Reuters, quoting Iraq’s Minister for Transport, reports that a tender will be issued by the end of this year for the building of the multibillion-dollar ‘Grand Faw’ port south of Basra.
Talks are ongoing with investors from Australia, France, Germany, Italy and the UAE to help finance the project.
After a presentation of the project’s designs made by Technital, the Italian company that won the design contract, Minister Hadi al-Amiri said: “There are many mechanisms to (fund) the project, maybe through (foreign) investment, or soft loans … from the government.”
According to Iraq’s plan, goods unloaded at the new port would then be loaded onto a new railway system and reach Europe overland more quickly than ships might reach Egypt’s Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
“God willing, the first stage of the project will be finished by the end of 2013,” Amiri said.
The project will be built in two stages and is expected to take about four years to complete. It will include 7,000 metres (23,000 feet) of dock to receive container ships. The dock for general cargo would be 3,500 metres (11,500 feet).
The commercial port will also include two docks for unloading oil products.
Alberto Scotti, president of Technital, put the estimated cost of the project at around 4.5 billion Euros [$6.31 billion, 7.38 trillion Iraqi dinars].
(Source: Reuters)
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Iraqi politicians, officials, reject Kuwait’s Mubarak Port, call for defending Iraq’s rights
5/29/2011 10:25 AM
BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: A group of Iraqi politicians, experts and officials, have agreed that Kuwait’s building of the so-called Mubarak Port, shall affect the activity of Iraqi ports, especially the Grand Faw Port, calling for taking a decisive position to defend Iraq’s rights.
“Mubarak Port shall cut the water course, used by trade vessels heading for Iraq’s Um-Qasr Port, because its construction and area exceeds the so-called Taluk line, dividing Iraq’s waters with Iran and Kuwait,” the Iraqi Overseas Captain, Kadhim al-Hamami told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Sunday.
He said that “the waves-breakers and naval constructions in the (Gulf) waters, shall represent a nucleus for mud remains, acting with other factors, thing that shall have a passive affect on the Iraqi coasts,” adding that the Mubarak Port “shall minimize the water area, allocated for fishing, depriving Iraqi fishermen for their only source of life.”
“There will be other constructions, along with the said Port, including the gigantic Aluminium Plant, Kuwait had decided to build in the same area, thing that shall have its passive impacts in Iraq’s Khor-Abdullah Port, also affecting the naval environment,” Hamami said.
He said that the Mubarak Port “shall compete directly with the Faw Port, Iraqi has decided to build,” pointing out that “the canal that shall be used by steamers heading to the port, will be the same canal, used by the ships heading towards Um-Qasr Port, taking into consideration that the joint use of the same naval course shall create direct frictions and confrontations between both sides.”
On his part, a high-level Iraqi official, with a State Minister’s post, who asked not to named, told Aswat al-Iraq that “the construction of Mubarak Port is considered a legal violation for the Treatment for Drawing the Borders between Iraq and Kuwait.”
“Mubarak Port shall deprive Iraq from the passage of any ship, with 10-meter depth capacity, to pass through the area, because the said depth shall be on the Kuwait side,” he said.
He stressed that “from the economic aspect, the said port shall deprive Iraq from one of its most important gates to the sea, thus completely squeezing on its main Faw Port, whilst Kuwait possesses a ‘port prosperity,’ due to its possession of 5 ports, whilst the Mubarak Port shall represent a ‘murder’ for the Iraqi ports.”
“Iraqis hope that the said problem would be settled through diplomatic means, being added to the suspended dossiers between both sides,” the official said.
The Deputy Chairman of southern Iraq’s Basra Province’s Council, Ahmed al-Sultany, has laid the passive impacts of Mubarak Port on Iraq’s Faw Port, saying that “this port shall cause the tightening of
Naval canal, and thus strangle the only naval course for Iraq’s Um-Qasr and Khor al-Zubair Ports.”
“There are other technical problems that shall affect Iraq’s Faw Port, in the event of its construction, being an attempt to make Kuwait’s ports substitutes for Iraqi Ports,” he said.
On his part, Iraq’s Parliament Member from al-Ahrar (Liberals) Bloc, Uday Awad, said: “We have good relations with Kuwait, but we can’t stay hand-aloof if Iraq’s interests be affected by anybody.”
“After the return of the fact-find committee about Mubarak Port, it was made clear that it affects Iraq’s Faw Port, and that there is a violation by the Kuwaiti side on Iraq’s naval rights, and there will be a different response towards that; and we, al-Ahrar (Liberals) Bloc won’t be satisfied by mere condemnation!”
“We condemn the positions of some Iraqi political blocs, that have strong relations with the Kuwaiti side, thing that made them take passive attitudes towards the issue of Mubarak Port, as stated by the statements made by some of them,” Awad said.
The Director of Iraqi Ports, Salah Khudhier Abboud, had announced at the end of last week, in a joint press conference with the Iraqi Minister of Transportation, Hadi al-Amiry, that “the change of the position of Mubarak Port to the Kuwait territories won’t affect Iraq, but our problem is that this port’s position shall passively affect the Iraqi territorial waters.
