KTFA Members "Friday News" 10-23-2020

KTFA:

Samson:  The formation of an international financial alliance to support Iraq in Britain

22nd October, 2020

Today in London, I announced the establishment of an international financial coalition that includes 7 foreign and Iraqi financial institutions, to provide advice to the Iraqi government to face the stifling financial crisis that led to the state’s inability to commit to paying employees’ salaries on time and resort to internal and external borrowing

The International Financial Alliance to support Iraq includes the G7 countries, which are "America, Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Canada and Italy, in addition to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and from Iraq includes the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Iraq and the Parliamentary Finance Committee   LINK

P71rock:  Please think about this group... They are they represent the collision forces and they are the creditor(s)....  IMO

Samson:  This is Iraq:
- a strategic location
- rich and diverse natural resources
- a talented and educated workforce
- ambitious and creative entrepreneurs
- a welcoming and stable business environment
- a booming domestic market #InvestIraq pic.twitter.com/QAmQCIcIjN

— Government of Iraq - (@IraqiGovt) October 23, 2020

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Samson:  Al-Kazemi returns to Baghdad after a European tour

10/23/2020 18:30:06

The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, has returned to the capital, Baghdad.

Al-Kazemi had led a high-ranking government delegation since last Sunday, a European tour that included France, Germany and Britain.   LINK

David:  The man has arrived, the news coming out after his return should get rather interesting! IMO

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Samson:  Shiite authority and America .. behind the scenes of a rare meeting with Khamenei, leaders of Iraqi factions

22nd October, 2020
The British "Middle East Eye" website revealed, on Thursday, an order given by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, last week, to the Iraqi Shiite factions to stop their attacks on American interests immediately.

The site quoted a prominent commander of one of the Iranian-backed armed factions participating in the attacks as saying that Khamenei's orders were clear and explicit: "All attacks that target US interests in Iraq must stop." The Hezbollah Brigades, the faction most hostile to the United States and accused of carrying out most of the attacks, were the first to respond to Khamenei's orders, and Harakat al-Nujaba and other smaller factions soon followed. 

While a prominent commander in one of those factions participating in the attacks said to the British website: "The Americans seek to pit people against us in various ways, so we decided to thwart the efforts of the Americans in this regard, which is more important than targeting the American embassy." He added, "Calming the Iraqi street, preserving the Iraqi government and the political process is a priority now, and therefore it has been decided to stop all attacks targeting US interests in Iraq until the danger passes." The major shift in the position of the armed factions backed by Iran, and the timing of the announcement of this unilateral truce, raised many questions about the true purpose behind the decision, its circumstances, its duration, the guarantor of the decision, and most importantly, the identity of the decision-maker.

Iraqi officials and leaders of armed factions told the website that the armed factions were encouraged to attack American targets in order to pressure Trump and his allies inside Iraq, and push them to take reckless moves that lead him to lose the elections. Nevertheless, it seems that the calculations have changed after the Iranians confirmed the seriousness of the threats that Pompeo conveyed through Iraqi President Barham Salih, that the United States would strike Iran's interests and its allies inside Iraq, according to a prominent Shiite leader close to Tehran.

The politician who participated in the talks with Iran told the British website that the Iranians had received very important advice from a common ally who had a clear role in changing their position, and the advice stipulated to avoid provoking Trump at this stage, because he is serious about his threats, and because he is desperate and will not hesitate to take any A reckless act will cost everyone heavy losses. Any military move inside Iraq now means the fall of the Iraqi government, and Iran itself will not be able to deal with the repercussions of the fall of the government, especially the repercussions of a political, financial and economic nature.

That alleged "common ally" is Britain, a country that Shiite leaders see as the real party on the Iraqi scene at the present time, and he is credited with persuading the Iranians to avoid provoking the Americans and pursue the option of appeasement. The politician added that there is no clear information, but all indications indicate that the British were the ones who played an influential role this time, although they did not appear in the picture as usual. Unusually, Khamenei's instructions were not transmitted this time to the armed factions through the usual channels or Iranian officials operating in Iraq.

