Saudi women activists get jail time for helping starving mother locked in home

Saudi women activists get jail time for helping starving mother locked in home Get short URL Published time: June 19, 2013 01:56 AFP Photo / Fayez Nureldine Share on tumblr Tags Children, Court, Crime, Health, Human rights, Law, Police, Saudi Arabia, Scandal A Saudi court sentenced two women to ten months in prison, along with a two-year travel ban, after they tried to help a Canadian woman who, with her three children, was denied adequate food and water and was subjected to violence by her Saudi husband. On June 6 2011, the two human rights workers Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Oyouni received a text message from Nathalie Morin, the Canadian woman, saying that her husband had locked the whole family in the house and left for a week-long visit to see relatives in another town while her supplies of food and water were running out, according to Human Rights Watch. “I cannot help myself and I have no rights in Saudi Arabia. My children are hungry and I cannot do anything to feed them. I'm fighting to get freedom, justice and fairness for my family including myself,” Morin wrote on her blog. The two bought food and came to Morin’s house, where police were already waiting for them. The women were brought to Damman station for questioning, where police told al-Huwaider and al-Oyouni they believed they were trying to smuggle Morin and her three children to Canada, Human Rights Center reports. After the women signed a statement pledging to cease all involvement with the case, the police released them. However, more than a year later in July 2012, authorities called in al-Huwaider and al-Oyouni for questioning, after which the government launched a case against them. The trial continued for another year, and last Saturday presiding judge Fahad al-Gda'a issued a ruling sentencing the two human rights workers to ten months in prison, imposing an additional two-year travel ban on top of the jail time. The charges were “inciting a woman to flee with her children” and “attempting to turn a woman against her husband.” The women were acquitted of charges that they had attempted to smuggle the wife and her three children to the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh. Al-Huwaider and al-Oyouni plan to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeals. The same day the two women issued a statement that when the case was launched, they predicted that the government was trying to punish them for their women’s rights activism in recent years. A human rights activist holds a banner during a protest. (Reuters / Arko Datta)

Iraqi Kurdistan gives Turkish company six oil exploration blocks

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/turkey-kurdistan-oil-idUSL5N0EU44120130618 ISTANBUL, June 18 | Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:48pm EDT (Reuters) - Local authorities have given an unnamed Turkish company licenses to explore for oil in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to a report, a move that could anger the central government in Baghdad already worried about the region's growing independence. The report, co-published by The Oil & Gas Year and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), is the first official confirmation of the deal. It said a company described only as "a Turkish entity" was given stakes in the Choman, Hindren, Arbat, Pulkhana, Jabal Kand and Khalakan blocks. Resource-hungry Turkey and neighbouring Iraqi Kurdistan, rich in hydrocarbons, have been negotiating on energy since last year. However, the central government insists it has the sole authority to sign energy deals. A Turkish Energy Ministry official declined to comment on the report published by Istanbul-based The Oil & Gas Year. A source at state company Turkiye Petrolleri (TPAO), Turkey's main oil exploration company, denied his company won the licences. The Turkish entity will have 80 percent stakes in the Choman, Hindren and Arbat blocks, the report said. Choman and Hindren are contiguous sections on the border with Iran, and Arbat is in the southeast near the city of Sulaymaniyah and has had some seismic work completed. The entity will hold a 40 percent stake in Pulkhana in the south, where eight wells have been drilled, and Jabal Kand in the west. It is expected to be given a 40 percent stake in the Khalakan block in the east of Iraqi Kurdistan, the report said. The ease of extraction and favourable production-sharing terms have attracted majors such Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Total SA to the Kurdistan region, despite threats of blacklisting from Baghdad, which considers the KRG contracts illegal. The central government's refusal to pay for exports from the north has sharply reduced shipments, which are currently made overland by truck to Turkey. Resolution of the dispute between the regional capital Arbil and Baghdad is essential if the Kurdish region is to reach its export goal of more than 1 million barrels of oil per day in by 2015.

