" The Dinar Daily ", Friday, 25 July 2014 - Page 2
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  1. #11

    Kurds to Maliki: ‘You are Not Welcome!’

    Kurds to Maliki: ‘You are Not Welcome!’
    By RUDAW

    SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Many Kurds are up in arms against a planned visit to Kurdistan Friday by Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s embattled caretaker prime minister who Erbil blames for pushing the country into its current crisis.

    The Shiite premier is especially unpopular among the Kurds for squeezing Erbil on oil policies and imposing a virtual economic siege since February, forcing Kurdish civil servants to go unpaid for months.

    “I never like him to come to this city, he has cut off the salaries of people,” said a man from Sulaimani after hearing about Maliki’s expected visit. “He should be pelted with stones as soon as he gets off the plane.”

    Maliki is expected in the city of Sulaimani, according to a senior leader of his Shiite coalition, to ask about the health of Jalal Talabani, the former Iraqi president who returned last weekend from a year-and-a-half in Germany recuperating from a stroke.

    The embattled prime minister, who defiantly insists on a third term, has antagonized Kurds, Sunnis and some of his Shiite allies, who all accuse him of authoritarianism, favoritism and incompetence. The last straw for the Kurds was when Maliki froze monthly budget payments early this year.

    On a visit to the Iraqi capital on Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Baghdad and Erbil to reconcile.

    Some angry Sulaimani residents demanded Maliki’s trip be cancelled. Others said his plane should not be allowed to land.

    "If I have six people with me I will prevent him from coming because he has made the situation so dire and has taken the country off track," said an angry resident of Sulaimani.

    After Maliki froze Kurdistan’s budget in February in order to pressure the Kurds into desisting from going ahead with independent oil exports, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani called that tantamount to “a declaration of war.”

    “He should not be allowed to visit Kurdistan, and in particular he should not be allowed to see the president (Talabani)," said another resident who spoke to Rudaw.

    Some Kurds vented their anger at Maliki on social media, demanding protests in Sulaimani against him.

    "People of Sulaimani, if you do not protest against the man who cut Kurdistan's budget and threatened Kurds, then shame on you,” said Cewlik Bengol in an online comment. “Show what you think of the man whose militia in Baghdad threatens Kurds,” the commentator said.

    Maliki will reportedly be accompanied by the former Iraqi vice president, Khudayir al-Khuzai, and other senior leaders of his State of Law coalition.

    A Facebook user, Rosch Ibrahim Marof Singer, vented his anger at Maliki accusing the Kurds last month of harboring extremists: “Why do they let him enter Kurdistan when he accuses the Kurds of terrorism?”

    Saz Ahmed, another commentator, wrote: “He should not be allowed to enter Kurdistan. It's insulting for Kurds if he comes,” she said.

    https://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/25072014



  2. #12

    Kurdish Parliament Speaker: Tuz Khurmatu is Part of Kurdistan

    Kurdish Parliament Speaker: Tuz Khurmatu is Part of Kurdistan
    By RUDAW

    Peshmerga forces in Kirkuk.


    ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Region’s Parliament Speaker Yousif Muhammad said in Tuz Khurmatu Thursday that the strategic town, lying on a highway connecting northern Iraq to Baghdad, is henceforth part of Kurdistan.



    “From now on this area is considered part of Kurdistan,” he said in a meeting Thursday with local officials and the town mayor, Shalal Abdul.



    Muhammad said that most of the Kurdish territories outside the borders of the autonomous Kurdistan Region have now come under Kurdish jurisdiction and “in the future we will take legal steps to hold a referendum there.”



    Tuz Khurmata in Diyala province is among the many Kurdish-populated cities and towns where the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) moved in Peshmerga forces last month, filling in a vacuum left by retreating Iraqi forces fleeing a jihadi-led advance.



    The Kurds have extended their zone by about 40 percent, now controlling almost all of the so-called “disputed territories” they claim as their own in the provinces of Nineveh, Diyala and Kirkuk.



    Since early last month, when Iraq began to come apart under jihadist attacks, the Kurds began taking things into their own hands: They have announced a planned referendum in the territories now under their control to decide whether they want to become part of Kurdistan, and a vote on independence from Iraq.



