The newspapers issued today, Sunday, paid attention to the call of the Head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate and President of the Federation of Arab Journalists, Muayad Al-Lami, to Arab governments to support press freedoms and journalists.

Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, paid attention to the call of the head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate and President of the Federation of Arab Journalists, Muayad Al-Lami, during the Inauguration of the meetings of the Standing Committee on Freedoms of the General Federation of Arab Journalists in Dubai, to Arab governments to support press freedoms and journalists.

Al-Lami praised the great effort made by the Emirates Journalists Association to make this distinguished event a success, which Dubai is hosting for the first time, and extended his sincere thanks to the government of the UAE, represented by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai for the great support of the press and journalists.

Al-Lami said: “Arab governments must support the issue of press freedoms, before unions and the federation support them. This support has many forms, moral and material, and newspapers and journalists must also stand by their governments, in order to achieve a free journalistic atmosphere.”

Al-Lami strongly praised this year’s report on the state of press freedoms, saying: “The report is very important, and represents the reality of freedoms in the Arab world, because of the important numbers and details it contains, emphasized the necessity of believing in the freedom of journalists in our Arab world.”

In his speech, Al-Lami also touched on the importance of freedom of the press and journalists and the necessity of supporting and strengthening it throughout the Arab world.

For his part, the President of the Emirates Journalists Association, Mohammed Al Hammadi, welcomed the Arab guests who came to Dubai for this important Arab event, praising the efforts made by the Association to promote freedom of the press and its reality in general in the Arab region, and its prominent role in organizing this historic event.

Al Hammadi expressed his happiness that this ceremony is the first event hosted by the association since it joined the Arab Journalists Association.

Al-Hammadi said in his speech: “Journalism in our Arab world today faces many challenges at various levels, and press freedoms come at the top of these challenges, and based on our awareness as Arab unions of the dimensions of this challenge, and striving diligently to find effective solutions to the issue of press freedoms in the Arab world, therefore this report was prepared with the utmost transparency, in order to reach radical solutions regarding this matter.”

He expressed his happiness that this ceremony is the first event hosted by the association since it joined the Union of Arab Journalists, stressing that this report was prepared with the utmost transparency.

For his part, Chairman of the Freedoms Committee of the General Federation of Arab Journalists, Abdul Wahab Al-Zughailat, expressed his great happiness at being in Dubai and meeting with fellow journalists from various countries of the Arab world to discuss the reality of press freedoms in the Arab world.

He said: “I am very happy to be in the Emirates, to attend this important event, and talking about press freedoms is a must at all times, and accordingly, launching the report was a matter of utmost importance, and we must be proud of this report, the primary goal of which was to stand against intransigence against journalists and gagging their mouths.”

He added: “Although the view towards the reality of journalism in the Arab world is dark, and my words are based on what was stated in the report, there is great hope, and there are countries with clear improvement with regard to freedoms and the reality of the press, and in the context of our talk about press freedoms we must not forget.

He stressed that “the Arab journalists’ report is not political, that is, it is not directed against a specific country, as happens in foreign reports that are directed against countries, on behalf of other parties.”

Regarding the events in Kirkuk, Al-Sabah newspaper focused on the two directives issued by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Muhammad al-Halbousi, and said that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Muhammad al-Halbousi, yesterday, Saturday, issued two directives regarding the events in Kirkuk and the oil revenues of Kurdistan.

A statement by the House of Representatives stated, “House Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi directed the Security and Defense Committee to visit Kirkuk Governorate to investigate the facts regarding the events that occurred there and present its report to Parliament.”

It added, "The Speaker of the House of Representatives also directed the Finance Committee to host the Ministers of Finance of the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding oil revenues and funded payments."

Al-Zaman newspaper, for its part, said that the war of numbers between Baghdad and Erbil has overshadowed the daily scene again, in the wake of the latter's demand for its share of the tripartite budget, which it believes is captive to the federal government and refuses to release it to pay the salaries of employees of the Kurdistan region, just like their peers in the provinces.

The spokesman for the regional government, Peshwa Hauramani, responded to the statements of the official spokesman for the federal government regarding the financial obligations and dues of Kurdistan, saying that (according to the budget tables, the share of the region amounts to 16 trillion and 498 billion dinars, which is equivalent to one trillion and 375 billion dinars per month, as 906 billion has been allocated from this amount for the salaries of employees per month, but the Federal Ministry of Finance sent two trillion and 598 billion dinars of this amount only since the first of January during the current year, as 400 billion of this amount dates back to the months of November and December last).

He pointed out that (since the first of January of the current year, Baghdad distributed the salaries of employees in the rest of the governorates according to the budget schedules, but the actual spending scale was applied for the employees of the region and the salaries were distributed in the form of loans), noting that (the last amount that was approved in favor of the region was 500 billion dinars in the form of a loan, while the federal government says that the internal revenues of the region amount to 320 billion dinars.

And the spokesman for the federal government, Bassem Al-Awadi, had confirmed in a previous statement that (Baghdad had fully implemented its financial obligations towards the region, and made great efforts to provide solutions), stressing that (until the end of last June, the funds owed by the region amounted to more than three times its share, according to the actual spending of the state, while the Kurdistan government did not hand over the oil and non-oil revenues as required by the General Budget Law).

In a related context, the State Administration Coalition held a meeting with the participation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, to discuss the recent events in Kirkuk and relations between Baghdad and Erbil.

KDP spokesman Mahmoud Muhammad said in a statement yesterday, “We will participate in the meeting of the state administration coalition, and we will talk about the events of Kirkuk in general,”

He added, "These matters must be resolved through dialogue and administrative solutions so that they do not become more complicated for Kirkuk."

A source said that Prime Minister Muhammad Al-Sudani will visit Kirkuk to bring views closer to the recent crisis.

The source said, “al-Sudani will visit Kirkuk to discuss the recent events and their security and political repercussions in the governorate, prepare plans to maintain peaceful and societal coexistence, and prepare the atmosphere in preparation for holding local elections,”

For his part, Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi directed that the Ministers of Federal Finance and Regional Finance be hosted to discuss oil revenues and funded payments to Kurdistan.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency