IMF behind Iraq fuel riots. Police fire on Iraq demonstrators.

More from Azzaman, today's continuation of yesterday's diary about fuel riots in Iraq.  Iraq's oil minister says the International Monetary Fund is behind these price increases, in exchange for debt forgiveness.  More below the fold.  

Translation by me: no Arabic text today, too many folks complaining.  Get Foxfire, solve that problem.

Azzaman Headline:  High fuel prices spark popular anger extending from Basra to Mosul - Police fire on demonstrators. A new agreement between the parties establishing a national day of protest.

London - Nidal Al Ethi - Mosul - immediate release - Nassiryeh - office - Basra - D B A
Baqouba - Tikrit - AFP

Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated yesterday in Mosul, Nassiryeh, Al Emara, Basra, Baqouba and Tikrit, protesting against Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim Al-Gaafari policy of multiplying  fuel prices, demanding a suspension of this policy.  Police fired on the demonstrators. Meanwhile, public transport prices rose in Iraq by 50%, only one day after the decision. Food prices and main consumable commodities multiplied, in the wake of the rise of fuel prices

Police fired on a crowd of three thousand demonstrators in Nassiryeh.  The protesters were expressing anger over the decision to increase their daily suffering and doubling the deterioration of their standard of living. Hundreds of students from Mosul University gathered on campus to condemn the doubling of fuel prices. [the prices have actually tripled, this "doubling" is fairly common parlance for sharply increasing ] The [student] demonstrators said these increases will drive them out of school by the dozen [literally tens], into the workplace to shoulder the burden of their [parental] families, already in terrible shape.  The students receive no tuition asssistance or family funding while they're in school.

The demonstrators stoned a British army patrol to the Messan government center [city hall].  Demonstrators blocked the routes to the Basra government center, burning tires in front of the compound, protesting the price hikes.  Tikrit had similar protests

Local reporters said the Shiite coalition officials have totally disappeared from the city centers.  Not even one turned up for the election festival scheduled before the elections last Thursday.  These reporters say the entire population is angry.  They also say there's a working consensus among the protesting parties to have a massive protest once a week, followed by daily protests until the government rescinds its policy of raising fuel prices.  The reporters also say the local administrators are in hiding, fearing the protesters.  For its part,  Ibrahim Al-Jaafari's oil minister [Bahr Al-Aloum] tried to distance himself from the price increases on petroleum products, declaring them to be an additional burden on the ordinary Iraqi, and threatened to resign over the decision.

[Oil Minister] Bahr Al-Aloum was party to the [original] policy of two months ago [all the false promises of bread and circuses alluded to my diary of yesterday] without objection.  In a press conference, the oil minister said "I call on the government to debate the implementation of the [new] decision".  He added, "Is this how we repay the Iraq citizens who risked their lives to participate in the elections, by raising fuel prices in this way?" .  He also said "If the government doesn't reconsider this decision, it's not going in front of Ibrahim Bahr Al-Ulum. I'll present my resignation to this government"

Bahr Al-Aloum revealed "this decision came about at the request of the International Monetary Fund, in exchange for debt forgiveness of 140 billion dollars.  We must now pay 6 billion dollars per year in increased refined petroleum prices"

For the newspaper ( immediate ) issue 2287 20 Dec 2005

•  Ubiquitous tip jar

  Give liberally, effendi, translations are hard work, heh.

  by BlaiseP on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:15:23 AM PDT

•  Bush on Iraqi oil.

  "oil wells, asource of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people" George W Bush March 17th 2003.
  href+"http://http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/17/sprj.irq.bush.transcript/

  by irate on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:37:06 AM PDT

  •  Sorry messed up the link

    by irate on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:37:39 AM PDT

•  IMF meeting Friday

  Reuters says:

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's executive board will meet on Friday to discuss a lending deal to the war-ravaged country, the lender said on Monday.

  An IMF financing pact is a critical step for Iraq's ability to borrow money oversees and necessary to trigger a debt relief deal approved by the Paris Club of creditor nations last year.

  by BlaiseP on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 08:45:26 AM PDT

•  Here's what Jerome has to say on this:

  aside from the investment... (none / 0)

  few are mentioning the furor over the raising of oil in iraq to .47 cents a gallon - this is a totally devastated country where gas USED to be about a nickel!

  now, if americans(neocons) think that the iraqis are going to sit back and allow exploitation of those fields to happen in the future, i think they are sadly miscalculating!  

  this move was supposedly made to allow the increase to "pay for the poor" - but no one is buying it - including the puppet government!  look for this issue and the "price gouging" in iraq to set the stage for someone to decide to blow up those fields!  

  it is going to get really ugly before the iraqis succeed in "getting the u.s. out of iraq"!  

  Russ Feingold for President, 2008

  by edrie on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 11:27:22 AM EST
  [ Parent | Reply to This | ]

      about this (none / 0)

      It's hard to defend fuel subsidies as it leads to incredibly wasteful behavior, and a sense of entitlement, but it's hard to take it away when it's the only thing these people feel they have a right to in the country (where oil is plentiful). The irony of course is that Iraq has to import gasoline as its refineries do not produce enough.

      But these subsidies generate incredible waste, corruption and trafficking with neighbors.

      In the long run, we're all dead (Keynes)
      Read more on the European Tribune - bringing dKos to Europe

  by Jerome a Paris on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 12:30:51 PM
  From Iraqi Oil - the $250bn gift to Saudi Arabia and Russia

  by Halcyon on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 12:17:05 PM PDT