AECOM wins $148m Doha Expressway contract Article

Photos . By Andy Sambidge Tuesday, 18 June 2013 1:29 PM 0 inShare. . The Doha Expressway. AECOM Technology Corporation said on Tuesday that it has been awarded a $148m, three-year contract to provide construction-supervision and design-review services for the portion of the Doha Expressway program in Qatar known as Group 7. The new dual highway will link the cities of Al Khor and Mesaieed. The contract covers the creation of a 105-mile expressway which will help facilitate movement of sea freight into and out of the New Port Project in Doha as well as ease the movement of trucks and delivery vehicles around the city, the US company said in a statement. The project will also feature foot and cycle paths, as well as a provision for a long-distance rail corridor. In addition, approximately 21 main free-flow junctions will be required, along with a number of priority-controlled junctions and private accesses, the statement added. "We are delighted to play such a vital role in advancing Qatar's infrastructure," said AECOM chairman and CEO John M Dionisio. "We look forward to playing a key role in creating a best-in-class infrastructure network that will help fuel the region's growth." Work on the project is set to begin immediately. Last week, UK engineering consultancy Hyder said it had won a $112m contract from Ashghal for the design and construction supervision of a new section of the Doha Expressway projects.

United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace

United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace Tue, Jun 18 13:58 PM EDT By Mark Felsenthal, Hamid Shalizi and Dylan Welch WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will meet the Taliban this week for talks aimed at achieving peace in Afghanistan, where the United States and the insurgents have fought a bloody and costly war for the past 12 years, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The Taliban opened an office in Doha, the Qatari capital, to help restart talks and said it wanted a political solution that would bring about a just government and end foreign occupation of Afghanistan. A senior U.S. official said the talks would start in Doha on Thursday, but President Barack Obama cautioned against expectations of quick progress, saying the peace process would not be easy or quick. U.S. officials say they hope this week's talks will pave the way for the first-ever official peace negotiations between the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban, which has waged a 12-year insurgency to oust Karzai's government and eject U.S.-led NATO troops from the country. U.S. officials said the process could take many years and be subject to reversals.

"This is an important first step towards reconciliation; although it's a very early step," Obama said after a G8 meeting in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. "We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road." U.S. officials said that in the talks in Doha, the United States would stick to its insistence that the Taliban break ties with al Qaeda, end violence, and accept the Afghan constitution, including protection for women and minorities.

U.S. officials said it would be the first U.S. meeting with the Taliban in several years. It was expected to involve an exchange of agendas, followed by another meeting a week or two later to discuss next steps. A U.S. official said he expected the initial meeting would be followed within days by another between the Taliban and the High Peace Council, a structure set up by Karzai to represent Afghanistan in such talks. A senior Afghan official said the Taliban had held secret discussions with the Afghan government and were willing to consider talks involving the High Peace Council. The Taliban have until now said they would not countenance peace talks with the Karzai government, which they consider a stooge of the United States and other Western nations. In opening the Qatar office, the Taliban said it sought a political solution, but said no dates had been agreed for talks. "There are no scheduled dates," Tayeb Agha, a former chief of staff to the Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said in remarks carried live on al Jazeera television. Another Taliban representative, Mohammed Naeem, told a news conference at the opening of the Doha office that the Islamist group wanted good ties with foreign countries. "We want to keep good relations with all of the world countries, in particular with our neighboring countries," he said. "But the Islamic emirate (Taliban) sees the independence of the nation from the current occupation as a national and religious obligation." Tiny, gas-rich Qatar has been an enthusiastic supporter of reconciliation efforts in a number of political crises and wars affecting the Muslim world including those in Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon and Darfur, often hosting peace talks on its own soil to try to prove it can punch above its weight in international diplomacy. 'NEED TO BE REALISTIC' The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the level of trust between the Afghan government and the Taliban was low, and played down expectations that the talks would quickly lead to peace. "We need to be realistic," said one official. "This is a new development, a potentially significant development. But peace is not at hand." News of the planned talks comes as the United States and its allies in NATO seek to meet a deadline of the end of next year for an end to foreign combat operations in Afghanistan. This would allow them to withdraw the majority of their troops and wind down an engagement launched after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives. Obama said peace would only come through an Afghanistan-led process, and commended Karzai for taking a courageous step toward peace. He stressed that the U.S. military effort would continue in spite of the peace efforts.

"We don't anticipate this process will be easy or quick but we must pursue it in parallel with our military approach. And we in the meantime remain fully committed to our military efforts to defeat al Qaeda and to support the Afghan national security forces," Obama said.

Despite the accompanying words of caution, the announcement of the planned talks does represent a significant step forward in the peace process, which has struggled to achieve results despite years of attempts.

A team of envoys from the Taliban flew to Qatar in early 2012 to open talks with the U.S. government. But the Taliban suspended the talks in March 2012, saying Washington was giving mixed signals on the nascent Afghan reconciliation process. Karzai, speaking on Tuesday as the U.S.-led NATO coalition launched a final phase of security transfers to Afghan forces, said his government would send a team to Qatar, but said the talks should quickly be moved to Afghanistan. "We hope that our brothers the Taliban also understand that the process will move to our country soon," Karzai said.

U.S. officials said the goal was to ensure that Afghanistan does not remain a haven for terrorism and to defeat al Qaeda. "The one thing that we do believe is that any insurgent group, including the Taliban, is going to need to accept an Afghan constitution that renounces ties with al Qaeda, ends violence, and is committed to protection of women and minorities in the country," Obama said. The officials said the United States would want the Taliban to make clear its intention to sever ties with al Qaeda. "One of the things we will want to talk about from the very beginning is how they're going to cut ties with al Qaeda," an official said. "How quickly, exactly how they're going to do it, how quickly." A U.S. official said the talks would be conducted on the Taliban side by its political commission, with the authorization of Mullah Omar, and also represent the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network. James Dobbins, the new special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will lead the U.S. side. The Haqqanis are considered the United States' deadliest foe in Afghanistan and the top U.S. and NATO commander in the country cast doubt on Tuesday over whether it could make peace. "All I've seen of the Haqqani would make it hard for me to believe they were reconcilable," U.S. General Joseph Dunford told Pentagon reporters by phone from Kabul. U.S. officials said they expected detainee exchanges to be discussed in the talks. The United States will ask for the safe return of U.S. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who has been a prisoner since June 2009, the officials said. He is thought to be being held by Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan. (Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni in Kabul, Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Amena Bakr and Yara Bayoumy in Dubai, Jeff Mason in Enniskillen and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by David Brunnstrom; Editing by David Storey and Jim Loney) ====================== Taliban's Qatar office stokes Karzai's ire Afghan government is angry the Taliban raised their flag and vowed to continue fighting after opening their Doha centre. Ali M Latifi Last Modified: 21 Jun 2013 06:53 Kabul, Afghanistan - Standing at a podium with his image emblazoned on the wall behind him, Afghan President Hamid Karzai earnestly tried to earn the world's confidence in his government the day his military formally took over security from NATO. With NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen standing next to him, Karzai called June 18 "a great day where the Afghan people will see their own children providing protection to their lives and to their country". But events that transpired before and after Tuesday's press conference have brought the complicated web of Afghan policy to the world stage. Hours after Karzai spoke, the world's attention shifted to a press conference some 4,000 kilometres away, held by the other central party in the Afghan conflict, the Taliban. The highly orchestrated event marking the opening of a much-delayed Taliban political office in Doha, Qatar was the result of year-long negotiations between Washington and representatives of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban refers to itself. Statements made by Taliban officials Sohail Shaheen and Mullah Naeem - speaking in English and Pashto - immediately stoked the ire of the Karzai government, which also spent much of the last year trying to engage in direct talks with the group. Talks cancelled A day after the announcement, the Afghan government called off negotiations between Kabul and Washington on a bilateral security agreement. A statement released by the presidential palace said the suspension was in response to "the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the Peace Process". "The only purpose the Taliban's office in Doha ought to serve is as an address for holding their leaders accountable for their terror and attempts at denying ordinary Afghans a peaceful future." - Afghanistan 1400 group statement This "contradiction" was most evident in the black-and-white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that hung behind the two Taliban representatives, a move an official involved in the negotiations told Al Jazeera came as a shock to Washington. "Until the last minute, the White House never cleared the Taliban to hang their flag," the official said, requesting anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to the press. Karzai had specifically raised the issue of the flag during a March meeting with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, because it leads to the perception that "there are two states within the Afghan nation", said the official. Another contradiction at the Taliban's presser was a vow to continue fighting until a ceasefire is signed. Qasim Yar is a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, the body tasked by the Karzai government to negotiate with the Taliban. He said what was said at the press conference came as a surprise. "When they enjoy the Qatari's assistance, financial, logistics - an office, a building, and political protection - and support of the US, and then from there they command that Afghan children be killed, women be killed, the elderly be killed … what does this mean? "It means that their terrorist attacks are under the protection of the Qatari government and the US government," Yar said. Initially optimistic about Afghan representatives being dispatched to Doha, the Karzai's attitude had abruptly changed