PM ushers in new relationship with Iraq

The Prime Minister has announced plans to “strengthen and deepen” the relationship between Iraq and the UK as combat operations draw to a close.

Gordon Brown said British combat patrols in Basra are coming to an end and armed forces are now preparing to withdraw.

The PM welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to Downing Street this morning where the two leaders held talks and signed a declaration of friendship and co-operation.

Basra prospects brighten as foreign investors line up - Daily Star, Lebanon

This year should be oil-rich Basra's best in decades, with foreign companies queuing up to invest there as long as Iraq's government lets them, the province's reconstruction boss told AFP. The number of firms visiting the southern port city, Iraq's third-largest, is now 20 a month, compared to two in the same period six months ago, said Keith Mackiggan of Britain's Department for International Development.

The victory of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's allies in January's provincial election and the imminent arrival of a new administration in Basra will trigger an upturn in the area's fortunes, he said.

"Our job is going to get much easier in 2009 because it could not get any more difficult after the last local government," said Mackiggan, whose team is based within the sprawling military camp near Basra airport that is home to the British Army and diplomats.

"Maliki will have a say in who runs this place and after stabilizing the security situation he now has the incentive of national elections at the end of the year to deliver. If he doesn't he won't do well at the polls," he said.

Recent international investment visits coordinated by Mackiggan's team have included Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, two of the world's biggest oil and gas infrastructure groups.

Global courier DHL has also been in town, along with hotel operators, steel pipeline production companies and legal firms from Britain.

Having moved to Basra in September, Mackiggan was confronted with "an atmosphere of hopelessness" typified by poor public services and admits he was not optimistic.

Infrastructure is woeful, with few of the city's 1 million residents enjoying clean water, while power cuts are constant and unemployment hovers around 40 percent.

Many areas consist of stench-ridden, sewer-filled canals and vast tracts of rotting rubbish piled waist high along the potholed and dust-filled roads that lead to slums.

Mackiggan's team has helped train 2,700 engineers, planners and finance specialists to fix the problems but has seen local politics stop them from doing their jobs.

The previous provincial government was beset by rivalries among three main Shiite factions - the former rebel Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the smaller but influential Fadhila party and the popular, firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

"Programs were not approved because of political reasons," said Mackiggan, describing how 32 signatures needed from warring parties made reaching an agreement impossible. "We called them the government of sidewalks because that is all they had time to change when they realized there was an election coming up."

The prime minister's State of Law coalition, however, secured an absolute majority in Basra in January's polls. With 20 out of 35 seats, it should now be able to push through the funding for key improvements.

"The political log-jam should now be cleared and Maliki has the incentive of the national elections to do that," Mackiggan said.

The improvement in Iraq's security in the past year has made international companies less wary of the country's recent past and more optimistic about its future, sparking investment visits.

Construction projects, religious tourism - from Iran in particular - and greater traffic of goods through the nearby port of Umm Qasr are all factors in securing future economic growth.

"This is an Aladdin's cave and what has been a trickle of visits is going to become a flood," Mackiggan said, acknowledging that companies still have to put their money where their mouth is and that government flexibility is needed.

"Converting investment proposals into contracts is the biggest task. There is some reticence in the national government and that has to be overcome," Mackiggan said.

But the Oil Ministry's announcement on Thursday of a joint venture being signed with a British company to set up a drilling company, Iraq's first such deal, signals that such barriers are starting to come down.

Iraqis 'impatient' for handover - BBC

Iraqis are "impatient" to run their own affairs once British and US troops have left the country, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has told the BBC.

On a visit to Iraq, he said 2008 had been a "critical year" for re-establishing security there.

The fact recent provincial elections had passed without incident had given a "new momentum", he added.

UK military operations in Basra are due to end by 31 May. Most US troops are expected to withdraw by August 2010.

US President Barack Obama is due to announce the withdrawal plans later although it is expected that up to 50,000 will remain in Iraq.

'Sustainable' gains
Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme politics in Iraq were now moving "onto a more normal basis" and the government could start concentrating on the economy and public services.

Having spoken to Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders, Mr Miliband said he believed gains made in Iraq were now "more sustainable".

"Every week that goes by I think strengthens Iraqi capacity and every week that goes by strengthens the confidence of the Iraqi people," he said.

He said in Basra, where British troops handed provincial control to the Iraqis in December 2007, politics had "re-emerged" and there had been big economic developments.

On Thursday Mr Miliband announced a £277m ($400m) joint venture involving a UK-based petroleum company drilling for oil in Iraq.

He said it sent a message to British firms Iraq was "open for business".
He said Iraq was rebuilding itself after years of suffering.

But he said the US had "enduring commitment" to improving local security forces after most troops leave.

"I think the Iraqis on the one hand are impatient to run their own affairs, on the other hand they recognise the vital and massive nature of the American contribution, and the help that it can give to them," he told the BBC.

"I think there is a real yearning here for Iraqis to run their own affairs, to make their own mistakes but also to make their own progress.

"What the Iraqis now need to focus on are issues like economics and the electricity supply which are the bread and butter of politics around the world."

UK forces have lost 179 troops since the 2003 invasion and have a 4,100-strong force in the country.

President Obama is due to announce later his plan to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by August 2010.

He is expected to say troop numbers will be reduced from the current 142,000 to about 50,000.