On his part, Iraq’s Transport Minister, Hadi al-Amiry, said that “non-implementation of the Grand Faw Port is considered a treason for Iraq and its future generalsions,” threatening to resign “if the government does not allocate enough money to built the port,” pointing out that Kuwait’s Mubarak Port, that hampers navigation in the joint naval waters stands counter to the UN Security Council’s Resolution 833, and Iraq would not accept that.
“The building of the Grand Mubarak Port stands counter to UN Security Council Resolution 833, and we won’t accept that at all; and Iraq may report to the Security Council if Kuwait insists to build the port,” the Ministers said.
He expressed “surprise for Kuwait’s selection of the said place for building its new port,” adding that “there is another place inside the Kuwaiti territories, where it can build the Mubarak Port on it, thus achieving the necessary economic interest, without passively affecting the Grand Faw Port, Iraq is planning to build, according to Italian designs at the beginning of next year.”
Iraq’s Parliament Speaker, Usama Abdul-Aziz al-Nujeify, had announced that the Parliament would invite in the forthcoming few days both Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Transport & Communications, to explain the problems of the ground and naval border problems between Iraq and Kuwait, after the decision of the Kuwaiti government to expand its Mubarak Port to cover (Iraq’s) Bubian Island, and follow up the developments about the Faw port.
Noteworthy is that the Iraqi Transport Ministry had laid on April 4, 2010, the foundation stone for the Grand Faw Port, covering a 2-million-meter area, and another area of 600,000 square meters for other purposes, with an annual capacity of 99 million tons, whilst the total cost for its construction will be 4 billions and 400 million Euros, and the port is expected to be connected with a railway line, linking the Arab Gulf through Iraqi and Turkish ports, as well as northern Europe.
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Deal to sell Iraqi land to Kuwaiti oil company - Parliament Sources
7/8/2011 4:39 PM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A "deal" is expected to sell 280 thousand donums of land in Seeba, Basra province, to a Kuwaiti company, Parliamentary Oil and Gas Commission member disclosed today.
Eng.
Udai Awad added that "we discovered a deal to sell Iraqi land, within an investment contract in Seeba area with Kuwaiti Energy company".
He pointed out that "the contract with the company is for a limited time, which does not mean selling the land to a non-Iraqi company".
He charged vice-premier for energy affairs Hussein al-Shahristani "the responsibility of signing the contract with its negative effects on the future of Iraq, ignoring Iraqi public feelings for Kuwaiti government negative stands".
Awad added he will "refer this dossier to the parliament with the documents of the selling deal to be discussed and put into account who were behind it".
Shahristani and Iraqi minister of oil signed, few weeks ago, a contract with Kuwaiti Energy company to exploit Seeba gas fields in collaboration with a Turkish company within the bids to exploit oil and gas fields in Iraq.
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Kuwait port question may be referred to UN Security Council - MP
7/8/2011 5:07 PM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A Foreign Relations Parliamentary Member said today that his commission is waiting a detailed opinion form the Cabinet on the Kuwaiti Mobarak port, pointing out that Iraq may refer the question to the UN Security Council, because "the patience of Iraqis has limits".
MP Hassan Khudhair Shiwairid told Aswat al-Iraq that "if the Commission was able to reach positive results through negotiations, for both countries' interests, that will be good, otherwise we will refer the matter to the UN Security Council or to International Accords".
Vice-Premier Saleh al-Mutlaq stated last Wednesday, during a conference on the effects of Mobarak Port on Iraq, that "the neighboring countries should not gamble on Iraqi patience".
Kuwait is trying to build a big port to enhance its trade position.
The port is due opposite to the port Iraq is intending to build, which matter aroused the indignation of Iraqi specialists and politicians, because the port will affect Iraq ports and stra
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Unresolved disputes mar Iraq-Kuwait relations
Protesters in Basra demonstrate against Kuwait's plans to build a nuclear reactor near the Iraqi border and a port that might congest Iraq's commercial waterways. (ALI ABU IRAQ/Iraq Oil Report)
By Ben Lando, Ali Abu Iraq and Staff of Iraq Oil Report
Published July 14, 2011
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said he will take a Basra parliamentarian to court over accusations the ex-oil minister sacrificed territorial integrity to Kuwait in a gas field contract.
The impending lawsuit is the latest controversy stemming from contentious relations between Iraq and Kuwait, which remain hyper-politicized after years of unresolved disputes dating from the Saddam Hussein era.
Earlier this week, accusations flew between Shahristani, who was oil ministe...
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Iraq reacts to Kuwait nuclear plans
Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:42AM
Iraq and Kuwait have locked horns over a new nuclear reactor that Kuwait plans to build near Um Qasur port in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
Kuwait says it is planning to build four nuclear reactors near Iraqi coasts by 2022 and it needs to go ahead with the project to generate enough electricity to meet its growing domestic demand, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The Iraqi officials, however, have expressed concerns about the sheikhdom's nuclear projects, accusing Kuwaiti officials of acting as US instruments to weaken Iraq's economic and political status.
“What Kuwait is doing is part of a US plan to weaken Iraq. The move gives a justification for the US occupation forces to extend their presence in Iraq. We want them to stop this project,” Iraqi lawmaker Jawad al-Bazuni said.
Members of Basra Provincial Council have also urged Kuwait to stop its project, planned to be launched in Warbh island less than four kilometers away from the Iraqi coasts south of Basra.
They say the Iraqi government must adopt a strong position regarding the issue.
“We have discussed Kuwaiti projects like the Mubarak port and the nuclear reactors. We consider them as dangerous projects that would affect our economy and security,” said Vice-President of Basra Provincial Council Ahmad al-Sulaiti.
The Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh has said that the foreign ministry will do its best through diplomatic channels to block Kuwait's nuclear project.
Iraqi officials in Basra also insist that the Kuwaiti nuclear project would have damaging environmental consequences for Iraq.
The contentious relations between the two Arab states remain highly politicized after the former regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the Persian Gulf state in 1991.
Ironically, The invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein forces came despite the US-backed Kuwaiti regime offered tens of billions of dollars in aid to the Iraqi dictator to support his war effort against neighboring Iran. The eight-year Iraqi war against the Islamic Republic was fully backed and supported by all of the US-backed Arab dictatorships in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.
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Aswat Al Iraq / Politics , Baghdad
Kuwaiti government insists to build Mubarak Port "till the end"
7/27/2011 12:02 PM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Kuwaiti government has announced on Wednesday its intention to build the Mubarak Port “till the end,” whilst Kuwaiti diplomatic sources said that the port’s project had been settled politically and won’t be discussed with the Iraqi side in the next meeting of the High Kuwaiti-Iraqi Committee, scheduled to convene in Baghdad after the month of Ramadan, according to the Kuwaiti al-Siyasa newspaper.
Al-Siyasa, in its Wednesday issue, has quoted the Official Spokesman for the Kuwaiti government and the State Minister for the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers, Ali Al-Rashid, as saying that “the Kuwaiti government is marching forward, without stop, to build the Mubarak Port’s project ‘till the end,’ denying that explosions have taken place close to the Port 10 days ago.
On the other hand, the Kuwaiti newspaper quoted high-level Kuwaiti diplomatic sources in the Foreign Ministry as saying that “the Grand Mubarak Port has been settled politically and won’t be discussed by the Iraqi side, during the next meeting of the High Kuwaiti-Iraqi Committee, scheduled to be held in Baghdad after the month of Ramadan.”
It pointed out that “the schedule of the Committee’s works shall include dossiers that were not settled till now, including the maintenance of the border signs, the restoration of the remains of the prisoners-of-war (POWs) and the issue of the compensations.”
The same sources pointed out that “the Iraqi delegation that shall visit Kuwait soon, according to an announcement by Iraq’s Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zibary, shall discuss some technical matters, related to the Port, without discussing Kuwait’s right in building a port on its territories and within its territorial waters.”
As regards to the UN Security Council’s Resolution 833, the said sources stressed that the “Resolution confirms cooperation between Kuwait and Iraq, regarding the safe passage through Khor-Abdullah and the sea navigation freedom, on basis of which the Iraqi Delegation for Cooperation & Coordination would be received, and not to discuss Kuwait’s constant right in the construction of the Port, works for which are continuing well.”
Kuwait had announced on April 6th last the beginning of works to construct the Mubarak Port after one year of Iraq’s announcement of its intention to build its Grand Faw Port, whilst the Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the Development Minister, Ahmed al-Fahad, had stated that the project, construction of which was agreed upon with the South-Korean Hondai Company, would be “friendly to environment.”
The Kuwaiti Ministry also confirmed that the project “includes major goals to achieve hopes and ambitions of the Kuwaiti people, who have always wished to build a port in the said strategic and active location, in order to make Kuwait a financial and trade center on both Regional and International levels.”
Noteworthy is that Iraq’s Transport Ministry had laid down the foundation stone for the Grand Faw Port’s project, designs of which point out to its compromise of a containers terminal stretching to 39 km and a pavement extending to 2,000 km, as well as a square container with an area of more than one million square meters, along with a field of multi-purpose area of 600,000 square meters, with a capacity of 99 million tons annually.
The Ministry had estimated the total cost for the construction of the said Port would reach 4 billions (b) and 400 million Euros, with the hope that the connection of the port, through the railways would link the Gulf area through the ports of Iraq and the ports of turkey in northern Europe.
SKH (FT)
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Kuwaiti newspaper: two bombs exploded near the port of Mubarak
Reported, "today's world," KUNA said two hand grenades to two explosions occurred near the port authorities plan to Mubarak, who built near the Iraqi border by about ten days.
The newspaper published on Wednesday that the threat of the armed group to strike the interests of those who carried out the port of Mubarak, coincided with the fall of two missiles at the Kuwaiti embassy inside the Green Zone in Baghdad, making the Ambassador to the insured to leave Iraq to his country, and that the workers at the site of the port were transferred to the Kuwaiti authorities, the story that that the explosions of grenades and hand-signed near the port about ten days before the Kuwaiti authorities suppressed the news.
It is worth mentioning that a group Hezbollah had fired the Iraqi threats to attack the port of Mubarak in the case of the Kuwaiti side's insistence on continuing to work with this project.