by Wednesday. "As long as the peace process is not Afghan-led, the High Peace Council will not participate in the talks in Qatar," Karzai said. Unilateral decision The cessation of talks around the bilateral security agreement has further highlighted the tempestuous relationship between Afghanistan and the United States. Afghan President Hamid Karzai on June 18 [Reuters] Those familiar with the events that led to the political office's opening framed it as a unilateral decision borne out of US frustration with the Karzai government. Washington's decision was relayed to Karzai during a recent phone call between the Afghan president and John Kerry, the US secretary of state. "We can't keep waiting for you. Your government keeps saying they're in communication with the Taliban, but we have seen no progress", Waheed Mozhdah, a former official in the foreign ministry of the Taliban government, quoted Kerry as saying. Along with growing impatience towards the Afghan government, Mozhdah said Washington was compelled to talk by recent Taliban inroads with Iran and Lebanon. A June 4 statement issued by Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed a Taliban delegation headed by the chief of the political office had embarked on a three-day visit to Tehran to make "heard the voices and demands of [the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's] people and Mujahideen". The presence of heavy machinery in the western province of Herat "usually found in Lebanon" further worried the US, Mozhdah told Al Jazeera. Specific directives Long wary of the relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan, Mozhdah said the potential of a partnership with Iran - a country that, unlike Pakistan, the US has little leverage over. That "really frightened the United States", he said. Even though talks broke down last year officially, the CIA and Britain's MI6 intelligence service have been talking unofficially to the Taliban since then. The official involved in the negotiations said once the decision had been made by Washington to officially sanction the political office in the Qatari capital, the Taliban was given specific directives, including severing ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat At the Doha press conference, the Taliban representatives said their "independent Islamic system" in Afghanistan "will [not] allow anyone to cause a threat to the security of countries from the soil of Afghanistan". That statement, said the official, "was the Taliban's way of saying they are distancing themselves from al-Qaeda, without having to say it outright". Further, those Taliban involved in negotiations must not return to the battlefield. "If the violence continues, there is no political gravitas," the official said. For the Taliban, adhering to US demands would pay dividends. "In the next few months, we will see four Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo handed over to Qatari authorities," he said, adding that issue had led to the original breakdown of official talks last year. The Taliban also stand to gain a security role in Afghanistan, the official said. However, speaking to Al Jazeera after the Doha press conference, Mohammad Sohail Shaheen said without a ceasefire, "[Taliban-led] attacking will continue in parallel with the peaceful talks for peace". That pledge was fulfilled only hours later when the group took responsibility for rocket attacks that killed four US soldiers near Bagram Air Base, 60 kilometres north of Kabul. Return to the past? The Taliban has shown little interest in speaking with the Karzai government. The Doha office was conceived as "an address only to negotiate with the US", Mozhdah said. The refusal of the Taliban to speak to Karzai and his government is both political and personal. Taliban officials cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony of a Taliban Afghanistan Political Office [EPA] According to Daoud Sultanzoy, a former Afghan MP, a Taliban willingness to approach a government that is seen as "void of support in this country, it will be seen as contradictory to what they say they stand for". On a personal level, the official involved in negotiations the Taliban hates Karzai. As a Kanadahari Pashtun working with what the Taliban see as "occupying" forces, Karzai "is seen as a traitor", he told Al Jazeera. Mozhdah said the Taliban were actively trying to court the Afghan political opposition, with whom they are keen to negotiate. For many Afghans, especially young ones, any talks with the Taliban should come with caveats. Afghanistan 1400, a group that refers to itself as "a national movement of Afghanistan's new generation", warned the Doha political office should not be "perceived as any openness of the people of Afghanistan, in particular our new generation, to backtracking on the hard-won achievements of the past decade". "The only purpose the Taliban's office in Doha ought to serve is as an address for holding their leaders accountable for their terror and attempts at denying ordinary Afghans a peaceful future," the group said in a statement released on Wednesday. These statements were echoed by Pashtun Women Viewpoint, a London-based group whose members include female academics, activists, and writers. Heelai Noor, the group's co-founder, told Al Jazeera by excluding the Afghan government in the Doha negotiations, Qatar and the United States were "supporting a group, which was ironically deemed a terrorist organisation by the whole world until recently, over a legally elected democratic government in Afghanistan". ====================