    Muhammad told Tuz officials that Kurdistan will not wait for Baghdad to decide the fate of the disputed lands, some of the rich in oil and gas.



    He said that an election bill passed by the Kurdish parliament this week was to finalize the status of those territories, “because the government in Baghdad has been negligent on that issue and not taken any practical steps.”



    The fate of the disputed lands was to be decided under a 2007 referendum that was never held by the Iraqi government. Kurdish leaders announced last month that those constitutional provisions have now expired, and that they are arranging a referendum.



    For his part, the mayor of Tuz Khurmatu urged Muhammad to take the fate of his town to the Kurdish parliament, and dedicate a session about the plight of the local population.



    Tuz Khurmatu, 85 kilometers south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, has been under full control of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces since the withdrawal of Iraqi troops last month.



    The town and its surrounding areas have witnessed some serious clashes between Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Peshmerga forces, who are mostly defending their claimed lands.



    Kurdish leaders have long accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of paying little heed to constitutional mandates meant to promote power sharing among Iraq’s Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.



    On Friday, Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani urged Iraq’s new President Fouad Massoum “to redress all the constitutional violations.”



    “We hope you can protect the rights of all the Iraqi people, which are embodied in the constitution,” Barzani said to Massoum in a congratulatory letter on winning the presidency.



    He called on him to “eliminate all the violations perpetrated against the people of Kurdistan.”

    https://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/250720141

  3. #13

    Gen. Austin: are very worried about the situation in Iraq, and my discussions with th

    Gen. Austin: are very worried about the situation in Iraq, and my discussions with the leaders focused on the formation of an inclusive government

    Wednesday, July 24, 2014 23:40


    [Baghdad - where]

    He commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Lloyd Austin, who visited Iraq on Thursday was "deeply concerned" by the situation of the country.

    A statement from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad received by all of Iraq [where] a copy of it from Austin to say, "I am very concerned about the current security situation in Iraq, since Iraq is an important country faces some enormous challenges very exacerbated by the rush of organizing Daash into Iraq and the announcement of State succession. "

    Austin added, "Today, I met with senior Iraqi leaders from across the political spectrum and included Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds."

    The U.S. commander "in our talks focused on the importance of speeding up the formation of a government that is inclusive and representative of all Iraqis."

    "As also stressed that in the absence of the political movement means that any support you may consider introducing the U.S. government will have limited results in the short term only."

    He said Gen. Austin "We also discussed the need for Iraq to stop the advance Daash and eventually regain control of its borders and air space of sovereign for the purpose of limiting the freedom of movement to organize Daash."

    The seal Austin by saying, "Any kind of progress will depend on the Iraqis to take the right decisions and to achieve the reforms needed to ensure a decent living within ethnic groups and religious different in the country, and still there is hard work to be done; but I am optimistic that the Iraqis will take the necessary steps in the days the next. "

    The commander of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Lloyd Austin, has arrived in Baghdad today and met with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said during the meeting the need to "intensify cooperation in the field of training, equipping and providing the necessary expertise and commitment to do so," declaring "the U.S. is prepared to support Iraq as it needs to defeat terrorism." en

    https://www.alliraqnews.com/index.php...-20-40-20.html

  4. #14
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    Re: Gen. Austin: are very worried about the situation in Iraq, and my discussions wit

    Jubouri: which is the largest bloc formed after parliament convenes

    Published on Thursday, July 25, 2014 07:28






    [In Baghdad]

    Said House speaker Salim Al-Juburi said "the Constitution is clear in explaining the larger parliamentary bloc combined within the Parliament."

    Al-jubouri said at a press conference in the Parliament building attended by correspondent all Iraq IGN that "Parliamentary Bloc is the largest number of seats, and the Constitution was careful to use the word Parliament is formed after the House of representatives at its first meeting".

    "We are going back to the old Mahdi Al-Hafez, if a request was received from this block for being a moderator was exclusively back then."
    "The House will forward in collaboration with the Executive of the remaining sovereign sites naming after naming the speaker of the House of representatives, his two deputies and the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister."

