Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister

Written by: Michael Howard in Sulaymaniya.
Thursday June 21, 2007
The Guardian.

Iraq's Kurdish leaders said last night they had struck an important deal with the central government in Baghdad over a law to divide up Iraq's oil revenues, which is seen by the Bush administration as one of the benchmarks in attempts to foster national reconciliation.

Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources in the Kurdistan regional government, told the Guardian the text had been finalised late last night after 48 hours of "tough bargaining" with Baghdad. The deal represented "a genuine revenue sharing agreement" that was transparent and would benefit all the people of Iraq and help pull the country together, he said.

Iraq's oil revenue accounted for 93% of the federal budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6m barrels a day.

Mr Hawrami said the law provided for the setting up of two "regulated and monitored" accounts into which external and internal revenues would be deposited. The external account would include items such as oil export earnings and foreign donor money, while the internal fund would consist largely of customs and taxes. The federal government in Baghdad would take what it needed, and the rest would be automatically distributed to the Kurdistan regional government, which would get 17%, and to Iraq's governorates "according to their entitlement". Revenues would be distributed monthly, he said.

Mr Hawrami said the system would better enable Iraqis to track how and where the oil funds were being spent. The Kurds, for example, have complained that remittances to their self-rule region have been being held back by up to six months in Baghdad. Iraq's Sunni Arabs had also expressed concerns that they might miss out on their share.

Iraq's finance minister, Bayan Jabr, and the oil minister, Hussein Sharistani, were accompanying the president, Jalal Talabani, on a state a visit to China and could not be contacted for comment.

The new deal came days after a visit to Iraq by the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, during which he rebuked politicians for failing to reach consensus on sharing oil revenues. The US sees the deal as a benchmark of progress toward reconciliation.

A western diplomat in Baghdad said last night: "Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is important to finding a sustainable political solution in Iraq. But on its own it will not halt the sectarianism."

Full coverage:

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In this section:

• Mental stress of troops in Iraq no bar to longer duty, US says.
• Kidnapped Britons being held by group backed by Iran - US general.
• Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister.
• 10,000 US troops attack Sunni insurgents.
• Number fleeing homeland starts to rise.
• US hopes soldiers play it safe with new pack of ancient site cards.
• Patrol discovers horrific abuse of Iraqi orphans.
• US to increase Iraq tours despite trauma warnings.
• Chronicle of US chaos in Iraq wins £30,000 non-fiction prize.
• Iraq was on course until 2003 UN bombing, says Blair.
• US troops kill 22 in offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq.
• Baghdad mosque bombing kills 75.
• Browne admits to mistakes surrounding sailors captured by Iran.
• US forces launch major assault on Diyala.
• Playing cards teach US troops to respect ruins.

Rolls-Royce withdrawing from Sudan

Source: CNN, April 19, 2007.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain's Rolls-Royce Plc will withdraw from doing business in Sudan, it said on Thursday, citing concerns about the crisis in Darfur.

"We have decided to discontinue our business there. ... We will progressively withdraw from support activities," said a spokesman for Rolls-Royce, which makes equipment used to pump oil by companies such as Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company.

"The reason for this is the increasing political and humanitarian concerns in Sudan. ... We are not in Darfur, but we are in the country," the spokesman said.

The move comes amid fresh pressure on Sudan to accept an enhanced peacekeeping force in Darfur to supplement an African Union mission that has been unable to stem years of violence.

On Wednesday, President George W. Bush warned Sudan's president he had one last chance to take steps to stop violence in Darfur or else the United States would impose sanctions and consider other punitive options.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the United States and the United Kingdom were set to begin discussions with partners on the U.N. Security Council on a new resolution on Sudan.

But U.N. ambassadors from Russia, China and South Africa told reporters in New York on Wednesday they did not believe the time for sanctions was right after Sudan agreed this week to let in some 3,000 extra peacekeepers.

Khartoum has balked at a proposed force of more than 20,000 African Union and U.N. troops and police to supplement 7,000-some African Union peacekeepers in Darfur.

At least 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government charging neglect.

The government responded with airstrikes and by arming militias to put down the rebellion. Those militias have been accused of abuses the United States has called genocide.

The Rolls-Royce spokesman said the company's operations in Sudan represented "a small percentage" of its marine business, which had sales of 1.3 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) last year accounting for 18 percent of Rolls-Royce's overall business.

