, al-Maliki said “I need more time to choose better, and I will continue to study the (resumes) to be able to choose on the basis of efficiency and professionalism." He also said that one of the reasons for the delay was the apparent lack of women candidates, adding “I find myself obliged... to wait for the political entities to present women candidates."

Former Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, whose Iraqiya bloc took 91 seats in the March elections but was unable to form a government, expressed approval of the new government on behalf of the party by saying "We wish and we hope for this government to succeed in meeting the people's requirements… we are announcing our full support for the government."

The newly appointed cabinet and lawmakers of the Iraqi 325-member Parliament face the difficult task of working together to rebuild the war-torn country. Speaking about the incomplete cabinet, al-Maliki's advisor, Ali Moussawi, said the selected candidates represented the various factions of political blocs rather than al-Maliki's own personal preference.

Al-Maliki's State of Law Aliance managed to win 89 seats in the March elections, and like Allawi's Iraqiya was unable to form a government, despite prolonged negotiations with various representative of the Shi's, Sunni and Kurdish blocs.

Sources: Guardian, AFP, The New York Times, Reuters

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Iraqi parliament due to vote on formation of new government

Iraqi parliament is due to vote on the formation of new government later today, following Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's selection of 42 nominees for ministerial posts after more than nine of political deadlock.

The new parliament will represent all major factions including the Kurds, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims. Iraqi lawmakers are schedualed to cast their votes on al-Maliki's nominees – which leaves Kurdish foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari in place and includes current oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani as deputy prime minister for energy – later this morning.

Al-Maliki was set to unveil his selection on Monday 20th December, but prolonged negotiations between rival factions delayed the proceedings and the parliament adjourned without the selection. Experts say that there will be disagreements among the nominees, and some will meet resistance from rival faction members but the real test of the coalition will be when the newly selected government gets down to work to tackle many of Iraq's ongoing problems.

A record breaking nine months of political deadlock was broken when former prime minister Iyad Allawi - whose Sunni-backed coalition won the most seats in Iraq's March election - ended weeks of wavering and said he would join a new government unveiled on Monday. His decision has paved the way for co-operation between Iraq's Shi'a, Sunni and Kurdish political factions.

Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi said that al-Maliki had met the deadline to designate Iraq's new government and that the vote could take place as early as Tuesday 22nd December. Al-Nujaifi, member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance that won the most seats in the March election, fought al-Maliki from keeping his job until this month.

Speaking about the task in hand al-Maliki said, “The formation of national unity government in Iraq is a difficult and hard task because we need to find place in the government for all those who participated and won in the elections.”

Sources: BBC News, Alsumaria, Reuters, Tehran Times

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Al-Maliki to unveil new government

Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, is due to unveil his newly selected cabinet today, more than a record braking nine months of political deadlock after inconclusive parliamentary elections. The new cabinet is expected to be divided among all the main factions within the country and will include the Kurds, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims.

All of al-Makliki's nominations will have to be approved by the Iraqi parliament. Speaking about the much anticipated selection, lawmaker of the Shi'a led National Alliance, Kamal al-Saadi, said “Negotiations are still underway this morning over candidates for the different ministries.”

The 37 posts on offer will be divided among Iraq's main ethnic groups, which have been the focus of considerable political wrangling until November when all parties reached a consensus to re-elect President Jalal Talabani, who then appointed al-Maliki as premier for a second term.

The formation of a new Iraqi government will be a big breakthrough for the war-torn country. But only time will tell, whether the new appointees ministers are able to work together to tackle the country's many problems.

Last week, the UN Security Council lifted most of the international sanctions imposed on Iraq during Saddam Hussein's time in power. It also granted Iraq permission to develop a civil nuclear programme.

Following the news of UN Security Council's decision, Kuwait has urged neighbouring Iraq to resolve its outstanding issues and get apply international resolutions in order to get the remainder of the sanctions lifted.

Kuwait's parliament released a statement saying, "commitment to serious and full implementation of Security Council resolutions related to the situation between Iraq and Kuwait will close all files and settle outstanding issues.This will also lay foundations for strong relations based on the respect of sovereignty and independence and the principle of good neighbourly relations and non-interference in internal affairs."

The UN ordered Iraq to pay Kuwait 5 per cent of its annual oil revenue to subsidise war reparations, from the 1990 Iraqi invasion. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stressed that Iraq must work to agree on a border with Kuwait and settle it's debt with Kuwait if all sanctions are to be lifted.

Sources: Ahram Online, BBC News, Deutsche Presse Agentur

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Iraq: Gas field contracts move ahead

The start of the process of forming the next government hasn't stopped the oil ministry from continuing to act as if it has a full mandate to make decisions. In fact Nouri Al-Maliki and Hussain Al-Shahrastani are keener than ever to demonstrate that they are making a success of the energy portfolio, something that will assist them in their demand to retain the file.

This month the ministry announced that it had agreed to the draft contracts for the Mansuriya and Siba gas fields awarded in the third licensing round in October. However, the contract for the Akkas field has yet to be finalised. This is because of the trouble the contract is still provoking in Al-Anbar.

As Iraq Focus reported last month, locals took the streets in protest against the deal, claiming that it did not benefit the local area sufficiently. The protests were organised by the local Al-Anbar council which has sought to whip up popular feeling to make its point to Baghdad.

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Nouri al-Maliki has 30 days to form new government

Iraq's President Jalal Talabani has appointed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government. Al-Maliki has 30 days to negotiate potential obstacles as he delegates ministerial portfolios to various Iraqi political factions.

Iraq has been without a new government for a record breaking eight months, following inconclusive result returned during March parliamentary elections. After months of limbo and political wrangles, a deal was finally reached two weeks ago allowing al-Maliki to remain in his post.

His task to divide-up ministries among Iraq's notoriously fractions political parties might prove more difficult than initially thought. The new government is expected to comprise of all the major factions, including the Kurds and Shi'a political parties aligned with Iran. It is also to include Iyad Allawi's Sunni backed al-Iraqiyya coalition bloc, which won more seats than al-Maliki's largely Shi'a National Alliance, but lost out in the negotiations.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Iraq: Deal Reached but Pitfalls Remain

After months of deadlock, Iraq's political leaders have finally reached consensus over the formation of the next government. This consensus is, of course, a fragile one and is already beset with problems. However, a basic power-sharing agreement has at least been hammered out and agreed upon, albeit begrudgingly by some parties. Unsurprisingly, the deal was reached under sustained pressure from the US.

Anxious for Iraq not to slip back into the sectarian strife that characterised the period of the pre-2007 troop surge, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have been in constant touch with the main players in recent weeks to try to force them into a deal that would see the country move forward. Indeed, it was Washington rather than Tehran that finally pushed the country's various political actors into compromise.

Under the deal, Nouri Al-Maliki gets to keep his cherished prime minister's post; Jalal Talabani gets to retain the presidency leaving Ayad Allawi with the head of the National Council for Strategic Policy. However, Allawi also insisted on his Iraqiya party taking other key positions, including the head of parliament as well as a number of key ministries including the Foreign Ministry.

Iraqiya also made a number of other demands that they considered as pre-conditions for agreeing to relinquish the prime minister's post. One of these is that the file of the Accountability and Justice Commission, which is responsible for de-Ba'athification, be cancelled.

The de-Ba'athification issue is crucial for Allawi because he wants a number of former Ba'athists - who were included in the government's list of those banned from contesting the March elections and who are part of Iraqiya - to take up some of the compensatory seats awarded to Iraqiya in the parliament. He also has his ally and former Ba'athist Saleh Al-Mutlaq, who is on the list, lined up for the post of Foreign Minister.