"It is an old wound that needs to be ... healed,"

Iran's Rohani hopes all will seize chance of friendly ties Mon, Jun 17 15:09 PM EDT 1 of 2 By Yeganeh Torbati and Jon Hemming DUBAI (Reuters) - President-elect Hassan Rohani held out the prospect on Monday of better relations between Iran and the world, including the United States, and progress on resolving the nuclear dispute. But the moderate cleric who scored a surprise election victory on Friday insisted Washington and the West must recognize what he said was Tehran's right to enrich uranium, not interfere in Iran's internal affairs and end their hostility. he told his first news conference since his election win. Asked if he would be prepared to hold direct talks with the United States, Rohani said: "The issue of relations between Iran and America is a complicated and difficult issue." "It is an old wound that needs to be ... healed," he said. Rohani set three conditions for direct talks.

"First of all the Americans have to say ... that they will never interfere in Iran's internal affairs. Second, they have to recognize all of the Iranian nation's due rights including nuclear rights, and third they have to put aside oppressive ... policies towards Iran," he said. Rohani said his new government, to be formed after his inauguration in August, would "revive ethics and constructive interaction with the world through moderation". "I hope that all countries use this opportunity," He said Iran would not halt those activities again. "That period has ended," he said, but added that Tehran would be more transparent about its activities in the future. "Our nuclear programs are completely transparent. But we are ready to show greater transparency and make clear for the whole world that the steps of the Islamic Republic of Iran are completely within international frameworks," he said.

The White House said on Sunday the election of Rohani was a "potentially hopeful sign" if he lives up to what it said were his promises to "come clean" over the nuclear program. Western countries believe Iran's nuclear program is cover for plans to develop the means to one day build an atomic bomb. Washington and the European Union severely tightened financial and trade sanction on Iran last year, forcing sharp cuts to its oil exports and causing serious harm to its economy. Iran says its nuclear program is for energy and medical purposes only, and its sovereign right under international treaties which guarantee countries access to peaceful atomic technology if they forego weapons. Rohani was Iran's nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 during which time he negotiated a suspension of Tehran's uranium enrichment. REFORMIST OUTBURST A close associate of hardline Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for more than 40 years, Rohani also received the backing of former presidents Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, and pragmatic political heavyweight Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Though a renowned bridge-builder, Rohani will have a hard task balancing the public demand for more openness and the likely resistance of the conservative establishment. Underlining that challenge, the news conference ended when one man shouted a slogan in favor of reformist Mirhossein Mousavi, held under house arrest since 2011. Mousavi ran for president in 2009 and led the "Green Movement" of mass demonstrations contesting his defeat, which became the biggest challenge to Iran's ruling system since its founding in the 1979 revolution. "Rohani remember, Mirhossein must be (present)," the man shouted live on state television. Rohani left the dais and state television cut to scenes of people voting and music. Rohani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had clashed with Iran's conservative establishment despite winning Khamenei's backing to suppress the Green Movement protests four years ago. In a sign of the country's deep divisions, Ahmadinejad - who remains president until Rohani's inauguration in August - was summoned on Monday to appear before a court on unspecified criminal charges. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, whose powerful family Ahmadinejad accused of corruption, has made complaints against him. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Iranian election was evidence of popular discontent with the Tehran government, but said Rohani did not have the power to change nuclear policy, which is in the hands of Khamenei. Iran's desire for better relations, Rohani said, only applied to countries with which Tehran recognizes, a category that would exclude Israel. As well as the nuclear dispute, relations with the West and Iran's internal divisions, Rohani also has to cope with an economy damaged by international sanctions and mismanagement and a civil war in Syria where it backs President Bashar al-Assad. Better relations with other countries and the recognition of Iran's nuclear rights through negotiation would lead to the lifting of sanctions and improvement of the economy, he said. The civil war in Syria, the bespectacled grey-bearded cleric said, would be resolved "with the vote of the people of Syria ... that which worries our people is the civil war and the interference of foreigners, which must end." (Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian and Marcus George; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Peter Graff)

Farm In Not Take Over

Wed 08:56 Re: XEL.L 28 Agreed Podcast this is a good choice by XEL. If the outcome is a farm in, it will provide a degree of confidence that the necessary project support for XEL is in place. If a take over emerges (less likely IMO) there should be no need for the buyer to have to change track if a competent team from AMEC is doing the business. Aberdeen, United Kingdom (4 April 2011) - AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, has been selected by BP Exploration and Production to programme manage their existing portfolio of onshore and offshore projects in the North Sea, estimated to be worth £60 million over the four year contract. As part of the BP-AMEC onshore global agreement announced last year, this ‘evergreen’ award will see AMEC providing engineering and project management services to BP’s North Sea Region. The projects are located to the west of Shetland, Northern North Sea, Southern North Sea and the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Under this long-term, performance-based contract, AMEC’s work will range from front-end engineering design (FEED) through to construction management for multiple EPC (engineering, procure, construct) projects. “I am extremely pleased that we are continuing to strengthen our already good relationship with BP,” said John Pearson, Managing Director of AMEC’s Europe & West Africa business. “This major award in the North Sea demonstrates BP’s ongoing confidence in our project delivery and programme management capabilities.” It has been a good couple of days for AMEC! London, United Kingdom (11 June 2013) - AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, has been awarded a framework contract by BP to provide environmental and related consulting services for all of BP’s assets in their upstream, refining and marketing, alternative energy and shipping businesses worldwide. AMEC has an existing environmental services framework contract with BP in North America and this latest award effectively forms a global Master Services Agreement for environmental services between the two companies. The value of the contract, which will run until to 2017, has not been announced. Under the agreement, AMEC will be called upon as required to provide a wide range of services including emergency response and continuity planning, remediation engineering, decommissioning, waste management and environmental services. AMEC already has global agreements with BP for Engineering and Project Management services for both offshore and onshore oil and gas projects. Regards Gramacho

