Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basln Özeti
materials, reform of the health and education sector, the
development of natural resources and tourism. He
advocated making English the working language as the
Kurdish region is land locked and its people can create a
link with the rest of the world through the internet.
Nazaneen Wosu, the KRG's Minister of Public Works &
Housing said a master plan for the development of the
region was being prepared. The shortage of construction
materials cement and asphalt - was so acute that even if
firms worked 24 hours a day seven days a week they
would not keep up with the demand.
It was also pointed out that investment laws passed by the
KRG would not change after the hand over of power on
June 30 and investors were guaranteed compensation in
the event of nationalisation. But contracts granted during
the time when the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL)
was in place may have to be renegotiated as this law no
longer applies.
The presentations were enthusiastically received by the
forum's participants. Eileen Hoare of TMG IT Consultancy
which specialises in electronic government' told MEl she
would be exploring opportunities to be involved in Iraqi
Kurdistan.
Charlie Young, a consultant with clients interested in
investing in cement, construction and manufacturing in
Iraqi Kurdistan commented that many people know so
little about that part of the world. "I have come across
people who do not know where Kurdistan is. The area is
almost a greenfield site. There has been so little
investment for so long".
"The Kurds are focusing on oil, water and roads those are
the sorts of projects that make investment worthwhile. If
you are looking at the costs of going into a region and
establishing yourself there is no point in building a shed or
a small school", commented Stephen Nelson of Squire
Sanders.
Veteran tour operator Geoff Hann of Hinterland Travel,
who has been taking tourists to Iraq since60 s is hoping to
send tours to Iraqi Kurdistan. Hann took the first tourists
to Iraq after the downfall of Saddam's regime and hopes
to continue his Iraq tours the security situation permitting.
The KOC is planning a major exhibition bringing together
Iraqi and international companies in London in
September. Kurdistan and the Northern Iraq Gateway, the
first ,international conference and exhibition dedicated to
investment in the region planned for May was cancelled
"in the light of the recent escalation of hostilities in the rest
of Iraq".
u.s. unleashes
Iran in ousting two enemies
By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Philadelphia Inquirer
Jun.27,2004
TEHRAN, Iran - The United States freed Afghanistan from
the Taliban and toppled Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but in
doing so it may have unshackled an even more
dangerous foe: Iran.
Western diplomats and local officials in the Middle East
say Iran, widely considered a supporter of international
terrorism that is trying to develop nuclear weapons, is
emerging as the unintended winner of President Bush's
war on terrorism.
Iran's rise as a key power broker in the Persian Gulf
region is an alarming prospect for the United States,
which has used political and economic sanctions to
contain the Islamic republic and its radical government for
a quarter century, since Iranian radicals seized the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran.
"Iran has definitely come to be a major beneficiary" of
U.S. policy since Sept. 11, 2001, said Mohammed Hadi
Semati, a political scientist from Tehran University at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in
Washington. "With the exception of the current chaos,
everything that comes out of the Iraqi operation is good
for Iran's national interests."
The logic of Iran's ascendancy is simple. Iran sat back as
the United States launched expensive wars and defeated
Iranian enemies on two of its borders, in Afghanistan and
Iraq. Iran's population of about 69 million is predominantly
Shiite Muslim, and with Iraq's Shiite majority likely to
domina,te any new Iraqi government, the two nations will
share 'cultural and religious ties that could bring the
formerly warring neighbors closer.
Senior U.S. officials in Washington fear that a Shiite
uprising in Iraq could trigger unrest in neighboring Kuwait,
where Shiites are 30 percent of the population; in Bahrain,
which is 70 percent Shiite; and in the oil-rich eastern
province of Saudi Arabia, where Shiites are a narrow
majority.
Iranians, who succeeded in exporting their Islamic
revolution to Shiite parts of Lebanon after Israel invaded
that country in 1982, believe they have played their cards
well as the United States stumbled into guerrilla warfare
in Iraq.
"Two factors have made our position stronger. First is the
American attitude, the American behavior. They came to
Iraq under the slogan of human rights and democracy, but
unfortunately, the Americans could not prove they are
sincere in what they are saying," Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. "The second was our
behavior in Iraq was very clear.... We are not looking for
hegemony."'
There's unmistakable confidence at the highest levels of
the Iranian government about its role.
"There are some realities that cannot be changed by any
power, especially that Iran is a free country and a very
powerful country in the region," said Mohsen Rezaei, the
secretary of Iran's Expediency Council, which advises the'
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rezaei is widely
seen as a top presidential contender in next spring's
election.
"Iran's regional role is a fact," Rezaei said. "And if America
had accepted that fact, then Iraq wouldn't have attacked
Kuwait and Iran, nor would the Taliban have been
successful in Afghanistan, and the Twin Towers would be
still standing."
, The changing political reality worries Washington's Arab
allies, who privately complain that the White House ought
to engage Iran rather than isolate it. Many say it is the only
way to shore up America's influence amid a widespread
perception that Bush is waging a war on Islam rather than
terrorism.
"Basically, Iran is a much more serious threat to the region
than terrorism," saidone Persian Gulf state official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity. "Terrorism is something
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