    And Al-Juburi said "of course we have large files either inside or outside the House and there will be dialogues between the blocks to go to the main stage and the task of forming the Government and we believe that understanding, harmony and cooperation is the foundation that governs our political will to the next stage."

    The President said the House "label greatest mass determined in accordance with the Constitution and there is dialogue between the National Alliance and State of law coalition and the President will meet with a number of political leaders after I finished for me," he said.

    "The President will go, of course, to the Federal Court if asked and may be decided by the Election Commission and is originally in light of agreements between political parties but we wait and eventually the President of the Republic is responsible exclusively to label larger parliamentary candidate to form a Government."

    And asked about the mass destruction of the State of law bloc parliamentary majority who attended the first meeting of the House of Al-jubouri said "as much about us as Parliament did not receive something like this or support this underlines on but if there is a decision of the Federal Court are those that demonstrate or refute that it is up to them."

    He noted that "after the first session of Parliament since taking over the Presidency of the Council of Deputies and till this day there were some books that was submitted to and that some may be contrary to others but don't see you only latavkat and no books take a legal framework that can determine the nature of what the larger mass and feel that this file is just as sensitive and risk it at the same time an important file from which to return the President to political consultations to determine which of the The larger parliamentary and then can be called Prime Minister charged with naming his Cabinet and submit it to the House to obtain confidence. "

    And that "the Constitution to name the Prime Minister is 15 days and are extendable and this is what we want, it is important to invest time identified as a core issue"

    Seal of the speaker of the House of representatives that "the Interim Committee to study specific budget not long and are named after the standing committees and the task of collecting views on the budget and the problems there are political differences remain difficult to resolve between the Centre and the region but the composition of the Committee is to move the process of approving the budget and this would be during the Board meetings live


    ARTICLE LINK



    Judicial authority denies the issuance of a new resolution concerning the largest parliamentary bloc
    | Print | E-mail
    Published on Friday, July 24, 2014

    Alsumaria News / Baghdad

    denied the judicial authority, on Thursday, a new resolution concerning the largest parliamentary bloc, confirming the issuance of any decision but only "which was released in the year 2010."

    said judiciary spokesman Judge Abdul Sattar Bayraktar, said in an interview for "Alsumaria News" , "The Federal Supreme Court has not issued a new decision regarding the largest parliamentary bloc, only that which was released in the year 2010."

    The channel "Iraq," the official, broadcast breaking news, on Thursday evening, which quoted MP for the coalition of state law, Hussein al-Maliki as saying that coalition "received a response of the Federal Court as the largest parliamentary bloc" in parliament.

    The Federal Court has considered, after elections in 2010, the National Alliance, the largest bloc in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, which has allowed him to form the current government, headed by the leader of a coalition of state law, Nuri al-Maliki .


    ARTICLE LINK
    Last edited by OOTW; 07-25-2014 at 03:52 PM.

  5. #15
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    Re: " The Dinar Daily ", Friday, 25 July 2014


    Sistani sends signals to the owners not to cling to his job


    Published on Thursday, July 25, 2014 14:34
    Dr. Osama Mahdi / Ilaf

    Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai, a certified top Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during the Friday sermon in Karbala, the need to form a new government within a period of time not to exceed the constitutional period amounting to 15 days, and not to cling to officials their positions where, in reference it seems to the current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who insists on running for a third term.

    added that the success of the House of Representatives to overcome two major important to choose the parliament and the Republic during the period of time acceptable, represents an important step in the framework of the political movement is required to overcome the current crisis. He stressed the need to complete the formation of a government acceptable to the national scale, even with the ability to overcome the challenges of the next stage and handle errors accumulated and be empowered than did the national ranks and counter-terrorism and counter attempts division and separation.

    was Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has stressed yesterday, it was agreed and Sistani during their meeting in Najaf on Thursday the need to form a government facing terrorism and put an end to the division of the Iraqis.