Instead, given its importance, the leaders of the most prominent factions were summoned to Qom to meet with Khamenei, according to 3 of the faction leaders, including the oldest Iranian-backed Shiite group in Iraq, the Badr Organization, the Hezbollah Brigades, and the most influential faction, Asaib People of truth, and there was more than one meeting with Khamenei. While a prominent commander of one of the armed factions said that the essence of the orders issued was preserving power in the hands of the Shiites, and this means preserving the position of the prime minister and the current government, Khamenei says that Al-Kazemi is Shiite, regardless of whether he is good or bad from our point of view, and he will leave his post Sooner or later, but the position must remain in the hands of the Shiites.

 The commander added that Khamenei had warned that any attacks now would threaten Al-Kazemi's rule, and thus the political strategies of everyone, and "therefore any activities that might threaten the Iraqi government or place it at the mercy of the Americans must stop immediately."    LINK

Samson:  Trump signs decision to remove an Arab country from the list of "terrorism"

23rd October, 2020
The Transitional Sovereignty Council in Sudan announced, on Friday, that US President Donald Trump has officially signed a decision to remove Sudan from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The Sovereignty Council said, in a communiqué, that the signing was made in an official capacity by Trump, adding, "It will be announced shortly." The communiqué, published on the council’s official Facebook page, stated that this day is a “historic day for Sudan and its glorious revolution”. 

Trump said in a tweet on his official account on Twitter, Monday, that "the new government of Sudan, which is making tremendous progress, has agreed to pay $ 335 million to the victims of terrorism and their families." He added, "Once the payment is made, I will remove Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism." And he continued: "Finally, justice is for the American people, and a big step for Sudan."

After that, a Sudanese government source told "Sky News Arabia" that the sums required to compensate the victims of terrorism were transferred to Washington. Finance Minister Heba Muhammad Ali also revealed to "Sky News Arabia" that the amount that the US President talked about "exists and that the technical mechanism for transferring funds is almost complete ... while we await some small diplomatic details." 

The US President’s announcement of removing Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism left many positive reverberations in Khartoum. According to US law, the president is required to formally notify Congress of the decision, and Congress will have 45 days to review it. The resolution does not need a vote, but Congress can stop the decision with a joint veto from the House of Representatives and the Senate together, and the decision becomes effective if it is not objected to during this period for review.   LINK

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Samson:  Expectations to announce an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Sudan today

23rd October, 2020

"Reuters" agency quoted a senior US official as confirming that it will be announced later on Friday that Israel and Sudan have reached an agreement to normalize relations.

The official, who asked not to be named, confirmed to the agency that US President Donald Trump's decision this week to remove Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism contributed to paving the way for Khartoum to follow the example of the UAE and Bahrain in joining the so-called "Abraham Accords."

This comes against the background of press reports that Khartoum and Tel Aviv reached a preliminary agreement to establish relations.   LINK

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Samson:  America imposes a heavy financial penalty on a famous bank for its role in a global corruption case

22nd October, 2020

Goldman Sachs Bank agreed, Thursday, October 22, 2020, to pay nearly $ 3 billion to settle an investigation into the role it played in the global corruption scandal related to the Malaysian wealth fund "OneMDB".

The settlement resolves an investigation by the US authorities into the bank’s role in the private placement of three offers to sell bonds in 2012 and 2013, which raised $ 6.5 billion to the Malaysian government, according to Reuters.

Under these terms, Goldman Sachs, which is one of the largest banks in America and the world, was imposed a fine of $ 2.3 billion, and about $ 600 million, in fees for illicit gains.

The US Department of Justice said the deal constitutes the largest penalty ever imposed on a US company for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and includes an unprecedented number of regulators around the world.

Brian Rabbit, Acting Head of the Criminal Department at the Ministry of Justice, explained that the settlement reflects the central role of the bank "in a huge global scheme to plunder billions of dollars" from the Malaysian state fund.

Prosecutors said that between 2009 and 2014, Goldman paid more than $ 1.6 billion in bribes to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to win the fund's business.

The move comes on the heels of a settlement of 3.9 billion dollars that the bank reached with Malaysia in July, to settle all charges against it there related to this case.  LINK