Thoughts..

Author RJCDC View Profile Add to favourites Ignore Date posted Sunday 23:24 Subject Thoughts.. Opinion Strong BUY Votes for this Posting Voted 18 times. Message Funny how quiet the board is now a days, or rather its funny how quiet it is with real good quality posts. I took a look back to a year or so ago and it just seemed there was genuine excitement around, matched only by the dismay as the share price jolted back into the channel from 450 ish. I remember the posts that would yield 200 ticks based on genius analysis and an equal number of ticks for those that claimed they knew something. For every BBBS there was a Spencer Freeman, it was great fun, it was horrible. A year or so down the line and GKP should have matured to a state where we no longer sit nervously peering at our screens waiting to be thrown a morsel of positive news. We should be admiring our portfolio with pride knowing that Excalibur have been hung drawn and quartered, oil spewing out filling tanks quicker than they can be emptied, and oil and gas law sorted, or if not an out for oil through turkey, AB sold, BIRs known about with back payments in the bank, self funding and nestled somewhere in the lower regions of the ftse 100. But no... We are like pigs in the trough waiting for scraps to be thrown, rolling around in this muddy quagmire that yields no truffles, looking for the escape while watching our backs. I always knew GKP was moderate risk but with favourable odds with a good wind. Unfortunately we've not had that, it's felt more like an endless barrage against a force 10 headwind, where the 'story' seems to make progress on one tack, only to lose ground on the next. But it doesn't have to be like this forever. I strongly believe we just need one break, one clear run and then GKP should at least be away into the £2s again where it sits more comfortably - with a market cap that keeps predators away and SP that allows for a good premium to be paid without looking daft. I also think the £2+ area is where the PIs start to feel relaxed too... The tone of the last few RNSs and snippets gleaned from recent presentations have appeared less bullish than those last year. firstly, The frequency is suspiciously pathetic and when you have you Ceo transfer all his shares with no explanation, wooly news about NEDs and one of your main men not blowing the gkp trumpet like they used to, then you can easily get down about it all and wallow in the pen. I strongly believe GKP have their hands tied with many ropes but I also think that those ropes are loosening slowly. We say it all the time but the next few weeks are critical in terms of company performance, perception and potential. Performance will come from the finals on Thursday. They have to show that they have moved forward from this time last year. The Pi is hot on their shoulder right now and any fobbing off will not go down at all well. Production facilities, revenue, spudding and testing and finances..Keep it clear and concise. be honest. Perception will be measured at the investor day. They need both small Pis and IIs to fall back in love with their company and the last thing they want is a repeat of last years agm. Keep it friendly, open up the second room, answer the questions and stream the agm. And don't strut like a big old nasty peacock. Potential. They need clean title more than anything else. The heritage TLW case has made me more confident that the wempens are chancers and that JC will filter out the noise and rule in favour of GKP. They also need to book reserves and raise the OIP some more, just to make the field stand out even more... And route to market needs reinforcing... Maliki needs the support of the KRG and Exxon and Chevron have hung around in Krudeistan and so The access to market will come and if the talk of pipelines being complete soon then this may not be far away. And so, basically, all it comes down to is that! A few things that require a change in the wind to move forward in earnest and see the action really hot up again and push the sp to new heights. Its been too subdued and too controlled, almost falsely it seems, for a year now. Too manipulated to the point where It feels like gulf is being told when to eat, drink and s.h.i,t Surely Tk is also tired of feeling like a trapped pig now and Would like to graze a green field or two instead? Hopefully, that change will come this week, certainly my barometer is pointing the right way... Especially Thursday. It's my 40th birthday then and I could do with cheering up. Now then, back to wallowing. News tomorrow? GLA