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Iran conducting seismic scans in Kuwaiti waters
Published Date: July 31, 2011
KUWAIT: Iranian geologists have been trespassing into Kuwait's territorial waters to conduct seismic scans in the Durra and Lulu offshore oil fields, according to a senior Kuwaiti oil sector official.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Kuwaiti authorities are aware of the Iranian scientists' intrusion into Kuwaiti waters, "which happen at least once a month," suggesting that the scans aim to assess the oilfields' reserves.
The Iranians' incursions into these areas "violate the privacy of work on the fields' premises," the official asserted, warning that the information gained during these trips "could be used to put pressure on Kuwait to share the fields with Iran.
Kuwait's state oil company, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), plans to utilize the offshore fields as part of its current five-year plan, which concludes at the end of 2013, the official explained, adding that Kuwait already spent more than $40 million on seismic scans and other procedures in the two fields prior to beginning the drilling process.
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Kuwait’s Ambassador to Baghdad denies knowledge of plan to undermine stability in southern Iraq
8/9/2011 11:49 AM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Kuwaiti Ambassador to Baghdad, Ali al-Mo’amin, has denied having any knowledge about a plan, claimed by certain sources, that a member in Kuwait’s ruling family was leading a plan aimed at undermining stability in southern Iraq, al-Sharq al-Awsat Newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The Newspaper quoted the semi-official Iranian Mehr news agency as reporting that “sources in the Iraqi Council of Ministers had said that a meeting was held in Baghdad last Sunday of Iraq’s National Security Council, chaired by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, attended by Deputy Prime Minister, Roz Nouri Shawes, Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zibary, Finance Minister, Rafi’e al-Issawi, along with the National Security Advisor, Faleh al-Fayadh, Intelligence Director, Zuheir al-Gharbawi, the Army’s Chief of Staff, Babakir Zibary and Commanders of the Security Bodies.”
“Prime Minister Maliki had informed the conferees, who attended the said meeting that he had received information that one of Kuwait’s ruling family’s Sheikhs (Chieftains), steering its Intelligence Body, is planning to conscript certain elements to undermine security in Southern Iraq!,” Mehr reported.
It quoted the Iranian Agency as saying that “Maliki had also informed the conferees that he had informed the Emir of Kuwait, during his visit to Kuwait last April, that the said Sheikh’s plan depends on conscripting terrorist groups inside Iraq to undermine the situation in the country, especially in Southern Iraq.”
Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Baghdad, Ali al-Mu’amin, as saying “he did not possess any information in this respect and he can’t issue an opinion of a position about something he did not have any information about,” promising to “follow up the issue with different Kuwaiti parties, especially that such information seems to be out of his authorities, and had involved certain officials, higher than him.”
The Newspaper quoted an Iraqi official source as saying that “Iraq deals with Kuwait through the principle of goodwill and it is actually trying to close the painful page of the past between both countries,” charging that “the said information had been fabricated and that the New Iraq does not deal with such intelligence tactics.”
“Such information could be dealt with inside certain bodies here-and-there, stemming from their sources, whether they were true or not; but they must be followed up,” he stressed.
Kuwait had announced on April 6th last the beginning of the construction of its Mubarak Port, one year after Iraq’s announcement of its intention to build its Grand Faw Port in the Gulf.
Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the Minister of Development, Ahmed al-Fahad, had stated that the project, contract of which was concluded with the South-Korean Hondai Company “would be a friend for the environment,” stressing that it “includes great motives, aimed at achieving hopes and ambitions of the Kuwaiti people, who had always wished to build a port in such strategic and active position, aimed at making Kuwait a financial and commercial center on both Regional and International Levels.”
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Kuwait’s Army mobilized in Bobian Island to “protect Mubarak Port”
8/10/2011 1:34 PM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Kuwait’s Defense Ministry has taken huge security precautions, represented by the mobilization of a military force in Bobian Island, close to the end of Iraq’s Shatt al-Arab Waterway close to southern Iraq’s Basra Province, to protect its so-called Grand Mubarak Port, the Kuwaiti al-Watan Newspaper reported on Wednesday.
“The Kuwaiti Defense Ministry has taken very huge security precautions in the Grand Mubarak Port, since the moment of the beginning of its construction,” the newspaper stressed, pointing out to the presence of “a military force in Bobian island, including Military Police of ‘Amoun Defense Orgnanization,’ the Intelligence, Air Defense, 35th Companies, the 6th Brigade and the Naval Force,” in the area.
Al-Watan quoted a Kuwaiti military source as saying that “the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense had striven to secure the Port in the ground, sea and air, since the beginning of its construction,” adding that “such measure had been followed by a number of states, before the beginning of any vital project, close to the borders of other states,” stressing that “the said force had not noted any security violation for the Port and its surrounding areas.”
In a related development, al-Watan quoted the British Ambassador to Kuwait, Frank Baker, to have stated that “Kuwait has the right to implement and build the Port, stemming from its full legitimacy and sovereignty on its territories.”
The Ambassador told a news conference in Kuwait that “the thing that effects the Iraqi side towards the project is not logical, because the port is being built inside Kuwaiti territories,” confirming “necessity to settle the differences between both sides through direct negotiations and away from escalation of those of conflicts.”
Kuwait had announced on April 6th last, the beginning of building the Grand Mubarak Port, one year after Iraq’s announcement to build its Grand Faw Port in the Gulf.
Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and its Development Minister, Ahmed al-Fahad, had stated that the “project, it had agreed upon for its construction with the South-Korean Hyundai Company, shall be ‘friend for the environment’ pointing out that it comprises “great motives, achieving the hopes and ambitions of the Kuwaiti people, who had always looked forward towards building a port in that strategic and vital position, making Kuwait a financial and commercial center on both Regional and International levels.”
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الكويت تنشر صواريخ قرب الحدود وتعرقل الملاحة في خور عبد الله
بغداد-وارع- ندد نواب من كتل مختلفة بالتحشيد العسكري الكويتي في جزيرة بوبيان قرب الحدود العراقية، معتبرين اياه عملا استفزازيا وغير مبرر.يأتي ذلك في وقت وصفت فيه مصادر أمنية حدودية من البصرة، تمركز القوة العسكرية الكويتية في جزيرة بوبيان بأنه "يثير الشكوك ويهدد أمن المنطقة"، فيما كشفت شركة الموانئ عن قيام الكويت بانشاء محطة انتظار للبواخر العاملة بمشروع ردم الممر الملاحي وميناء مبارك ما قد يتسبب في اغلاق الممر الملاحي في خور عبد الله.
فقد اكد النائب عن التحالف الوطني علي شبر ان التحشيد العسكري الذي قامت به دولة الكويت في جزيرة بوبيان امر غير مقبول وغير مبرر، معتبراً انه اجراء استفزازي وبامكان العراق ان يقوم باجراء مشابه، الا ان هذا التصعيد لا يصب في مصلحة البلدين.
واعلن رئيس الوزراء نوري المالكي الجمعة الماضي، ان "العراق طلب رسمياً من الكويت إيقاف العمل بميناء مبارك، إلى حين التأكد من عدم إضراره بالملاحة العراقية، إلا أن الجانب الكويتي لم يرد رسمياً على هذا الطلب"، مهدداً بـ"اللجوء إلى الأمم المتحدة وإقامة دعوى قضائية لوقف عمل المشروع في حال ثبت أنه يسبب ضرراً للعراق". من جهته، قال النائب عن القائمة العراقية حيدر الملا: "ان في ما يتعلق بملف التهديدات الخارجية فكلنا ائتلاف دولة قانون وكلنا التحالف الوطني وكلنا العراقية لان الامر يمس سيادة العراق كما سنعضد موقف رئيس الوزراء لحل المشاكل والقضايا العالقة مع الكويت، ولكن بالطرق الدبلوماسية واللجوء الى الحوار الصادق البناء، وان لم تكن مثمرة فيمكننا اللجوء الى قوانين وقرارات الامم المتحدة".وفي البصرة، قال مصدر أمني من المحافظة في تصريح صحفي : ان "الكويت دفعت على مراحل جزءا من قواتها البرية قبالة جزيرة بوبيان، فيما شرعت بنصب قواعد صاروخية لم يتم التحقق من طبيعتها ما اثار الشكوك بشأن النوايا الحقيقية من وراء تلك التعزيزات".
وفي سياق متصل، قال رئيس اللجنة الامنية لمجلس محافظة البصرة علي غانم المالكي : ان "دولة الكويت من خلال قيامها بالتصعيد العسكري تبحث عن ذرائع لتبرير تجاوزاتها على الحدود وفرض امر واقع جديد تمثل بانشاء ميناء مبارك على المسطح المائي لخور عبد الله وحفر مئات الابار النفطية على طول الشريط الحدودي بين البلدين البالغ 190 كم الممتد من خضر الماي شمال غرب البصرة الى مدينة ام قصر جنوبا".
وحذر من ان البصرة النفطية باتت تقع تحت تهديد الخطر العسكري الكويتي، وان أي اخطاء في التقديرات السوقية ستكون البصرة مدينة تحت مرمى تلك القوات التي لا تبعد الا خمس كيلو مترات عن الحدود الجنوبية.
كما لفت معاون مدير عام شركة الموانئ العراقية الكابتن عزيز هاشم العبيدي الى ان الكويت خالفت القوانين والادميرالية البحرية ومنظمة الايمو الدولية بانشاء محطة انتظار لبواخرها العاملة بمشروع ردم الممر الملاحي وميناء مبارك والتي تهدد باغلاق الممر الملاحي الى خور عبدالله لكونها تقع في منطقة ضيقة ملاحيا ما ينذر بتصادم البواخر فيها.
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Kuwait deploy missiles near the border and impede navigation in the Khawr Abd Allah
BAGHDAD - babysit - denounced the deputies of the different blocks Balthhid Kuwaiti military on the island of Bubiyan near the Iraqi border, considering him an act of provocation and justification. This comes at a time and described the sources of security border from Basra, the concentration of military force, the Kuwaiti island of Bubiyan that "raises doubts and threatens security of the region, "while the company revealed the ports for the establishment of the Kuwait station waiting for the ships working a project to bridge the waterway and the port of Mubarak, which may cause the closure of the waterway in the Khor Abdullah.
The MP for the National Alliance on the military build-inch that the State of Kuwait in Bubiyan is unacceptable and unjustified, considering it a provocation and the possibility of Iraq to carry out a similar, but this escalation is not in the interest of the two countries.
And Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last Friday, that "Iraq has formally requested from Kuwait stop working port Mubarak, until make sure that does harm to the navigation of Iraq, the Kuwaiti side has not formally responded to this request" and threatened to "resort to the United Nations and the establishment of a lawsuit a lawsuit to stop the project if it is established that causes damage to Iraq. " For his part, MP for the Iraqi List, Haidar al-Mulla said: "in the file of external threats we are all a coalition of state law and all the National Alliance and all of Iraq because it affects the sovereignty of Iraq as Snedd position of the Prime Minister to resolve the problems and outstanding issues with Kuwait, but through diplomacy and resort to sincere dialogue building, and were not fruitful, we can resort to the laws and UN resolutions. "In Basra, a security source said of the province in a press statement:" Kuwait is paid in stages as part of its ground troops off the island of Bubiyan, while embarked on basing missile has not been verify the nature of raising doubts about the real intentions behind those enhancements. "
In a related context, the head of the security committee of the provincial council in Basra, Ghanim al-Maliki: "The State of Kuwait through its military escalation looking for excuses to justify the excesses at the border and impose a new reality is the establishment of the port of the president on the body of water to the Khor Abdullah and the drilling of hundreds of oil wells on along the border between the two countries of 190 km stretching from Mai Khader northwest city of Basra to Umm Qasr in the south. "
He warned that Basra's oil is now located under the threat of the military threat of Kuwait, and that any errors in the estimates the market will be under the city of Basra against those forces which lies only five kilometers from the southern border.
As pointed Associate Director of Iraqi ports, Captain Aziz, Hashim al-Obeidi said Kuwait violated laws and Aladamiralah Navy and the Emo international establishment station waiting for Bwaka working a project to bridge the waterway and the port of Mubarak, which threatens to close the waterway to the Khor Al Abdullah of being located in the narrow shipping failure and chattering ships there.
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UPDATE 1-Iraq awards $471.7 mln contract to Saipem
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E7JH0X420110817?sp=true
Wed Aug 17, 2011
* Saipem to build a third export terminal
* Work involves building a sub-sea pipeline
* Duration of the $471.7 mln contract is 24 months (Adds more details, background, byline)
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Iraq has awarded a $471.7 million contract for an oil export facility expansion and sub-sea pipeline to Italian group Saipem , Iraqi oil sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
Saipem will build a single point mooring buoy (SPM) with an export capacity of 900,000 barrels per day and construct a 50-kilometre pipeline to transport crude from storage depots in Iraq's southern Faw peninsula to the new floating terminal, according to the sources and to documents obtained by Reuters.
Saipem should complete engineering, procurements and construction work within 24 months. The order is the second phase in a wider expansion project announced last year..
Tender documents show that three other companies submitted bids for the contract, including Leighton Offshore Private Ltd, National Petroleum Construction Co. (NPCC) and J. Ray McDermott, a part of U.S.-based engineering and construction company McDermott International Inc. .
The whole expansion project, for which Foster Wheeler AG is handling the project management consultancy services, involves building two marine pipelines and one onshore pipeline and installing four single point moorings for loading oil tankers at a total cost of about $1.3 billion.
In the first stage, Australian construction contractor Leighton Holdings last year had signed a $733 million contract with Iraq's South Oil Company to install moorings and pipelines in the Gulf, off Iraq's coast.
Iraq has awarded a series of massive oilfield development contracts to majors such as Shell and BP with the ambitious target of expanding its oil production capacity to 12 million bpd by 2017. Most analysts see 6-7 million bpd is more realistic.
Current export infrastructure is out-dated and lacks the capacity to handle Iraq's future expected output raise. Iraq is currently exporting an average of 2.2 million barrels per day and expects to export 2.5 mln bpd in 2012.
After completing the export facility expansion project, Iraq would start renovating two existing oil terminals in south Basra with a plan to build a strategic pipeline from the southern Basra fields through Syria and Turkey. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; editing by Patrick Markey and Keiron Henderson)
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Aswat Al Iraq / Politics , Baghdad
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry charged with treating Mubarak Port’s crisis with illegal manner, according to MP
8/22/2011 11:37 AM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Legislature of the White al-Iraqiya Bloc, Alia Nuseif, has demanded Iraq’s Foreign Ministry to deal with the crisis about Kuwait’s Mubarak Port, according to International laws and not on “non-committing correspondence and documents.”
“The Foreign Ministry is following a wrong direction, through dealing with correspondence and documents with the Kuwaiti side, that have no legal value, thinking that such documents might oblige the Kuwaiti side that its Mubarak Port won’t affect Iraq’s navigation movement,” Nuseif said in a statement on Monday.
Nuseif said that “the Iraqi Foreign Ministry must deal with Kuwait according to the International laws, especially that the Seas Navigation Law includes a condition that the building of ports must not affect the navigation movement.”