More importantly, Allawi also demanded that the National Council for Strategic Policy be awarded executive powers, and that these powers be clearly delineated in parliament prior to voting for any of the main posts. The various other parties reportedly agreed to these conditions before Thursday's parliamentary session.

Allawi was, however, to be bitterly disappointed. During a very fiery four-hour session of parliament, some non-Iraqiya MPs, and those from the National Alliance in particular, refused to discuss the de-Ba'athification issue and that of the National Council for Strategic Policy. They insisted that such matters should be postponed until after the three presidency posts (President of the Republic, Prime Minister and Head of Parliament) had been voted upon. This refusal to discuss what are vital issues for the Sunni bloc prompted an infuriated Allawi and other Iraqiya members to storm out of the session in protest.

Despite Iraqiya's absence, the voting went on. Jalal Talabani was elected as president and he duly tasked Nouri Al-Maliki with forming the next government. Al-Maliki now has one month to form his government. Osama Najaifi from Iraqiya meanwhile was elected as Head of the Parliament.

The affair is clearly a triumph for Al-Maliki who, after months of criticism from every side for his insistence on taking another term in office, has finally got what he wanted.

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Iraqi political leaders in power-sharing talks

Iraq's political leaders have met, in the city of Irbil, for the first time since the March elections, in an attempt to break the eight month political deadlock that's gripped the country. The talks are to be resumed later today in the country's capital city of Baghdad.

Iraqi officials have said that there are major obstacles to be overcome before all parties reach a power-sharing agreement. The purpose of the meetings, the first of which was hosted by Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani, is to form a government of national unity, that includes Shi'a, Sunnis and Kurds, before a parliamentary session on Thursday [11th November].

The political leaders are yet to agree on nominations for prime minister, president and speaker in time for the parliamentary session. The two men in the running for the post of prime minister, the incumbent Nouri al-Maliki and his opponent Iyad Allawi, are at the crux of the political deadlock.

Al-Maliki has more or less won the battle to assemble coalition allies and according to experts it would be highly surprising if he was ousted from his current position. However, it has become increasing clear, over the course of the last eight moths, that everybody in Iraq wants a government of national unity which would embrace all the major groups in the country including Allawi's al-Iraqiyya which won the bulk of the Sunni vote. In the past, Sunni exclusion was a major factor fuelling insurgency in Iraq.

Allawi is in the process of seeking a new "National Council for Strategic Policy" with decision-making powers equal to the prime minister's. But al-Maliki is refusing to allow the powers of his office to be diluted, arguing it would be unconstitutional and ineffective. This is believed to be the key issue holding up power-sharing talks. The political deadlock has been ongoing since March when neither Maliki's State of Law bloc nor Allawi's al-Iraqiyya movement secured an outright majority of seats, making Iraq world record breaker for the longest time taken to form a new government.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

Antiquities uncovered in boxes in a storage room in Nouri Al-Maliki's office

Iraq's National Museum finally took possession this month of over 600 antiquities, some dating back to the third millennium BCE, which had been returned to Baghdad by the US in early 2009 but which had subsequently gone missing. The artefacts, which included jewellery, bronze figurines and clay tablets from various eras and which were seized by US customs officials, turned up in boxes in a storage room for kitchen equipment in office.

According to antiquities minister Qahtan Al- Jubouri, the disappearance of the returned antiquities, which had been smuggled out of Iraq since the toppling of the former regime, was the result of “inappropriate handover procedures”.

It seems that when the US army handed them over to Al-Maliki's office there was no representative for antiquities or heritage present and the objects were put away in the unlabelled boxes they were returned in and simply forgotten about. An inquiry triggered by Al-Maliki's office led to the objects being unearthed.

Whilst the find is great news for Iraq's heritage around half of the 32,000 pieces stolen from archaeological sites and from the National Museum are still unaccounted for.

For more news and expert analysis about Iraq, please see Iraq Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates