Urgent: Al-Kazemi: The meeting with Trump was successful by all standards, and all parties were satisfied with the decisions

Baghdad /

Al-Akhbariya : Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi described his meeting with US President Donald Trump as very successful, indicating that the economic relations with America were positive.

“The results of the meeting with the American president were positive and satisfactory between the two parties, and we reached important understandings, particularly security and economic,” Al-Kazemi said in a press interview with the official Al-Iraqiya channel, which was followed by Al-Akhbariya

. The aspirations of the Iraqi people were conveyed during the meeting. ”

He explained that “the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq will be scheduled and deployed outside Iraq after the formation of a joint technical delegation.”

https://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=224582

US backs Iraqi progress on budget deal with Kurdistan Region

The Trump administration says it supports Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s progress so far in working out a budget agreement with the Kurdistan Region.

SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images.

BY ALI MAMOURI

Aug 21, 2020

The Trump administration is backing Iraqi Prime MInister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s efforts to urgently conclude a budget deal with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

“I urged Baghdad to clinch a budget deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at a press conference Aug. 20 following a meeting in Washington with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.

Iraq’s Ministry of Finance announced Aug. 17 that Baghdad and Erbil had reached an agreement on some of the long-standing disputes between Baghdad and Erbil over the latter’s share of the federal budget.

According to the terms so far, Baghdad will pay 320 billion dinars ($268 million) to Erbil monthly as a goodwill gesture, and Erbil in return promises to continue the ongoing negotiations with Baghdad over oil exports from the Kurdistan regional territory and to hand over control of the border crossings to Baghdad.

Kurdistan exports 450,000 barrels of oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline every day. According to previous agreements, 250,000 barrels should go to Baghdad and the rest should go to the KRG budget. However, the Kurdistan Region has not been paying Baghdad its share until now.

Out of Iraq’s 22 land border crossings, five are located in the Kurdistan Region and are therefore not under the control of the federal government. They include Haji Omeran, Parviz Khan, Ibrahim Khalil, Faysh Khabur and Bashmaq, as well as the main airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah. There are also some other unofficial border crossings from the Kurdistan Region into Iran and Turkey.

Kadhimi has approached this matter with a sense of urgency, seeing it as essential to both his political and economic agenda. The Kurdistan Region is also under pressure to compromise, as it has been experiencing protests by workers who have not been receiving their full salaries.

Kadhimi has sought to assert government control and oversights on border crossings. Many of the latter have been associated with corruption and lost revenues due to the interference of militias and political parties in crossing administration and funding.

The campaign has so far been a success. Iraq’s revenues from the outlets has almost doubled after Kadhimi began his campaign, increasing from 36 billion dinars ($30 million) to 62 billion dinars ($52 million).

Iraqi politicians in the south and central parts of the country, however, would like to see the same control extended to the Kurdistan Region.

Despite Kadhimi’s success so far with the budget deal, he is being criticized by those who oppose his governance and reform agenda. Parliamentarian Kate’ al-Rikabi from Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition criticized the prime minister Aug. 12 for his inaction on the Kurdistan outlets — an odd charge since Maliki’s moves are actually action — and by complaining it was a concession to the Kurdish parties in return for their support of his government. Other lawmakers asked whether Baghdad can afford any “concessions” to the Kurdistan Region, given the country’s overall dire economic situation, and without approval from the Council of Representatives (parliament).

In June, Baghdad transferred 420 billion dinars ($351 million) to the KRG, warning that it would be the last funding from Baghdad before a comprehensive solution to the disputed issues.

The Finance Ministry announced Aug. 17 that it will finalize the federal budget for the remainder of 2020 before October, saying the budget will provide a comprehensive solution to the Kurdistan financial issues including its commitments to Baghdad and its share of the federal budget.

This year, Iraq has been operating without an official budget due to the political crisis and government’s transmission.

The Iraqi government is seeking to address the long-standing dispute with the KRG during a difficult political and economic time for the country, and opponents of the prime minister are finding fault with his solutions, while offering none of their own.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/08/iraq-kurdistan-budget-outlets-oil.html#ixzz6VlL9N5sV

Hussein from Washington hopes that the strategic relations between Iraq and America will achieve two things

Politics

Iraq

2020-08-21 09:10

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Shafaq News / On Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein expressed his country’s aspiration for the strategic relations between it and the United States of America to bear fruit in building and stabilizing Iraq.

sequel..