“The Mubarak Port shall highly affect the navigation movement and cause continuous accidents by steamers, after its narrowing of this water passage,” she said, “charging that Kuwait would stand behind such accidents in the event of its insistence to build its port, without taking any other facts into consideration.”
She said that the Iraqi Foreign Minister “shall fall into a great embarrassing in the event of such accidents that might occur in the said narrow water passage, because it did not depend on International laws in dealing with this serious dossier, bearing the legal and historic responsibility for the results of such ill-treated and unserious trends.”
Kuwait had announced on April 6th last the beginning of works to build its Mubarak Port, after one year of Iraq’s announcement to build its Grand Faw Port in the same area.
Iraq had strongly criticized the Kuwaiti project and its government and Parliament officials have considered the project as harming to the interest of Iraq, due to its closing the narrow water passage leading to the Iraqi ports, demanding Kuwait to change the site of the Port, in such a way that does not undermine Iraq’s interests.
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Three rockets hit area near Kuwait-Iraq border -TV
26 Aug 2011 01:42
Source: reuters // Reuters
(Adds details, source)
By Martina Fuchs
DUBAI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Three rockets have hit the border area between Kuwait and Iraq, Al Arabiya TV reported early on Friday quoting diplomatic sources.
The pro-Gaddafi TV channel Al Orouba reported the rockets had targeted Kuwait's Mubarak port, which is under construction and has been the subject of arguments between oil-producing Iraq and Kuwait, which share a small border.
The Dubai-based channel said the Katyusha rockets did not target the port.
Kuwait is building the $1.1 billion port on Bubiyan Island. Iraq says the port interferes with shipping lanes to its own ports.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the rockets being fired, or immediate comment from Iraq or Kuwait.
A Kuwaiti security source told Reuters he heard attackers from Iraq had launched three rockets at 00:30 a.m on Friday which landed on Iraqi territory without reaching Kuwait.
On Thursday, Kuwait's state news agency KUNA reported that a Foreign Ministry official denied Iraq had summoned the Kuwaiti ambassador in Baghdad and handed him a protest message over the building of the Mubarak port in Kuwait.
The official said the Mubarak port was being built on Kuwait territories and the dispute with Iraq over it was being handled through official contacts between the two countries.
Kuwait was invaded by Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1990 and a shaky relationship has continued even since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003. (Reporting by Martina Fuchs in Dubai and Sami Aboudi in Cairo; Editing by Alison Williams)
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Three rockets hit area near Kuwait-Iraq border -TV
26 Aug 2011 01:42
Source: reuters // Reuters
(Adds details, source)
By Martina Fuchs
DUBAI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Three rockets have hit the border area between Kuwait and Iraq, Al Arabiya TV reported early on Friday quoting diplomatic sources.
The pro-Gaddafi TV channel Al Orouba reported the rockets had targeted Kuwait's Mubarak port, which is under construction and has been the subject of arguments between oil-producing Iraq and Kuwait, which share a small border.
The Dubai-based channel said the Katyusha rockets did not target the port.
Kuwait is building the $1.1 billion port on Bubiyan Island. Iraq says the port interferes with shipping lanes to its own ports.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the rockets being fired, or immediate comment from Iraq or Kuwait.
A Kuwaiti security source told Reuters he heard attackers from Iraq had launched three rockets at 00:30 a.m on Friday which landed on Iraqi territory without reaching Kuwait.
On Thursday, Kuwait's state news agency KUNA reported that a Foreign Ministry official denied Iraq had summoned the Kuwaiti ambassador in Baghdad and handed him a protest message over the building of the Mubarak port in Kuwait.
The official said the Mubarak port was being built on Kuwait territories and the dispute with Iraq over it was being handled through official contacts between the two countries.
Kuwait was invaded by Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1990 and a shaky relationship has continued even since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003. (Reporting by Martina Fuchs in Dubai and Sami Aboudi in Cairo; Editing by Alison Williams)
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Iraqi official says rockets landed in Iraq, not Kuwait
26 Aug 2011 08:05
Source: reuters // Reuters
BAGHDAD, Aug 26 - Three rockets fired in Iraq's southern oil port city of Basra landed inside Iraq and were not aimed at Kuwait or the Mubarak port, an Iraqi official said on Friday.
"The rockets targeted the (former) Bucca prison building, which is used by foreign companies," Ali al-Maliki, head of the Basra provincial council's security committee, told Reuters.
Maliki said the rockets' range was only one kilometre.
