The newspapers issued today, Monday, August 1, focus on the visit of the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States to Iraq, and followed up on the dollar crisis.

Al-Sabah newspaper said that the President of the Republic Abd al-Latif Jamal Rashid, the Prime Minister, Muhammad al-Sudani, and the House of Representatives, Muhammad al-Halbousi expressed Iraq's keenness to build serious partnerships with brotherly and friendly countries, and to stimulate and activate the economy among the countries of the region.

A presidential statement stated, "The President of the Republic received the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jassem Muhammad Al-Budaiwi, and his accompanying delegation. During the meeting, they discussed relations between Iraq and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, as the President of the Republic stressed the importance of the strong relations that bring the two sides together."

Rashid added, "We seek strong political, social, administrative and diplomatic relations with brotherly and friendly countries," noting that "Iraq has the desire to expand diplomatic representation with the countries of the world, and our relations are good with neighboring countries, and we are satisfied with Iraq's role in bringing points of view closer."

For his part, Al-Budaiwi expressed his "full confidence that relations between Iraq and the Gulf states will witness positive developments in terms of electrical interconnection, trade exchange and other ties and commonalities."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani stressed the importance of continuing coordination with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the field of recovering looted Iraqi funds.

A statement from his office stated that "the prime minister received the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and his accompanying delegation, and during the meeting they discussed prospects for joint cooperation in various fields." Al-Sudani affirmed, "Iraq's keenness to build serious partnerships with brotherly and friendly countries and their peoples in the region, and to strive to open up to the Arab, regional and international environment." He stressed "the importance of continuing coordination with the countries of the Cooperation Council and other countries in the field of recovering looted Iraqi funds and those wanted for corruption cases, as part of the government's plans to combat and confront corruption."

In turn, Al-Budaiwi affirmed "the satisfaction of the countries of the region with the encouraging policies of the Iraqi government," pointing to "the importance of the Gulf-Iraqi Business Forum, which will be held in Sharjah next September, as it will strengthen the economic partnerships between the Gulf and Iraq."

Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi discussed with the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jassem Muhammad al-Budaiwi, "the prospects for joint cooperation in various fields, including the security field, drug control, economic, investment and electrical connection, as well as cooperation in the cultural, academic, artistic and sports fields."

Al-Halbousi referred, during the meeting, to Iraq's openness to its Arab surroundings, stressing the council's keenness to approve the necessary legislation to strengthen all relations, especially the economic one, between Iraq and its brothers in the Gulf States.

In addition, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein reviewed with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council the electrical connection with the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, and encouraged the entry of Gulf companies to Iraq.

The Foreign Minister said, in a joint press conference with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council: "The Iraqi foreign policy is based on strengthening and developing relations with brotherly and friendly countries."

He added, "The electrical connection with the Gulf and Saudi Arabia was a major focus of discussion, as well as encouraging the entry of Gulf companies into Iraq.

Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, followed the dollar crisis and quoted a member of the Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, Zainab Al-Moussawi, as saying that the imposition of sanctions by the US Treasury on Iraqi banks is a pressure card on the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Al-Sudani, stressing: It is clear blackmail because the dollar in Iraq is from global crude oil sales and not a gift from Washington, which imposes an economic occupation on Baghdad.

She added: The dollar crisis in the markets will end very soon

For his part, the economic advisor, Hammam Al-Shamaa, said that the US Treasury's imposition of restrictive conditions and measures on some Iraqi banks is behind the significant rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar during the last period, pointing out: Washington does not want Tehran to obtain dollars through Iraq.

He added, "Iraq is still under Chapter VII and the tutelage of America economically," emphasizing: There is no country in the world like Iraq that sells dollar amounts in a currency auction.

He stressed the central bank to borrow the sums of citizens with interest and move the street, and the government should obtain citizens' money with the interest of gold or dollars, as well as going towards employing internal Iraqi funds to address inflation, in order to face the dollar crisis in the local market.

The economic expert, Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhadani, predicted that the exchange rate would soon decline by 1,400 dinars to the dollar.

Al-Mashhadani said in a press statement: "The issuance of the US Treasury's decision to prevent 14 Iraqi banks from dealing in dollars caused fluctuations in the exchange rate between high and low."

He added, “The government subsequently applied a series of measures based on the Prime Minister’s directives, which coincided with other measures from the Central Bank of Iraq, in which 116 exchange companies were authorized to obtain their shares of dollars from new banks other than those that had been issued a decision to prevent them, and this matter will contribute to an increase in the value of dinar against the dollar again.

He continued, "These measures will restore prices to what they were before the crisis, but more than that, and there are also government measures to reduce taxes imposed on entering the currency auction, and this will lead to price stability, which we expect to reach 1400 dinars to the dollar."

The governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, confirmed that “the rise in the exchange rate is temporary, and that the central bank diagnosed the manipulators, while indicating that the government agreed to a proposal for the bank to ease tax procedures to obtain the dollar.”

Al-Zaman newspaper focused on meeting the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, with the new British ambassador to Baghdad, Stephen Hitchen, noting that the two sides discussed judicial and legal cooperation between the two countries.

A statement by the Judicial Council indicated that (Zaidan received Hitchen and discussed with him the completion of judicial and legal cooperation talks between the two countries). While the Council held a meeting to support the dinar and address manipulation and speculation in the markets.

The statement said that (a meeting was held at the council's headquarters, within the framework of supporting national efforts to support the dinar and to address manipulations carried out by some speculators in violation of the law).

It added that (the meeting included the heads of the Public Prosecution Service, the Judicial Supervision Authority, the senior investigative judges of the second and third Karkh Investigation Courts, and the Rusafa Investigation Court specialized in cases of integrity and economic crime, in addition to the head of the National Security Agency and the Undersecretary of the Interior Minister for Intelligence Affairs).

It pointed out that (the meeting discussed the mechanisms to address the phenomenon of manipulation of the value of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar, in order to ensure its reduction and the prosecution of those involved in it in accordance with the laws in force).

For its part, the Rusafa Criminal Court issued a life sentence against four defendants who sabotaged an oil pipeline in Maysan.

The statement indicated that (the Rusafa Criminal Court issued a life imprisonment sentence against four defendants for sabotaging a pipeline to transport crude oil in Maysan),

It added that (the defendants admitted that they had agreed and participated in violating the pipeline carrying crude oil in Qalat Saleh area.

In Najaf, the Criminal Court issued a life imprisonment sentence against a drug dealer.

The statement stated that (the criminal was arrested with 4,000 narcotic tablets of the narcotic in his possession with the intent of trafficking and promoting it among the drug users), noting that (the verdict against him comes in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law).

In addition, the staff of the Public Integrity Commission caught the director of Khamsa Mil (Five Mile) station in Basra red-handed by blackmailing the owners of private generators in exchange for disbursing kerosene.

It said that it (received a complaint via the hotline about cases of corruption and extortion against citizens, including extortion of generator owners at the Five Mile station in Basra, and forcing them to pay money unlawfully, in exchange for receiving their shares of kerosene), stressing that (the team worked by the Authority’s Investigation Directorate in the governorate, and after obtaining the necessary judicial approvals, it moved to the station’s site to investigate and verify the complaint received, as it was able to catch the station manager red-handed while taking sums of money for every ton of kerosene he spends to owners of private generators).

He continued, "The team organized a formal record of the seizure of fecal matter, and it was presented with the arrested suspect to the competent investigating judge, in order to take the necessary legal measures against him.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency