Friday, May 04, 2007
INM daily summary – 4 May 2007
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- Iraq urged its neighbors on Friday to stop militants sneaking into Iraq and, at talks in Egypt on stemming bloodshed, is expected to ask the Arab League to hold a conference on national reconciliation.
- Iran’s Ports and Shipping Organization (PSO) Sunday announced that it has reduced by 50 percent the port tariffs and costs for the vessels that transport goods to Iraq.
- Iran's electricity export to Iraq is set to increase to 500 megawatts as a new power line comes on stream in Khosravi, Kermanshah Province.
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will reopen offices in Baghdad in an effort to address the growing refugee problem, the UN announced on May 1.
- Gunmen stormed the offices of an independent radio station in a predominantly Sunni area of Baghdad on Thursday.
- Sadrists in Basrah demand the release of detainees while the Islamic List threatens to demonstrate.
- Iraqi Christians are fleeing their areas particularly in the restive quarters of Baghdad despite the ongoing U.S. and Iraqi military operations to bring stability to the city.
- In Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday Rice had a 30-minute meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem -- Washington's highest-level contact with Syria in more than two years.
- Creditor nations including the UK, Saudi Arabia and China have pledged to waive $30bn (£15.1bn) of Iraqi debt, about 60 per cent of what Baghdad estimates it owes other countries.
- The US military killed a senior Al Qaeda figure this week in Iraq but the dead man was not the group's chief as was claimed by Iraqi officials.
- Security round-up.
