Small Shipments Of Iraqi Oil Could Resume Next Week: "From ABS CBN (Philippines) :
With the UN Security Council?s adoption Thursday of a resolution lifting sanctions on Iraq, diplomats and industry experts predicted that small shipments of Iraqi oil could resume as early as the next week or the week after."
By recognizing the US-led coalition?s authority over Iraq and its oil revenue, the resolution clears a major hurdle to restarting oil exports, which have been shut down since hostilities began on March 20. Iraqi oil likely will just trickle out in the early stages, with larger shipments following.
In Command Post: Irak
U.S. Troops In Iraq Find $34M In Gold: "Personally, I think our folks in uniform should get a finder's fee for things like this ... say 6%? From The Wilmington Morning Star / AP :
American troops confiscated gold bars valued at $34 million from a truck in northern Iraq, defense officials said Friday."
The truck carrying 1,600 gold bars was stopped at a military checkpoint near Qaim, a northwestern city near Iraq's border with Syria, Pentagon officials said.
In Command Post: Irak
USA Shakes Up Iraq After UN Approval: "A take on the post-UN vote US response, from Norwegian news source Aftenposten :
The US administrator in Iraq acted swiftly on America's overwhelming victory at the United Nations over its plans to rebuild the oil-rich country, dissolving several key Baathist ministries and bodies on Friday."
Only hours after the Security Council voted to end 13-year-old crippling sanctions, Washington's man in charge of Iraq, Paul Bremer, sacked hundreds of thousands of public employees and soldiers by abolishing the defense and information ministries and military and security courts.
In Command Post: Irak
US Disbands Iraq's Armed Forces: "From the Toronto Sun :
Iraq's military and the security organizations that supported Saddam Hussein's regime have been officially dissolved, and a new defense force "representative of all Iraqis" will be set up to replace them, the U.S. civil administrator announced Friday."
In Command Post: Irak
Investors Dreaming of Windfalls Home in on Iraq: "Foreign entrepreneurs in Baghdadlooking to get rich in a post-Saddam Iraq unfettered by U.N.sanctions said on Friday likely rewards outweighed the dangersin a country now gripped by lawlessness. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
London axes plan for British troops to replace US troops in Baghdad: "British officials have rejected a reported plan for British troops in southern Iraq to replace US troops in Baghdad. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
European firms meet in London to push for Iraq reconstruction work: "Companies from Britain and elsewhere in Europe were meeting US construction firm Bechtel in London in the hope of winning lucrative contracts to rebuild Iraq's shattered infrastructure. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
In Basra, Iraq Scavengers Dismantle Their Own City: "Hamed Fadil was watching a Lebanesemusical on video when his house in the Iraqi city of Basra wasplunged into darkness. Looking out of the window, he sawlooters race off with the street's underground power cables. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