    confirmed Karbalai, extending his sermon, that the seriousness of this stage of history makes it imperative for all parties to a spirit of national responsibility which requires the sensor to sacrifice and do not cling to sites and positions, but dealing by and flexibility with advance the interests of the country and the people on some of the gains, and the sensor principle of sacrifice and self-denial with the requirements of the political situation of internal and external.

    pointed out that "critical circumstances faced by the country require everyone maximum restraint and not to be dragged to any position lead to more shipping sectarian and ethnic" .. and called on the Interior Ministry and other stakeholders to "take effective measures to end some phenomena denounced and condemned the attack on some innocent citizens motivated by sectarian hatred by some armed groups illegally."

    and called for the need to intensify efforts, and strengthening the capacity of the armed forces to speed up the adoption of measures to unzip the blockade on the besieged areas such as hand Amerli Northern yelling that her family caught several weeks ago of the terrorist attacks. And carry a certified reference clan leaders all of Sunni and Shiite communities "responsibility miss an opportunity to the enemies in the events of a rift in the unity of the Iraqi people, and especially that Iraq is threatened in time Alhadrles only division and retail, but the fragmentation of the social fabric based on sectarian and religious and nationalist."

    Dan ÇáßŃČáÇĆí crimes terrorist attacks committed by the terrorists in the territories seized in the province of Nineveh, and others, and was most recently "The targeting of Christian citizens by forcing them to leave their homes and confiscation of all their property until they took the women Musogathen gold, and are going to get out of the city of Mosul." "We are at a time when we condemn the inhuman acts and Allsalamah to these bands that claim Islam and distort the image of Islam call upon the international community to assist the Iraqi government to combat the phenomenon of terrorism, real help and useless."

    and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian, Dan certified reference continued killing of civilians, "The continued crimes of the Israeli entity against civilians in the Gaza Strip and the inaction of the international community and the Muslim and Arab world to suit to put an end to these crimes is a shortcoming evident towards the Palestinian people, but it is unfortunate that this brotherly people facing occupation and aggression and injustice in all its forms for decades not a deterrent nor blocker. "

    It is noteworthy that an official of the Federal Supreme Court had denied yesterday the decision is a coalition of state law, led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the largest parliamentary bloc that must be assigned to its president to form a new government, said spokesman Abdul Sattar Bayraktar said that "the Federal Court did not receive any suit or explanation about the largest parliamentary bloc, "noting that" the Court had interpreted the 2010, meaning the largest parliamentary bloc is no need for re-interpretation of the new. "

    On the face of it, it has confirmed a source familiar with the three blocks constitute the greatest weight in the rule of law informed the Shiite coalition and reference Najaf, they will come directly from the coalition if Maliki's public declaration that the state law is the biggest bloc. The source said Hadi Amiri, head of the Badr Organization (Minister of Transport) and Hussein al-Shahristani, the head of the independent (Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs) and Khodair al head of the Dawa Party-Iraq Organization (Vice President) has determined definitively to stop what they described as the escapades of al-Maliki that no longer threaten national consensus and by, but the consensus Shiite well.

    source added that these leaders to respect the Declaration statement Shiite coalition that delivered President Ibrahim al-Jaafari recently in the presence of Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council and Khodair al Maliki himself alongside Ameri as the Shiite alliance is the biggest bloc in parliament, which will form the next government.

    was prime minister stressed on the fourth of this month that he would not give up "never" about running for prime minister, "faithful to vote", and noted that his coalition is the largest bloc in parliament.


    ARTICLE LINK



    Moon: Sistani stressed that fighting terrorism is by the security forces exclusively



    Published on Friday, July 24, 2014 17:28

    Long-Presse / Najaf

    called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, on Thursday, Iraqi politicians to "refrain from speeches extremist and sectarian," and expressed his appreciation to the calls of "Rescue political", and pointed out that the supreme religious authority Ali al-Sistani stressed the fight against "terrorism by security forces exclusively, "while stressing the international community's condemnation" of the crimes committed against civilians. "

    said Ki-moon during a press conference, after his meeting with al-Sistani in Najaf, and attended (range Press), "I am honored to meet with the supreme authority of Sistani and his eminence has wisdom and tolerance and inspire everyone, both to his followers in Iraq or in the world, "noting that" accept the current crisis in Iraq and the need for essential humanitarian, as well as our discussion of reports supported that indicate the presence of human rights violations against civilians and places of worship. "

    said Ki-moon that "the United Nations and the Security Council and the community International express their condemnation of the crimes committed against civilians and Sistani stressed that the fight against terrorism by the security forces exclusively, "and hoped" to form a government without any delay in accordance with the tables constitutional, and we will continue to work for peace and preservation of human rights in Iraq. "

