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June
24, 2012 - Sulaimaniyah,
Erbil-Hewler, Duhok, Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq'
Kurdistan parliament
allocates 185bn IQD for political parties
Erbil: The Kurdistan Region's parliament decided in
Saturday's session to allocate 185bn IQD ($159m) for
political parties in the region. Article 17 of the
draft budget law indicates the allocation of 200bn
IQD ($172m) for NGO's and political parties in the
region. At the session, suggestions were made such
as allotting 185bn IQD for parties and 15bn IQD
($13m) for NGO's. This suggestion was later approved
by MPs. The money will be paid as grants until the
draft law has been ratified. One of the suggestions
was to form a monetary fund for helping students go
overseas to study masters and PhD courses, but the
idea was rejected. MP Bashir Haddad said on Thursday
that MPs had been debating the region's 2012 budget
for nine days and will probably need 10 more days to
finalize the process.
Iraq's parliament chooses
Kurd for investigation and justice committee
Erbil: Iraq's parliament in its first session this
season chose a Kurd to be a member of the
investigation and justice committee. Kurdish
Coalition Bloc MP Saed Rasul Khoshnaw from the Iraqi
parliament said the parliament replaced Husam Abdul
Latif Jasim with Kamaran Rasul Qadir. Khoshnaw
added: "The parliament rejected the request of Iraqi
asylum seekers who face deportation from European
countries. These refugees earlier asked Iraq's
parliament to intervene to halt the deportation
process." Khoshnaw also said the parliament voted on
three articles Saturday and discussions are still
ongoing. He added that voting on modification of the
public companies law number 22, 1997 was postponed,
as was a draft law from the Ministry of Women and
Families due to disagreement between blocs.
Fire at Dana Gas LPG plant
in Iraq kills one
Dubai: One person died and four were injured in an
explosion at the Khor Mor liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) plant in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on
Friday, plant operator Dana Gas said on Sunday. Dana
Gas, which is based in the United Arab Emirates,
blamed two LPG trucks belonging to a local LPG
trader for the fire and accompanying explosion that
killed a truck driver and caused extensive damage to
the loading facility. It did not specify the damage.
"As a precautionary measure, the plant has been
temporarily shut down while a full investigation is
conducted and repairs are carried out," Dana Gas
said in a statement. "A partial production restarted
yesterday Saturday from the Early Production
Facility producing and supplying gas to the power
stations." Dana Gas has been active in Kurdistan
since April 2007 and the LPG production facility at
Khor Mor was opened in early 2011. Reuters
PUK and KDP insist on
withdrawing confidence from PM Maliki
Erbil: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the
Kurdistan Democratic Party confirmed Saturday that
both parties are working to withdraw confidence from
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by democratic
and constitutional means. The political bureaus of
the two parties met in Pirmam on Saturday and later
released a statement. The meeting was headed by the
Kurdistan Region's President Massoud Barzani. The
statement said both parties are set to make an
effort within constitutional and democratic
solutions to withdraw confidence from al-Maliki,
noting that they respect the responsibility of
Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and his
constitutional duties. Both parties confirmed their
obligation to the strategic agreement between them
and to work towards unity and compatibility with
parties that are participating in the region's
political process. Two month ago, the Kurdistan
Blocs Coalition, Iraqiya List and the Sadrist
Movement started collecting signatures to withdraw
confidence from al-Maliki. But the withdrawal
process when the signatures were rejected by
Talabani for not fulfilling the required quorum.
Rise in number of Syrian
refugees in Turkey
Erbil: The number of Syrian refugees arriving in
Turkish camps has reached 32,380, said the Turkish
Disaster and Relief organization. Some 393 Syrian
citizens crossed the Turkish boards over the last
two days and 168 refugees returned to their country
willingly, reported Anadolu News Agency. The relief
organization confirmed in a statement that its teams
have met all the needs of Syrian refugees who have
fled to Turkey due to the ongoing violence in their
home country.
Latest position of two
Kurdish parties on Maliki doesn’t include Talabani,
says MP
Erbil: The latest position of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in
support of withdrawing confidence from Iraq's Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki does not include President
of Iraq Jalal Talabani, said a member of the
Kurdistan Blocs Coalition. The political bureaus of
the two parties met in Pirmam on Saturday and later
released a statement saying that both parties are
working to withdraw confidence from al-Maliki by
democratic and constitutional means. Independent
member in the Iraqi parliament Mahmoud Osman said:
"The position of two parties is the same and won't
change but Talabani's position is different because
he is Iraq's president and protector of the
country's constitution." When asked about the reason
for not including Talabani - who is currently in
Germany for medical treatment - Osman said "the
president should be neutral".
Belgian parliament hosts
article 140 conference
Stockholm: The Belgian parliament hosted a
conference about article 140 of the Iraqi
constitution related to Kirkuk and disputed areas in
the presence of Yezidi Prince Tahsin Bek and number
of political, media and parliamentary Belgian and
Kurdish figures. Hissou Hawrami, one of the
organizers of the conference and public relations
official in the Kurdish Institute in Brussels, said
the conference was held in cooperation with the
parliament, the institute and the directorate
general for Yezidis in the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG). Hawrami added: "The aim of the
conference was to inform the European politicians
about the importance of the article and the effect
of not implementing it on the Iraqi parties."
Hawrami, who is also a journalist, considered the
conference as "an important step to provide media
and diplomatic support for article 140 and end many
problems and reduce the suffering of the various
Iraqi factions that live in the areas covered by the
article". Among the most important issues that were
discussed during the conference were Iraqi
Christians under the article and the impact on their
migration in the disputed areas and Yezidi areas,
and Turkish intervention in the light of future
ambitions. The vision of the federal government and
neighboring countries with regard to the article was
also discussed, as was how the Filaman movement can
play a role in Iraq for the benefit of the Kurds.
Hawrami stressed the importance of article 140,
adding that "the Baghdad government is behind
delaying its implementation".
Iraq's parliamentary
committee to discuss Kurdistan's oil deals with
Exxon Mobil
Erbil: Iraq's parliamentary economic committee will
discuss Exxon Mobil's oil deals with the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) in its meeting on Sunday.
Committee member Yousuf al-Taye said: "The committee
will discuss Exxon deals in details in order to have
a comprehensive perception of the subject and what
surrounding it from clamor and arguments. "A number
of committee members met Saturday and discussed
Exxon deals and the committee is now waiting for
official reports to study it in detail." Al-Taye
added that studying the reports in detail will help
the committee decide how such deals affect the
future relationships between central government and
the Kurdistan Region and the impact of this on the
lives of the Iraqi people......
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