Iraq News Highlights and Points To Ponder Monday AM 9-23-24
Corruption Deals And The Assassination Of An Honest Employee... What Is Happening At The Border Crossings?
Economy 2024-09-23 | 2,121 views Sumerian News – Economy The political analyst revealedtributaryAl-Atwani,todayMonday, the secrets of what is happening at the border crossings and how to treat the honest employee, while he pointed out thatThe Iraqi StateCompletely unable to control border crossings.
Al-Atwani said in an interview with Sumaria News, "The border crossings are considered one of the sovereign gates of the Iraqi state, and one of the most important outlets for corruption for political parties," noting that "there is poor treatment of expatriates and Iraqi citizens, and they rely on a political party."
He pointed out that "the political parties inIraqMost of them have military wings, and therefore there are justifications and power for the corrupt person present at the border crossings and protection from dismissal from his position or follow-up and monitoring of all his activities,” indicating that “the border crossings are one of the economic gates through which many corruption deals pass, including currency smuggling, money laundering and drug trafficking.”
He revealed that “every employee who seeks to report the existence of a corruption deal is exposed to dismissal, beating and continuous penalties, and some of them are physically liquidated.
There are cases that we have witnessed in previous years, and the best evidence is a police officer who was assassinated in a hideous manner and was thrown into a kerosene tank as a result of reporting oil smuggling at the crossings.BasraTwo years ago.”
He concluded by saying that “the companySumerI addressed directlyPrime MinisterWith more than 200 thousand barrels smuggled through the northern ports, stressing that "the Iraqi state is completely unable to control the border ports, which are one of the biggest doors to corruption." LINK
Corruption And Forgery Files Revealed, Comparable To The Theft Of The Century
Policy Information / Anbar .. A responsible source in Anbar Governorate revealed, today, Monday, forged transaction files with amounts equivalent to the theft of the century in Anbar.
Follow the "Information" page on Facebook.. News that does not need verification..
The source told Al-Maalouma Agency that "the supervisory authorities are investigating the current governor of Anbar, Mohammed Al-Karbouli, and the personal aide of the dismissed Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, Ahmed Al-Jaberi, and other leaders of the Progress Party, regarding the forgery of official documents in the governorate and Baghdad, the value of which reaches more than 2 trillion dinars."
He added, "These amounts were transferred to local banks under fictitious names during the period when Halbousi was the Speaker of Parliament and Karbouli was the director of his office."
He continued, "Al-Karbouli supervised the management of this operation, noting that the investigations indicate that there was a large financial waste in Halbousi's office at that time."
He expected that "these files will topple big heads related to Halbousi and former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi." LINK
Kurdistan Region Faces A Financial Shortfall Of 243 Billion Dinars To Cover August Salaries
2024-09-23 Shafaq News/ An informed source reported on Monday that the Kurdistan Region needs 998 billion Iraqi dinars to cover the salaries of last August, in light of the ongoing financial crisis resulting from the delay in transferring financial shares from the federal government in Baghdad.
The source told Shafaq News Agency, "Baghdad sent 572 billion dinars to the Kurdistan Region yesterday, Sunday, while 183 billion dinars remain due from salaries for previous months."
He added, "There is still a shortfall of 243 billion dinars to fully secure salaries."
According to the source, the Kurdistan Region's employee salary crisis is considered one of the most sensitive issues in the financial relationship between Erbil and Baghdad. Despite previous financial agreements aimed at regulating federal budget transfers to the region, repeated delays by the central government have created increasing financial gaps, which have greatly affected the regional government's ability to distribute salaries on time.
This crisis includes hundreds of thousands of public sector employees in the region, who rely primarily on these salaries to cover their basic needs.
The irregularity of salary payments has increased pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government, which has previously been forced to take austerity measures such as reducing or postponing salaries.
In statements to Shafaq News Agency correspondent, a number of public sector employees in Sulaymaniyah expressed their dissatisfaction with the impact of the delay in paying salaries on their living conditions.
“The delay in salaries has directly affected our ability to meet our daily needs. I can no longer cover my living expenses or pay my rent on time, and the economic situation is getting worse with each passing month without getting my salary on time,” said Dilshad Omar, a teacher at a government school in Sulaymaniyah.
Another health sector employee, who preferred not to reveal her name, spoke about the major challenges she faces: “We are forced to borrow from relatives or banks to cover basic needs. The continuous delay in disbursing salaries has made many of us live in a state of instability, as we do not know when we will be able to pay bills or buy necessities.”
Regarding the impact of delayed salaries on market activity, Ibrahim Ahmed, a grocery store owner in Sulaymaniyah, said: “Since the beginning of the salary crisis, market activity has declined significantly. Many customers used to buy in installments or request to postpone payment until they received their salaries, but this continuous delay has made many of them unable to pay their debts or make large purchases.”
He added, "The commercial movement has become weak, especially in times of financial crises, as people have started to buy only the essentials, and even these have seen their sales decline significantly. We, as traders, suffer just like employees, as we also depend on the strength of the market, and if people do not have money, it is natural that everyone will be affected."
The salary crisis began years ago with the escalation of financial and political tensions between Erbil and Baghdad, as the regional government relied on financial transfers from Baghdad in addition to local revenues, especially from oil. However, these transfers were irregular, which led to the accumulation of financial dues and delayed payment of salaries, especially with the decline in oil prices and the increase in government expenditures.
With no clear solutions in the near term, the salary crisis remains one of the major challenges facing the regional government, especially in light of the difficult economic conditions and the decline in available financial resources.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy in the Kurdistan Region announced yesterday, Sunday, the deposit of a sum of money amounting to about 100 billion dinars in financial revenues for non-oil revenues for last May. LINK
Full Text Of Al-Sudani's Speech At The Future Summit In New York
Baghdad Today – Baghdad Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani stressed, today, Sunday, September 22, 2024, the importance of adopting clear strategies for using artificial intelligence in a safe and responsible manner to serve humanity.
Al-Sudani participated in the Future Summit, which was held in New York today, Sunday, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The summit aims to enhance cooperation on key challenges and bridge gaps in global governance, reaffirm existing commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals) and the UN Charter, and lay the foundations for more effective global cooperation that can address today’s challenges and emerging threats in the future.
Al-Sudani delivered Iraq's speech at the summit, during which he stressed the pursuit of serious steps towards achieving sustainable development and effective response to the goals of the National Development Plan (2024-2028), by adopting comprehensive strategic reforms.
The following are the most important points made in the Prime Minister’s speech at the Future Summit:
We work to enhance economic reform and improve the conditions of the most vulnerable groups.
We have adopted a strategy that advances vulnerable groups in terms of social justice, building human resource capacities through developing education and health, and caring for youth and women.
- Committed to establishing the concepts of climate justice, especially in combating drought and desertification and ensuring the sustainability of water resources and food security.
- Addressing climate challenges requires effective international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention and the Paris Agreement.
We stress the need to give Iraq priority in climate finance, as it is one of the most affected countries, and we have begun implementing our commitments set forth in the National Contributions Document.
- We support investments that aim to diversify the economy away from oil, with our focus on the role of the private sector in providing job opportunities.
Sustainable development requires ambitious investments, and we are keen to provide incentives to the private sector and invest in renewable energy projects.
- We strengthen our international relations on the basis of mutual respect and common interests, and adhere to the principle of not allowing our territories to be used to attack other countries.
- We support all efforts to promote human rights and involve civil society organizations in achieving development goals.
Achieving peace requires a joint international effort, and diplomacy and dialogue are key to achieving stability.
- We call for strengthening international cooperation in the areas of land, maritime, cyber, and outer space security, in order to ensure comprehensive security.
Science and technology are the basis of sustainable development, and we are working to move to the digital economy and provide an integrated database to support decision-making.
We seek to enhance international cooperation in the field of technology transfer and capacity building, while supporting Iraqi inventors in every forum.
- We encourage scientific research in clean oil and gas technologies, and work to enhance technical education to provide young people with the skills required for the modern labor market.
-Strengthening international cooperation is essential to ensure that countries have access to the tools and capabilities needed to harness AI responsibly and ethically.
We seek to provide a supportive environment for youth by holding workshops to enhance their role in development.
We are keen to provide advanced educational opportunities and training programs, and we cooperate with the United Nations to develop indicators to measure youth development.
-We call for reforming international institutions to enhance their representation and ability to address global challenges.
We are committed to public sector governance, combating corruption, removing obstacles to private sector growth, and focusing on accelerating digital transformation and enforcing laws to hold violators accountable.
Iraq is committed to working with the international community to find common solutions, and our cooperation will contribute to building a better and more sustainable future for all. LINK