    He Secretary-General of the United Nations that "the formation of a new government in Iraq that can help form a team to work and put an end to the division," and expressed "appreciation for the invitations rescue politician to refrain from sectarian rhetoric and appeal to everyone to exercise restraint and avoid disputes."

    and expressed "hope that refrain politicians for Speeches extreme at this time and the treatment of minorities, "calling everyone" to love the ingredients all, because these calls as possible to silence extremist voices, and I encourage religious leaders all to imitate the character of Mr. Sistani. "

    and reached the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon today Thursday, the province of Najaf to meet with top religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, as he was greeted by the governor of Najaf, Adnan Airport Aldhirfa and a number of members of the provincial council


    ARTICLE LINK
    Last edited by OOTW; 07-25-2014 at 04:03 PM.

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    Re: " The Dinar Daily ", Friday, 25 July 2014

    WASHINGTON TIMES: State Department: al-Maliki’s days numbered as Iraq PM

    Seen as failure in creating coalition, waging current war against Islamic State

    By Rowan Scarborough-The Washington Times Thursday, July 24, 2014

    Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Baghdad, Monday, June 23, 2014. Kerry flew to Baghdad on Monday to meet with Iraq's leaders and personally urge the Shiite-led government to give more power to political opponents before a Sunni insurgency seizes more control across the country and sweeps away hopes for lasting peace. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)


    The State Department on Thursday all but showed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki the door, saying he had been particularly hard to work with.

    “We had extreme frustrations with the Iraqi government, particularly over the last year,” Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

    Then Mr. McGurk seemed to suggest Mr. al-Maliki’s days as prime minister are numbered.

    “They’ve created a new parliament, and through that parliament new leaders will emerge,” he testified. “There are a handful of very capable leaders who may emerge as the next prime minister of Iraq. We’re going to have to see this unfold very rapidly over the coming days.”

    Military analysts have deemed Mr. al-Maliki a failure both in bringing Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds into a governing coalition, and in waging the current war against Sunni militants.

    Mr. McGurk, who was a diplomat in Iraq during the U.S. troop presence, also disclosed a big gap between how the U.S. and Iraq want to combat the Islamic State group — the Islamist group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that has conquered wide areas of Iraq as security forces have mostly fled.

    Mr. McGurk said U.S. military officers advised the Iraqi government not to enter the Sunni stronghold of Tikrit, the birthplace of Sunni former dictator Saddam Hussein and now held by the Islamic State.

    “We have advised the Iraqis for example not to go into urban areas — lessons that we learned,” he said. “The Iraqis made a decision to go into Tikrit. We didn’t really support that decision.”


    Still, he said, the 700-plus U.S. military advisers recently sent to Iraq “have been embraced.”

    Mr. McGurk said he told Mr. al-Maliki, a Shiite, that his generals had been lying to him about advances made by the Islamic State. The prime minister ordered a shake-up and fired a number of senior officers.

    Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command, is now in Iraq talking to the new commanders, Mr. McGurk said.

    “Some of the tactics the Iraqis pursued, we totally don’t agree with,” Mr. McGurk said. “In fact, by moving in aggressively as we have over the last six weeks, [we] will increasingly increase our influence over some of those tactics.”


    ARTICLE LINK
    Last edited by OOTW; 07-25-2014 at 04:36 PM.

  7. #17

    KRG Considers Building Ifraz Station-4

    KRG Considers Building Ifraz Station-4

    Posted on 25 July 2014.