He said there would be no need for Rolls to revise its financial guidance as a result of the withdrawal from Sudan.

Rolls-Royce, which was long famous for making luxury cars, now produces aircraft and ship engines as well as equipment used in the oil sector.

3000 more 'troops' is a joke. The 'troops' they have there now are not permitted to interfere with anyone raping, torturing, murdering or enslaving the citizens there now. What is 3000 more watchers going to do? This is disgusting.

KUDO's TO YOU, ROLlS-ROYCE!.

Libyan, Eritrean observers on Sudan-Chad border

Just one minute! Are they crazy?! Ugh!

Source: CNN.
April 12, 2007.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) -- Libyan and Eritrean military and security observers have been deployed at the border between Sudan and Chad, scene of recent clashes, a Libyan mediator said on Thursday.

"We agreed on positive steps and the presence of military and security observers on the border from Libya and Eritrea, and from Chad and Sudan, and right now some of them are there on the border," Ali Triki, Libya's envoy on Chad and Sudan, told a news conference.

He did not say when the observers were deployed or how many had been sent there.

"I believe the confidence between both countries will return to normality, and if they respect agreements then we will not even need observers," said Triki, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's top adviser on African issues.

Gadhafi has taken the lead in trying to broker peace between Chad and Sudan, which have traded threats and accusations since a clash on Monday when Sudan said 17 of its soldiers were killed.

Chad denied any deliberate assault on its eastern neighbor, but said its forces had clashed with Sudanese troops after crossing the border to pursue Sudanese-backed rebels it said were launching raids.

That incident marked a sharp flare-up of tension between the two oil-producing central African countries, which have seen their ties become increasingly marred by violence spilling over from the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Both Sudan and Chad are resisting international efforts to deploy U.N. peacekeeping forces.

A late February summit hosted by Gadhafi to keep the peace between Chad and Sudan agreed "observation mechanisms" along the Darfur frontier.

Sudan has witnessed a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at easing tensions with Chad, including a visit by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The No. 2 U.S. State Department official, John Negroponte, is due to arrive in Sudan on Thursday and then head to Libya and Chad to press for solutions to the Darfur crisis.

Negroponte is expected to deliver a tough message from Washington on Darfur. Sudanese officials have said international pressure on Darfur will only deepen the humanitarian crisis.

Chinese PM calls for close ties with Japan

Source: CNN.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged Japan's parliament on Thursday not to forget Tokyo's wartime aggression, even as the two Asian powers mend their strained ties and bolster thriving business relations.

Wen -- the first Chinese leader to address the parliament in 22 years -- was on a three-day "ice-melting" trip to Japan as the two countries worked to reverse a deterioration in ties caused in part by disagreements about the past.

The Chinese premier, who spent part of Thursday urging Japanese business leaders to invest in China, also struck a conciliatory note, acknowledging Japanese apologies and blaming a clique of militarists for Tokyo's invasions of China. (Watch why Wen's visit marks a thaw in China-Japan relations.)

"To reflect on history is not to dwell on hard feelings but to remember and learn from the past in order to open a better future," he said, adding, however, that he hoped Japan's apologies would be "turned into actions."

The two countries have been at odds in recent years over Japan's invasions and occupation of China in the 1930s and '40s. China has accused Japan of not fully atoning for its aggression, while some Japanese feel accounts of their wrongdoings have been exaggerated. (Watch how World War II continues to cast a shadow on the two countries' ties.)

The Wen trip was aimed at building on an improvement in ties begun when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to China in October. Ties had plunged to postwar lows during the 2001-2006 term of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.

Japanese officials said they were satisfied so far with the visit, which was to end Friday.

"Premier Wen Jiabao's speech was very positive, and I thought it was very good that forward-looking remarks were made on broad-ranging issues," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.

On Wednesday, Wen and Abe declared their firm intentions to move forward on rebuilding relations, signed agreements on energy and the environment, and issued a joint statement that laid out a series of issues for the countries to cooperate on. (Full story)

Wen also strove to put a human face on the Chinese government, coming out early Thursday for a jog at a Tokyo park -- wearing sportswear with a Beijing 2008 Olympics logo -- and even joining a group doing tai chi. On Friday, he was to play baseball with college students in western Japan.

