Kurds Halt Oil Exports

Payment Dispute with Baghdad

The Kurdistan Regional Government has halted oil exports from its region over a payment dispute with the central government in Baghdad. The move further deteriorates the relations between Baghdad and Kurdistan as well as the oil supply situation in the region.

In a 2011 arrangement with the central government, the Kurds send the oil to Baghdad and receive 50 percent of the revenues. The Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement on Sunday that Baghdad has failed to send any money since May, even though the Kurds has been exporting 50,000 barrels per day.

"After consultation with the producing companies, the Ministry has reluctantly decided to halt exports until further notice," the Kurdish statement said. "There have been no payments for 10 months, nor any indication from federal authorities that payments are forthcoming."

Today, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani accused Kurdish authorities of smuggling huge amounts of oil to neighboring countries, mainly Iran. He added that the Kurds were withholding about $5.65 billion in revenues generated from unreported oil sales since 2010.

The Kurdish move came as the Iraqi Oil Ministry reported the highest oil exports in March since 1989, thanks to a new offshore export terminal in the Persian Gulf. March oil exports averaged 2.317 million barrels a day that generated $8,475 billion. February's sales grossed $6.595 billion.

Source: AP, 2 April 2012

Iran Voices “Unwavering Support” for Syrian Government

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed Tehran's “unwavering support” for the Syrian government. Amir-Abdollahian made the declaration during a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on Sunday. Sleiman called for non-interference in the internal affairs of Syria by other countries.

“The Islamic Republic will strongly support the government and nation of Syria as a country (standing) in the line of resistance against the Zionist regime (Israel), and will not permit foreign interference to determine Syria’s fate. The country’s destiny should be shaped by its people,” said Amir-Abdollahian in a separate meeting with his Lebanese counterpart. [IRNA, 2 April].

Amir-Abdollahian also met with Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun and the representatives of Palestinian groups and parties during his visit to Beirut.

The unwavering support of the Syrian government during its brutal suppression of the opposition, as well as forming an alliance with certain political parties such as Hezbollah and FPM who are also working against the opposition in Syria are apparently not considered interference in internal affairs of the country.

“Friends of Syria” Recognize Syrian Opposition

“Friends of Syria”, consisting of the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and 70 other countries, gathered in Istanbul today. They recognized the Syrian National Council, the umbrella opposition group in exile, as the representative of the Syrian people and announced their support of rebel fighters known as the Free Syrian Army in their fight to oust the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Arab nations pledged $100 million and the US agreed to send communications equipment to help the Free Syrian Army organize and evade Syria’s military.

Turkish prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the host of Sunday’s meeting, called on the United Nations Security Council to act in the wake of the failure of Kofi Annan’s mission to Damascus. Erdogan said the Syrian government was using Annan’s initiative to buy time.

“If the Security Council hesitates, there will be no option left except to support the legitimate right of the Syrian people to defend themselves,” Erdogan said. “They are not alone… They will never be alone.”

Burhan Ghalioun, the president of the Syrian National Council, a confederation of Syrian opposition in exile, addressed hundreds of world leaders and other officials at the Istanbul conference and urged them to support the Free Syrian Army. “This is high noon for action,” Ghalioun told the world leaders.

Sources: The New York Times / AFP

Dissident Suu Kyi Elected to Burmese Parliament

A Political Prisoner, A Nobel Peace Laureate, And Now An MP

Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in parliament today after a historic by-election that is testing the country’s promising political reforms.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party announced to loud cheers at its headquarters that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had won in Kawhmu, southwest of Yangon, raising the prospect of her first role in government after a two-decade struggle against dictatorship [Reuters, 1 April].

UPDATE: NLD is reporting that it has won nearly 90 percent of the 45 seats contested in the bi-election.

UPDATE (2 April): The government-run press report that NLD has won at least 40 seats out of the 45 contested.

Photo: Reuters

Erdogan Briefs Clinton on Iran Visit

Erdogan (l.) with Khamenei. Mashhad, 29 March 2012. ISNA

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conferred with Turkish Prime Minister Receb Tayyip Erdogan today about his recent visit to Iran. It is widely believed that Erdogan carried an oral message from President Obama to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Erdogan met Khamenei on Thursday in Mashhad. No details on Obama’s message or Erdogan’s meeting with Khamenei has yet emerged.

Turkey will host the highly anticipated meeting between Iran and the six major powers on Friday 13 April on Iran’s nuclear program. There are some signs that the two sides might close some gaps between them, with Iran allowing much more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities and the West agreeing with a uranium enrichment program capped at 5 percent purity.

Clinton said after a security conference in Saudi Arabia on Saturday that time is running out for diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program, adding urgency to the 13 April meeting.

"We enter into these talks with a sober perspective about Iran's intentions. It is incumbent upon Iran to demonstrate by its actions that it is a willing partner and to participate in these negotiations with an effort to obtain concrete results," Clinton said. [AP, 1 April].

Nuclear Deal Still Possible – Former Negotiator

Hossein Mousavian, a former nuclear negotiator for Iran, wrote in an editorial in the Boston Globe that a nuclear deal between Iran and the major world powers is still possible. The two sides will meet in Istanbul on 13 April.

"Talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1)... provide the best opportunity to break the nine-year deadlock over Iran's nuclear program," Mousavian wrote [Reuters, 1 April].

Mousavian, currently a visiting scholar at Princeton University, also writes that the world powers need to recognize Iran’s right to enrich uranium.

"For Iran, this is the recognition of its legitimate right to create a nuclear program - including enrichment - and a backing off by the P5+1 from its zero-enrichment position.

"For the P5+1, it is an absolute prohibition on Iran from creating a nuclear bomb, and having Iran clear up ambiguities in its nuclear program to the satisfaction of the International Atomic Energy Agency," Mousavian writes.