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Document .. Al-Kazemi agrees to open 4 joint security coordination centers with Kurdistan

2020-08-21 09:07

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Shafaq News / The Joint Operations Command announced the approval of the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, to open 4 joint coordination centers with the Kurdistan Region in disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad.

The Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, said in a letter addressed to the Ministry of Defense, that “I obtained the approval of the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to open four joint coordination centers with the Kurdistan Region in the leaders of (Diyala operations in Khanaqin within the division of responsibility for the with the QF Diyala) and (Nineveh Operations Command in Makhmour within the Gaza Strip of Responsibility, Mesh / 14), (West Nineveh Operations Command at the headquarters in Kasak), and (Joint Operations Command / Kirkuk advance headquarters in the (Jimma ) region . ”

Al-Shammari instructed “the General Directorate of Intelligence and Security and the Military Intelligence Directorate to send one representative to each of the above four headquarters .”

He also asked an officer (Dean ‘s nomination – colonel) to manage the center until the placement of the centers of two things above, “pointing out that” the headquarters above open starting at 100 on   08.20.2020. ”

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Tripartite summit .. Al-Kazemi will meet with the Jordanian king and the Egyptian president in Amman next week

Baghdad / Al-Akhbariya: “

Next week, the Jordanian capital, Amman, will host a tripartite summit that brings together Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, King Abdullah of Jordan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

According to the Jordanian royal court, King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, And Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi will hold a tripartite summit in Amman next

week.The summit, which is being held for the third time, will focus on strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation between Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, in addition to discussing regional

issues.It is noteworthy that the first tripartite summit was held in Cairo in March. 2019, it was followed by a trilateral summit held in New York in September of last year.

It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, is visiting the United States of America, at the head of a government delegation, in response to an official invitation, and this is his first visit to the United States, since the formation of his government last May.

https://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=224556

Al-Kazemi: For the first time, I see clear American positions that understand the Iraqi government’s demands

Baghdad / Al-Akhbariya

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said, today, Friday, from Washington, that for the first time, I see clear American positions that understand the demands of the Iraqi government.

Al-Kazemi added, in an interview with the official agency, that “our meeting with Trump is important and successful,” noting that “we agreed with the American side on the redeployment of forces outside Iraq.”

Al-Kazemi added, “We agreed to set up a technical team to find a mechanism for the deployment of forces outside Iraq.”

He pointed out that “Iraq has an opportunity to benefit from its partnership with a major industrial country,” noting that “we signed an important and beneficial contract for all of Iraq regarding oil in Dhi Qar Governorate.”

https://www.ikhnews.com/index.php?page=article&id=224531

Shafaq News / The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed, today, Friday, the size of the external and internal debts owed by the Iraqi government.

Committee rapporteur, Ahmad Al-Saffar, told Shafaq News that his committee has stopped external borrowing since 2019, but the financial crisis, the Corona pandemic, and the government’s inability to pay employees’ salaries prompted us to agree to an external borrowing only once without recurrence, in the amount of $ 5 billion from the World Bank, in addition to Borrowing more than 15 trillion dinars from Iraqi banks to secure employee salaries for the current year.

Al-Saffar confirmed that Iraq’s foreign debts exceeded 30 billion dollars, while internal debts exceeded 50 trillion Iraqi dinars, pointing out that his committee obligated the government to implement a program of financial and economic reforms within 60 days, and the deadline expires on the twenty-fourth of this month and includes control of other financial revenues and rationalization of spending And not entirely dependent on oil.

Al-Saffar warned of the negative repercussions of external debts on the living conditions, stressing the use of external borrowing and directing it towards productive projects that would boost the economy and push the wheel of development towards the better without any unsuccessful accumulation of debts.

The reporter of the Finance Committee announced that his committee had prepared a financial reform paper that would be presented to the program during the coming periods, in addition to efforts to unify the governmental and parliamentary reform papers, approve financial revenues other than oil, and not resort to external borrowing.

He revealed the Ministry of Planning’s efforts to prepare a reduced budget for the coming months of this year, and that will be discussed after the return of the Prime Minister and the Iraqi delegation from Washington.

The setback in oil prices on world markets as a result of the Corona crisis has caused a financial crisis and deficit in Iraq and the difficulty of securing the salaries of state employees.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives approved earlier the internal and external borrowing law to face the financial crisis and secure the salaries of state employees, amid warnings of the dire economic consequences associated with borrowing.

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