Iraq purchasing two Airbus planes from France

But Rudaini said one of the planes now belongs to the Iraqi Airways after paying its price.

The second is 80% Iraqi property with the remaining 20% of its price to be paid by the end of the year, he said.

Iraq had one of the largest passenger plane fleet in the Middle East but most of the planes were flown to Iran, Jordan and Tunisia for safety shortly before the 1991 Gulf War.

And they have stranded there since then as the U.N. trade sanctions forbade the planes from returning. However, Rudaini said it would cost the country more money repairing the planes than buying new ones.

Only those which were sent to Iran are operational but the Iranian authorities have refused to return them, saying their return should part of a comprehensive passage solving all outstanding issues, Rudaini added.

He did not elaborate on Iranian stand. There are currently scheduled flights to Baghdad, Basra in the south and Arbil and Sulaimaniya in the north.

But the air fare is perhaps among the dearest in the world mainly due to the high charges international insurance companies demand.

Rudaini said insurers normally charge $7 for a passenger but in Iraq’s case they demand $70. (Source)Anwar Jumaa, Azzaman

For approx 436,500 million iraqi dinar loan from Japan to modernize Iraq ports

The port, according to Hussein Abdullah, has nonetheless seen much improvement in the past four years as it currently handles more than 40,000 tons a day.

The Japanese investment loan is expected to propel the port to international standards, Abdullah said.

“Ports in neighboring countries now look at us with envy,” he said.

He said Umm Qasr alone cannot handle Iraq’s external trade and the country now relies on Syrian and Jordanian terminals to meet a large portion of its exports

However, he said, Japan has also promised to rebuilt another, currently idle, Iraqi port in the Gulf.

Khor al-Zubayr, an oil terminal on the Gulf, is out of order but Abdullah said preparations were underway to bring it on stream.(Source)Abed Battat, Azzaman

Japanese government loan of approx 953,000 million Iraqi dinar to Iraq extended

In a press conference after offering his credentials to the President Jalal Talabani yesterday, said he carried regards from Japan's Empire & Prime Minister to the Iraqi President, carrying discussions concerning bilateral ties and enhancing relations between the two countries and offering Japan's desire and preparing its supporting in re buildings.On the other side, Japan's government had extended its loans facilities amounted 953,000 Million iraqi dinar foe an indefinite period.(Source) AlSabah

Japan building a $119 million dollar (approx IQD 173,145,000,000 iraqi dinar) power plant for Samawa

The 60-megawatt plant, to be completed in 21 months, is part of several projects the Japanese government has pledged to undertake in the impoverished city.

The Governor of the southern Province of Muthana Mohammed Ali publicly thanked Tokyo for efforts to develop Samawa. Samawa is the provincial capital and home to nearly 200,000 people.

“In the name of the people of Samawa we thank the Japanese leadership and are looking forward for more development projects,” Ali Said.

Japan is reported to have pledged to end power shortages in the province and will construct two more power plants each with 25-megawatt capacity, the governor told a cheering crowd.

Samawa’s most famous attraction is the ancient city of Urkuk, the largest Sumerian capital which flourished in southern Iraq in about 2,500 B.C.

Archaeologists say the ancient city saw the birth of the first written scripts in human history.

The former region had turned Samawa into a cement manufacturing center where it constructed some of the largest cement factories in the region.

But the factories have fallen into disrepair.

The city has also lost its attraction as a tourist center when its tourist facilities along the shores of the magnificent Samawa Lake were plundered in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion.(Source) Azzaman

'University City’ for Nasiriya, Iraq

The sprawling campus will cover 400 donums (each donum is 1000 square meters) which will also include hostels and other facilities.

The government is determined to construct one university in each of Iraq’s 18 provinces.

There are currently 12-state run universities in Iraq and numerous private schools and colleges.

The new Nasiriya campus will not house the colleges of medicine and education as these have already moved to their new buildings at different sites.

Jabiri said the massive campus will have residential quarters for the faculty and staff as well as sports stadiums.

Nasiriya, 360 kilometers south of Baghdad, is the capital of the province of Dhiqar.

Most of the city’s nearly 600,000 impoverished and low-income people are Muslim Shiites.(Source) Bassem al-Rikabi, Azzaman

Bush asks Shiites to replace Prime Minister in Iraq.

Iraq is in the throes of a political crisis as it battles an upsurge in sectarian violence that has pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

Hakim’s SCIRI is apparently the most powerful political faction in Iraq. It operates well-armed militias and leads a strong alliance of several Shiite parties.

The sources said Bush made it clear in his letter that Jaafari was no longer fit to lead the government.

However, the sources said Hakim has snubbed Bush, saying the selection of a prime minister was left to his parliamentary block which has 140 seats in the 275-member parliament.

Hakim is reported to be under immense pressure to nominate another candidate, but the sources said he has so far shown no willingness for compromise.

Despite Hakim’s persistence to have Jaafari as prime minister, his opponents in the parliament insist on a new nominee.(Source) Nidhal al-Laithi, Azzaman

Sajad bridge in Najaf, Iraq opened

In a press statement he said that the mentioned bridge will shorten 45 minutes from Najaf to Manathera district and will lessen the traffic jam, and the bridge is one of the important irony bridges connecting the two halving of the province.(Source)AlSabah

Dyala, Iraq raise police to ten thousand members

He said that the security situation returned to its past condition in Iraq, while police forces have been increased and deployed, and security difficulties are in their way to vanish.He added that more security stabilization will be achieved as meetings are continuous with tribes' heads and employing new methods to maintain stabilization.

He reviled the arresting of a gang consist of four persons committing crimes such as kidnapping and spoliation, number of this gang's crimes reached more than 30 crime in the province, denying the presence of Arab prisoners in the province's prisons.To end the assassination crimes, the police chief emphasized the necessity of testing information and motivating citizens' role in informing what is happening in his neighborhood.He reflected his hope about the improvement of security situation in the province through the coming weeks.(Source)AlSabah

Industry builds three boats for approx 67,500,000,000 Iraq Dinar, Rehabilates Najaf factory

The first boat was called Faw, and was made in the state company for heavy industries and was designed to work in sea waters in various circumstances in order to save much money in case of purchasing them from abroad.On the other hand, Industry Minister Usama al-Najafi said that the ministry would open the Najaf factory for ready made clothes as 1700 workers are ready to be reemployed in the factory.It is worth mentioning that the last 2003 war have destroyed more than 80 per cent of the factory and was rehabilitated with about 50 million dollars (approx 67,500,000,000 Iraq Dinar).(Source) AlSabah

Iraq Presidencies meet tomorrow for parliament session

United Iraqi Alliance and Consensus were on split in view of the file when the latter wanted to catch up the file, as the first insisted on putting it under premier's charge according to the constitution.Wael Abdul Latif of the Iraq slate said that presidencies would convene tomorrow to put time meeting for the parliament, which many politicians think it is the place of solving the problem of security file.Al Fadhila party MP Mohammad al-Khuzaei said that it is better to present the issue on the parliament so as to solve the dispute.(Source)AlSabah