Basra police spokesman Colonel Kareem al-Zaidi also denied that any rockets had been fired at Mubarak port. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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Could War Flare Again Between Iraq and Kuwait? |  |  |  |
| Written by John Daly | ||
| ||
Message : Investors: Get a free copy of our latest investment report: The Biggest Upside Stock in the Bakken Oil Formation. This junior company already has great operational success on its huge Bakken land position… and could very well be the next "Bakken Buyout." According to Iraqi Council of Representatives Oil and Energy Committee member Furat al-Sharei, the 10 oil fields that spread across the Iraqi-Kuwaiti frontier are still waiting to have a line drawn through them to delineate the border, more than eight years after a coalition led by U.S. forces toppled the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. For Farid Khalid, head of the energy committee of the Basra provincial council, the issue is simple - “No oil work was done on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti-Iranian borders by the Iraqi government for years which is why the oil reserves were open for looting.” For those seeking to read the tea leaves about Iraq’s oil future, Iraq also has ten common oilfields on its eastern border with Iran that are waiting for the demarcation process to be completed before extraction can begin, but that’s another story for another time. By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com =================== |
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Iraq Resolves Long-Running Disputes With Kuwait
Posted on 15 March 2012. Tags: Iraqi Airways, Kuwait, Kuwait Airways
Iraq Resolves Long-Running Disputes With Kuwait
Iraq announced on Wednesday that it had finalised several agreements with Kuwait on long-running disputes, including the issue of of compensation to Kuwaiti Airways from Iraqi Airways.
Under the deal, Iraq will pay Kuwait $300 million in cash and will invest another $200 million in a joint Iraqi-Kuwaiti airline venture, to settle a claim by state-owned Kuwait Airways that Iraq owes it $1.2 billion for planes and parts stolen after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The airline dispute had led to several seizures by Kuwaiti authorities of overseas Iraqi assets.
“We have achieved a breakthrough in the relationship,” said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
The two countries also reached an agreement on a border dispute, in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution. The move reportedly brings Iraq closer to release from restrictions imposed on it by the United Nations when the Persian Gulf War ended after a U.S.-led intervention in 1991.
Other disputes, including over the proposed construction of a vast port in Kuwait that Iraq fears would threaten traffic to its port in Basra, remain unresolved.
The agreements mark the latest in a series of friendly moves toward countries in the region ahead of the Arab League summit in Baghdad, which is set to begin on 27th March, and which the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, will attend.
(Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, Washington Post)
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Foreign Investment in Iraq Soars
Posted on 15 March 2012
In 2011, foreign firms and investors reported $55.67 billion in investments, service contracts and other commercial activities across Iraq - an estimated 40.3 percent increase in total deal value over the previous year.
So say Dunia Frontier Consultants (DFC) in their latest report on foreign commercial activity in Iraq. But did you know also that:
The total number of reported investments, service contracts and other commercial activities by foreign firms in Iraq increased 80.4% to 294;
Activity was much less volatile, with deal flow varying only 10% on average from month to month, as opposed to an average of 50% per month in 2010; and,
At least 45 countries were active in Iraq.
While the bad news about Iraq still makes the headlines, and with good reason, we shouldn't forget that not all the news from Iraq is bad.
In good times and in bad, Upper Quartile and AAIB are here to help you. For more information please contact Gavin Jones or Adrian Shaw.
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Uticensis Risk @IraqiPolitics
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Shahristani's man wins a legal fight in #Basra over ISCI's man. Deputy gov restored to office by legal order. http://international.daralhayat.com/internationalarticle/375785
15h Reidar Visser Reidar Visser @reidarvisser
محكمة القضاء الإداري تقرر إعادة نائب محافظ البصرة إلى منصبه بعد اقلته
قررت محكمة القضاء الإداري إعادة النائب الاول لمحافظ البصرة نزار الجابري الى منصبه بعدما أقيل مطلع العام الحالي.
وقال الجابري ان"المحكمة الادارية في بغداد اصدرت قراراً باعادتي الى منصبي بعد الطعن بقرار مجلس المحافظة"،مبينا ان"القرار وصف في النص الذي صدر من المحكمة بأنه بات ناجزاً أي لا يجوز لمجلس المحافظة نقضه أو تمييزه".
واضاف ان"قرار إقالتي جاء بعد جلسة إستجواب إستطعت الرد على ما جاء فيها من تساؤلات إلا أن القرار جاء خلافاً للواقع".
وكان مجلس محافظة البصرة قد اقال الجابري من منصبه بتهمة التقصير في أداء واجبه في 30 كانون الثاني الماضي.
وقال عضو الكتلة الصدرية في المجلس كاظم الموسوي إن"قرار إقالة الجابري لم يتضمن شروط الإقالة ولا ينسجم مع البنود التي نصّ عليها الدستور وقانون إدارة المحافظات غير المنتظمة في إقليم".
وتابع ان"الكثير من أعضاء المجلس لم يكونوا مقتنعين بالإستجواب ولا بنتائجه،مضيفا ان"قراراً بعودة الجابري يؤكد أن القضاء منصف وعادل وغير منحاز"،حسب قوله.
@IraqiPolitics This is the MoJ "court". Ruling not on website yet. Legal arguments somewhat hazy in most reports, eg http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/news/news_item.pl?id=2012-03-18%2008:29:31
11h iraqoilforum iraqoilforum @iraqoilforum
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@reidarvisser @IraqiPolitics fyi, head of council Bazouni was on TV yesterday, confirmed court ruling and said council will appeal it
Reidar Visser Reidar Visser @reidarvisser
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@iraqoilforum @IraqiPolitics Thanks. Interesting intra-Shiite dimensions to this little affair!
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10h iraqoilforum iraqoilforum @iraqoilforum
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@reidarvisser It has more to do w Basra politics,was even discussed when Maliki & Shah were in Basr hence the court decision @IraqiPolitics
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