    The General Directorate of Water and Sewage in the Kurdistan Region is considering the implementation of the Ifraz Station-4 project, with a capacity of 25000 cubic meters per hour, due to the increase in the demand for drinking water in the capital, Erbil.
    The General Directorate of Water and Sewage last year started to implement the remaining section of the Ifraz Plant-3 project, which provides drinking water to the city of Erbil, in order to reduce the pressure on the other stations.
    In a statement to KRG.org the Director General of Water and Sewage in the Kurdistan Region, Sahand Sirwan Ahmad, said that the increase in the demand for consuming drinking water “has pushed the water-producing stations in the Kurdistan Region to work 24 hours a day, where they work at maximum capacity without any rotation during the summer season. This has led to increased pressure on all the stations. This is why completing the remaining 40 percent of the Ifraz Station-3 was necessary.”
    This remaining part of the project is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a long-term loan. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
    The purpose of the Ifraz Station-4 project is to respond to the possible increase in demand for drinking water in the event that the Ifraz Station-3 can not meet the demand due to the city of Erbil’s projected rise in population. It is expected that the cost of building the Ifraz Station-4 will reach close to $600 million.


    Ifraz Station-1 was built in 1969 with a production capacity of 1680 cubic meters per hour. It was designed to replace wells which were considered among the main sources of drinking water in Erbil but were under the threat of drought.
    This was followed by the establishment of the Ifraz Station-2 in 1984, with a capacity of 2880 cubic meters per hour. From 2005 – 2007 approximately 60 percent of Ifraz Station-3 was built, as at the time it was not necessary to complete the entire project.
    The Ifraz Station-3 has a capacity of 6000 cubic meters per hour, and was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers at a cost of $204 million.
    The Ifraz water stations are named after the village of Ifraz, located close to these stations by the Upper Zab River. The stations are dedicated to provide drinking water to the city of Erbil and its surroundings.
    The Ifraz project is considered one of the largest projects in the Kurdistan Region.

    https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...raz-station-4/

  8. #18

    Kurdish Oil Nears US Marketplace

    Kurdish Oil Nears US Marketplace

    Posted on 25 July 2014

    By Patrick M Schmidt.
    After a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, the oil-tanker, United Kalavrvta [United Kalavryta], is just miles off the coast of Florida. The tanker is loaded with one million barrels of crude oil that has a current market value of approximately $100 million (117 billion Iraqi dinars).
    The oil onboard is sourced from oilfields in the Kurdistan region, and the vessel is expected to dock in Galveston, Texas, on Saturday.
    The Iraqi central government has made it clear that any nation who purchases oil sold direct from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will face legal action. However, for the KRG the successful sale of oil independent from the Iraqi central government would prove a major step in their possible bid for independence.

    https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...s-marketplace/

  9. #19

    Koreans may Build Airfield in Iraq

    Koreans may Build Airfield in Iraq

    Posted on 24 July 2014.

    By John Lee.
    The President of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has said that Iraq has proposed building a new airfield in the southern part of the country.
    Iraqi authorities suggested the need for a military airbase for the new jets, and although no deal has been signed, KAI expressed a desire to pursue talks on this matter,” Ha Sung-yong (pictured) said.
    He added that the new airfield would be used as a base for the 24 FA-50 light attack fighters that it has agreed to sell Iraq last December in a deal worth US$1.1 billion (1.3 trillion Iraqi dinars).
    The aircraft have already been paid for and will be delivered from 2015 through 2016.
    The KAI’s chief said that more detailed negotiations on the airfield will take place in August.
    According to a report from Yonhap, the KAI would likely go into Iraq in cooperation with a builder to construct the airfield, which may be worth $600-700 million.
    Building the airfield is not hard, although setting up related facilities and systems to control aircraft requires know-how that KAI can share,” the CEO said.

    https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...field-in-iraq/

  10. #20

    Echoes of apocalypse in Iraq conflict

    Echoes of apocalypse in Iraq conflict

    When George W. Bush invaded Iraq, he was criticized, including for being motivated by eschatology (the aspect of theology that deals with the end of days) and desiring to push a right-wing Christian agenda in terms of the Christian prophecy regarding armageddon. Yet in 2003, no one foresaw the current conflict in Iraq that would lead many among the conflicting Iraqi parties to see the events as part of the prophecy of the end times, which could have an extensive impact on the conflict.

