US holds hostage $50 billion in Iraqi foreign reserves in military deal negotiations

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-06 19:46:13

·The Unite States is holding hostage some 50 billion U.S. dollars of Iraq's money. ·American negotiators are pressuring their Iraqi counterparts into inking a military deal. ·The deal was seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the U.S. occupation indefinitely.

LONDON, June 6 (Xinhua) --

The Unite States is threatening the Iraqi government into signing a military agreement by holding hostage some 50 billion U.S. dollars of Iraq's money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, The Independent reported Friday.

American negotiators are using the existence of 20 billion U.S. dollars in outstanding court judgments against Iraq in the United States, to pressure their Iraqi counterparts into accepting the terms of the military deal which was seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the U.S. occupation indefinitely.

The U.S. negotiators in the talks with Iraqi side has suggested that if the UN mandate, under which the money is held, lapses and is not replaced by the new agreement, Iraq's foreign reserves, currently protected by a U.S. presidential order giving them immunity from judicial attachment, would then lose this immunity, and the cost to Iraq of this happening would be the immediate loss of 20 billion U.S. dollars, the British daily said.

The U.S. negotiators said the price of Iraq escaping the UN Charter's Chapter Seven, under which Iraq is still considered a threat to international security and stability, is to sign up to anew "strategic alliance" with the United States, according to the report.

The daily said the threat by the American side underlines the personal commitment of President George Bush to pushing the new pact through by 31 July.

Iraqi critics of the agreement say that it means Iraq will be a client state in which the U.S. will keep more than 50 military bases. American forces will be able to carry out arrests of Iraqi citizens and conduct military campaigns without consultation with the Iraqi government. American soldiers and contractors will enjoy legal immunity.

The United States has now 151,000 soldiers in Iraq.

Report: Secret deal to keep Iraq under U.S. control

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-05 20:19:27

·A secret deal would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely. ·U.S. troops would occupy permanent bases and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law. ·Iraqi officials fear that the accord will lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

LONDON, June 5 (Xinhua) -- A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November, British newspaper The Independent revealed Thursday.

According to the report, the deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, is likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq.

Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which U.S. troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilize Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

Under the terms of the treaty, the U.S. would retain the long-term use of more than 50 bases in Iraq. American negotiators are also demanding immunity from Iraqi law for U.S. troops and contractors, and a free hand to carry out arrests and conduct military activities in Iraq without consulting the Baghdad government.

The precise nature of the American demands has been kept secret until now, and the leaks are certain to generate an angry backlash in Iraq, said the report.

"It is a terrible breach of our sovereignty," said one Iraqi politician, adding that if the security deal was signed it would delegitimize the government in Baghdad which will be seen as an American pawn.

The U.S. has repeatedly denied that it wants permanent bases in Iraq, but one Iraqi source said, "this is just a tactical subterfuge."

Washington also wants control of Iraqi airspace below 29,000ft and the right to pursue its "war on terror" in Iraq, giving it the authority to arrest anybody it wants and to launch military campaigns without consultation.

According to the report, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is believed to be personally opposed to the terms of the new pact but feels his coalition government cannot stay in power without U.S. backing.

Although Iraqi ministers said they would reject any agreement limiting Iraqi sovereignty, political observers in Baghdad suspect they would sign in the end and simply want to establish their credentials as defenders of Iraq's independence by a show of defiance now.

But the deal also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the United States.

U.S. President George W. Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been justified.

But by perpetuating the U.S. presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw U.S. troops if he is elected president in November.

The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq a victory that he said Obama would throwaway by a premature military withdrawal, said the report.

Currently, the U.S. has 151,000 troops in Iraq and, even after projected withdrawals next month, troop levels will stand at more than 142,000 -- 10,000 more than when the military "surge" began in January 2007.

$3 Million US Bribes to Iraqi Members of Parliament for Voting in Favor of Agreement About Permanent US Military Bases in Iraq

Disagreement over sovereignty stalls US-Iraq long-term agreement-MP

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 06 /06 /2008 Time 3:10:34
Baghdad, Jun5, (VOI)-

A lawmaker from the United Iraqi Coalition on Thursday ruled out Iraq would sign a long-term agreement with the U.S due to disagreement over the status of Iraq’s sovereignty.

“The political council for national security agreed upon rejecting the US deamnds stipulated in the US draft for the long-term agreement with Iraq”,MP Hadi al-Amiri, chief of parliament’s committee of security, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

A declaration of principles was signed between U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in December 2007. The declaration was planned to be ratified on July 31, 2008 to be effective as of January 1, 2009.

The agreement governs the U.S. forces' presence in Iraq after the year 2008. This presence currently relies on a mandate by the UN, renewed annually upon the request of the Iraqi government.
The MP noted Iraqi officials set key principles in the Iraqi draft to be taken into consideration
“The agreement should not violate Iraq’s sovereignty by any way”, he said, “the religious authority deemed sovereignty as a red line”.

The lawmaker highlighted “the agreement must be transparent and clear and to be approved by the politcal council for national security and then to be endorsed by the parliament”.
The political counil for national security consists of Prime Minister, presidency board and parliament’s presidency along with heads of major political blocs.

“The agreement must gain a national consensus and not a contention bone for Iraqi groups”, he stressed.

He added “the agreement should not be a reason for Iraq’s neighbouring countries’ concerns”.
Influential Shi'i clerics in Iraq and neighbouring Iran oppose the deal and have called it a move against their religion.

They have vowed to stage protests to force the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to roll back the deal which is expected to be concluded by the end of July.
AM

Security pact still makes headlines in Iraqi press

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 06 /06 /2008 Time 3:10:34
Baghdad, Jun 5, (VOI)-

The long-term security pact between Iraq and the U.S. still dominates the Iraqi news papers on Thursday.

The independent daily al-Muwaten published an article of Mahmoud al-Hashemi entitled 'in the long-term agreement', in which he said "no one thinks about this agreement in the Iraqi street. Iraqis are busy with their distress and have no time to think about their country's interest."

"Many countries signed agreements with the U.S. and we have to benefit from these experiences in the negotiations with the American side," the author underlined.

The agreement governs the U.S. forces' presence in Iraq after the year 2008. This presence currently relies on a mandate by the U.N., renewed annually upon the request of the Iraqi government.
The agreement should not be effective except after endorsement by the 275-member Iraqi Parliament, which comprises five political blocs, the Fadhila (Virtue) Party and the Sadrist Bloc, or Iraqis loyal to Shi'i leader Muqtada al-Sadr.

On the same subject, Dar al-Salam, the daily mouthpiece of the Iraqi Islamic Party led by Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, published an article of Ammar Wagieh entitled 'the worst trials is that makes you laugh', in which he voiced astonishment over the stance of some neighboring countries which urge some parties to unify ranks and reject the first draft of the agreement. "Several parties now rejects most of the agreement's articles," he said.

"If all parties agreed on maintaining Iraq's sovereignty, why they flared up these internal conflicts, which left scores of civilians dead?" the author wonders.

Meanwhile, Basem al-Shaikh, the editor-in-chief of the independent daily al-Dustor, commented in his article on the U.S. Fox News report on bribes to approve the security pact. The U.S. broadcast said that every MP will get $3 million to vote for the agreement.

Al-Shaikh described such news as cliché and cheap and harms not only the parliament's reputation but also the U.S. administration for several reasons.

SH

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