Much of Wen's activities on Thursday and Friday were aimed at business relations. China, including Hong Kong, is Japan's No. 1 trading partner, and Beijing is eager to increase Japanese technology transfers and investment in its booming economy.

After the parliament speech, Wen lunched with members of Japan's leading business federation, declaring that "winter has past, and spring has come in China-Japan relations."

He urged Japanese companies to invest in China, vowing to address vast imbalances in the Chinese economy, improve the natural environment, protect intellectual property rights, continue tax breaks for high-tech companies and proceed with currency reform.

"China must build a society that conserves its resources and protects its environment," Wen said.

Wen and Abe also launched a series of high-level economic dialogues aimed at boosting ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

"Our economies have become indispensable to each other ... and our relationship is also crucial to the world economy," Abe said.

Oil dispute

But a statement in an annual report by China's No. 1 oil producer that it is producing oil and gas from a disputed area in the East China Sea threatened to disturb the cordial mood of Wen's visit.

Japan has asked Chinese officials to confirm the report by CNOOC Ltd., which said the company was producing 42 barrels of oil and 4 million cubic feet of gas per day from the disputed Tianwaitian oil field, according to a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The two countries have not demarcated their exclusive economic zones in the area, and Japan has objected to Chinese exploitation of the deposits, saying some of the gas belongs to Japan. Joint talks so far have achieved little.

Still, Wen made a number of statements on issues close to Japanese hearts.

On Wednesday, he expressed understanding for Japan's drive to win a resolution of North Korea's past kidnappings of Japanese citizens. On Thursday, he alluded to Tokyo's long-standing campaign to win a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council -- a campaign China has blocked in the past.

"China understands Japan's hope to play a bigger role in international society, and we are ready to strengthen our mutual understanding over the United Nations' reforms," he said.

Wen, however, also warned the Japanese not to meddle in Beijing's relations with Taiwan, which it considers part of China. The premier said China hoped for peaceful reunification, but that it could not tolerate Taiwanese independence.

Calls to use Beijing Games to pressure China on Sudan

Source: CNN.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China on Thursday blasted separate calls by a French politician and a Hollywood actress to use the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

In an article published in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow accused Beijing of "bankrolling Darfur's genocide" and called on director Steven Spielberg and four corporate sponsors to "add their ... voices to the growing calls for Chinese action to end the slaughter..."

"We don't think it is appropriate to link the Olympic Games in Beijing with the Darfur issue and we don't think it will be popularly accepted or echoed by people around the world," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

"It is a totally misguided approach for people to link the Darfur issue with the Games and try to tip the balance in their favor in order to enhance their own reputation," he said at a regular press briefing.

China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft, has opposed sanctions against Sudan.

Beijing, however, urged Sudan earlier this month to follow through on a plan to deploy U.N. peacekeepers to beef up 7,000 African Union troops who have been battling for nearly four years to quell the violence in Darfur.

Farrow wrote:"There is now one thing that China may hold more dear than their unfettered access to Sudanese oil: their successful staging of the 2008 Summer Olympics."

"That desire may provide a lone point of leverage with a country that has otherwise been impervious to all criticism." The editorial was co-authored by Farrow's son, Ronan.

Qin said he did not know who Farrow was and had not read the editorial.

French presidential candidate wants France to boycott Games

Last week, Francois Bayrou, a center-right candidate for France's presidency, proposed that his country's athletes boycott the Beijing Games in an effort to make China lean on Sudan's government.

Qin said he believed people who tried to link the Games with Darfur were unclear about China's policy on Sudan. He said China hopes "efforts by the international community could improve the humanitarian situation in Darfur and that the region could realize a lasting peace and stability."

A permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has come under increasing international pressure to use its influence with Khartoum to resolve the conflict, which erupted in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of neglect.

The Sudanese government is accused of unleashing militias known as the janjaweed, which are blamed for the bulk of the conflict's atrocities. More than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have fled their homes in the past four years.

"We are confident that we will hold a successful and high quality Olympic Games in Beijing," Qin said.

French Total oil boss under formal investigation

Source: Middle East Times.

AFP March 23, 2007

PARIS -- A French judge has placed the chief executive of the Total oil group under formal investigation on suspicion of paying bribes to secure a major gas field deal in Iran.

Christophe de Margerie, who is already under investigation over the Iraq "oil-for-food" bribes scandal, was officially warned of the new accusations Thursday night after he had spent more than a day in detention.

The judge placed Margerie, who has only been Total's chief executive since February, under investigation for suspected "corruption of foreign public agents and misuse of corporate assets," a legal source said.

Margerie was given conditional release.

The French oil company is suspected of paying top Iranian officials nearly 100 million Swiss francs ($80 million) through two Swiss bank accounts to win a contract for the South Pars offshore gas field in 1997.

Margerie was detained by French police Wednesday before being transferred to a serious financial crime unit a day later, judicial officials reported. Four other serving and former Total executives were also detained but later released without charge.

In a statement, Total said that its chief executive had been placed "under formal investigation in proceedings related to the development of the South Pars project in Iran."

Being placed under judicial investigation is one step short of being charged with a crime in the French legal system. It does not necessarily mean that 55-year-old Margerie is heading for trial.

A case can be dropped if a judge is unable to sustain his accusations against an individual.

In the statement Total expressed "its full support for its employees and confirms that the agreements for the development of the South Pars project were entered into in compliance with applicable law."

It also said that the company was "confident" that the "investigation will establish the absence of any illegal activities and reaffirms that Total adheres to a strict code of conduct regardless of the difficulties linked to its activities and the environments in which it operates."

The suspicions center on a contract Total won from the Iranian oil company NIOC for the South Pars field.

The French judge is partly relying on testimony given by an employee of Norwegian oil company Statoil who revealed the existence of a corruption system in Iran during an investigation in Norway.

According to sources, money was paid to Iranian officials between 1996 and 2003 when Margerie was Total's Middle East director.

Last year he was charged with complicity with fraud and corruption by the same judge as part of an investigation into a French link to the "oil-for-food" scandal in Iraq.

Companies were said to have paid money to get oil deals from Iraq while it was under UN sanctions during the Saddam Hussein years.

Several other Total executives and former executives, including Patrick Rambaud, who was also questioned over the Iran deal, have also been put under investigation as part of the "oil-for-food" scandal.

Known in the company as "Big Moustache," Margerie was promoted to head of Total in February in succession to Thierry Desmarest who had overseen huge expansion of the group and is president of the supervisory board.

Margerie studied at the elite ESCP business school in Paris, joining the finance department of Total in 1974, rising to the managing committee in 1992, and becoming director for the Middle East region in 1995.

French Judge grills Total chief over corruption accusations

Source: Yahoo News.

A French judge on Thursday questioned Total oil chief executive Christophe de Margerie over corruption suspicions surrounding a major gas deal in Iran, bringing formal charges a step closer.

The French oil giant is suspected of paying top Iranian officials nearly 100 million Swiss francs (60 million euros, 80 million dollars) through two Swiss bank accounts to win a contract in 1997

Margerie was detained by police on Wednesday and on Thursday was transferred to the serious financial crime unit, legal sources said.

He was later taken to the office of magistrate, Philippe Courroye, who has spent three months investigating the South Pars contract that Total secured with the Iranian oil company NIOC.

Courroye could place de Margerie under judicial investigation which would be the first stage toward formal charges.

Four other Total executives, including financial director Robert Castaigne and a former senior executive, Patrick Rambaud, who was in charge of Total's negotiating section, were also detained on Wednesday but released late in the day without charge.

Total has confirmed that the executives have been questioned over the South Pars offshore field deal. But a spokesman said the group, France's biggest company in terms of turnover, supports Margerie and "confirms that the agreements signed respected the law."

If Margerie is not charged he could still be warned that he is needed as a witness or given an unconditional release.

According to sources close to the inquiry, the money was paid to Iranian officials between 1996 and 2003, when Margerie was Total's Middle East director. The Swiss accounts belonged to a suspected intermediary in the deal. Switzerland has frozen some 9.5 million euros from the accounts.

The oil group's chief executive is no stranger to controversy.

Last year he was charged with complicity with fraud and corruption by the same judge as part of an investigation into a French link to the "oil-for-food" scandal in Iraq.

Companies were said to have paid money to get oil deals from Iraq while it was under UN sanctions during the Saddam Hussein years.

Several other Total executives and former executives, including Rambaud, have also been charged as part of the "oil-for-food" scandal.

Known in the company as "Big Moustache," Margerie was promoted to managing director of Total in February in succession to Thierry Desmarest who had overseen huge expansion of the group and is president of the supervisory board.