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Books on Iraq
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
437,072
Population
24,001,816 (July 2002 est.)
Capital
Baghdad
Currency
Iraqi dinar (IQD)
President
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Update No: 041 - (21/09/06)
Fuel shortage eases
Under growing pressure because of the growing fuel shortages, the government
was forced to approve a law allowing private companies to freely import and
distribute fuel, previously a government monopoly. At the beginning of the
summer Iraq's refineries, which overall are running at half capacity due to
sabotage and other issues, were produce only 10 million litres of fuel per day.
The country needs 22 million. During the summer the government doubled its
budget for fuel imports, but corruption has prevented government imports from
exceeding 7 million litres, leaving a gap that it is hoped private entrepreneurs
will fill. In fact, by the end of August fuel imports had risen to 11 million
litres, easing the shortages. A number of new oil refineries are being built in
the north and they are expected to come on line soon, reducing the need to rely
on fuel imports. Attacks on the oil infrastructure are also reported to be in
decline, from five a week in the second quarter of 2006 to just two in the
current quarter.
Whose oil?
While US oil companies say that they are ready to send their people to Iraq
despite the continuing violence, the lack of a clear framework regulating
investment and ownership is still seen as the main impediment. The hydrocarbon
law is still the object of negotiations among politicians, divided between those
who wanted regional control, like Kurds and most Shiites, and those who want
central control, like the Sunnis and a minority of Shiites. At the end of August
it had been announced that an agreement had been reached on oil revenue sharing,
but the fact that the details have not been divulged yet casts some doubts about
the truth of this statement. The signs are that inter-regional tension is not
decreasing at all. The Kurds escalated their claim to autonomy in September,
when the leader of the autonomous region, Massoud Barzani, issued a decree not
to fly the Iraqi flag and to replace it with the Kurdistan flag. Although he
then claimed to have consulted with President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki
beforehand, his move predictably aroused a strong reaction in Baghdad, not only
within the ranks of the government, but also within the diplomatic community. US
Ambassador Khalilzad was forced to point out how the US government is committed
to Iraq national unity and territorial integrity.
Cabinet changes on the horizon
Prime Minister Maliki announced in September that soon cabinet changes will
be implemented, to deal with cases of low performance and others of disloyalty.
Although he did not state it explicitly, as far as disloyalty is concerned he
implied that Muqtada as-Sadr's group will be the main target, when he said that
those who 'have a foot in the government and a foot outside' will have to make a
choice. The Sunni speaker of parliament is also seen as likely to become a
victim of the reshuffle because of his criticism of the ruling coalition. The
news of the reshuffle comes at a time when the negotiations on the issue of
federalism have been postponed due to differences within the Shiite alliance,
where the groups affiliated with Muqtada al Sadr oppose federalism and Dawa and
SCIRI are strongly in favour of it, highlighting how relations within the
alliance are increasingly strained. However, Prime Minister Maliki himself is
the target of criticism, particularly from the US, for his failure to rein in
the militias which are driving the country towards a full-fledged civil war.
Maliki's refusal to condemn Lebanon's Hizbollah and his trip to meet Iranian
president Ahmadinejad did not contribute to endear him to the Americans, who now
say their support is 'not open ended'. In September the control over the armed
forces has been handed over to the government by the Americans, adding to a list
of institutions, of which it is perhaps the most significant, whose
control...will now be fought over by the competing vested interests.
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