    Summary⎙ Print Conflictingn parties' view of the current crisis in Iraq is affected by their own religious views and interpretation of the end of times.
    Author Ali MamouriPosted July 24, 2014
    Translator(s)Joelle El-Khoury

    Religious visions of the apocalypse are applied to the Iraqi conflict in a structural and radical way. The religious aspect of the conflict has exceeded being mere strife between major religious denominations and sects in the country. Both Sunni and Shiite parties have made headway in applying the prophecy of the end times to current events, and have understood the recent developments as part of a prophetic context in their religious texts on the events of the end of days. This has not only exceeded the religious analysis of the events, it has even made both parties work according to this prophecy — with the religious prophecy having become an influential factor in the course of events in the country.

    Abrahamic religions — Christianity, Islam and Judaism — despite having an overall structure of the end times, follow different scenarios on their prophecy of what will happen in the future. Jews associate the end with their final return to the Holy Land; Christians link it to the second coming of Christ; and Muslims see it by means of the spread of Islam throughout the entire world. They all associate these events with major tragedies that will take place ahead of these times, and with extensive and violent conflicts that will ultimately lead to world peace. Yet, all of these narratives are built upon the basis of a binary struggle between good and evil that leads to the final defeat of evil and permanent triumph of good.

    In Islam, Sunnis and Shiites share most of the religious texts and understanding of the apocalyptic prophecy. They, however, disagree in designating good and evil to the conflicting parties in Iraq and assigning these roles to the main figures in this conflict. There are three major parties in the Sunni and Shiite versions of the end times events prophecy: the true Muslims, the misguided Muslims and the infidels (nonbelievers). Thus, Shiites and Sunnis place themselves in the first category; their Muslim enemies are placed in the second; and Western enemies in the third.

    Prior to his death, Anwar al-Awlaki, a prominent Salafist figure who was killed in south Yemen in 2011 by US drones, explained the Salafist vision of the end times in a lecture as follows: The call for jihad emerges from Khorasan, which is the area of Afghanistan and its surroundings by today’s map. Then, a conflict between Muslims and the West takes place on the Iraqi territory, paving the way for the final battle and the tenure of the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule before the Day of Judgment. Then, those who raised the black flags will fight both the misguided Muslims and infidels, and the battle ends with the declaration of a new Islamic caliphate.

    The emergence of Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi came as part of this narrative, which is well known to Muslims. It was exploited to assist in the declaration of the Islamic caliphate. Since its inception, the Islamic State (IS) has opted for a black-colored banner and the caliph himself was seen in black to prove that he is one of the narratives that the apocalypse prophecy speaks of. Based on that, Muslims must welcome him and join his ranks. That he hails from the Quraish tribe and is therefore a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad came in accordance with the Sunni vision of jurisprudence that the caliph should be from Quraish and that the Mahdi, who will appear at the end times, is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. An IS leaflet seems to show that this project was planned even before Baghdadi assumed the leadership of the group when the former emir, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who also claimed to hail from the Quraish tribe and was therefore a descendant of the prophet, got Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi prepared for the role and planned for the tasks after his death.

    On the other hand, in the Shiite view the emergence of IS represents the army of darkness that shows up and exerts its power over the Shiites at the end times, before the Mahdi’s tenure. Some even go as far as to analyze the existing alliances in the conflict based on their own end times prophecy. In particular, they see the negative role played by Turkey and the Kurds in supporting the army of darkness against the Shiites.

    Some Iranian clerics have previously used these narratives to support the Islamic government in Iran, and present it as a government paving the way for the Mahdi’s tenure. Some of the close associates of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed that the latter is known as Khorasani in the end times narratives and as one of those preparing for the Mahdi’s tenure. Some of the sites that are linked to the conservative fundamentalist wing published an analysis of the end times events prophecy in the region, in an attempt to apply it to the current events.

    The ongoing violence and sudden developments in the region are expected to escalate the religious discourse on the prophecy between the conflicting parties, which could significantly feed the battles and open new directions in the current conflict.

    https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz38V3QtAHO

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