UN makes observations about elections
(Addustour) - The Head of the Supreme Board of the National Congress Fuad Masoum said the UN has suggested having more preparation and readiness on technical levels for the elections. He appreciated the role of the UN adding that he faced a lawful problem in reference to the annex of the Iraqi transitional law which concerns holding the National congress on July. He said there was nothing urgent to put off the Congress and things were going smooth regarding the studies and preparations. He hoped the UN would understand those facts and keep helping Iraqi people.
(Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh.)

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Al-Jazeera fights back
(Addaawa) - Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel has denounced the threat by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari to close its office in Baghdad. Zibari accused the channel as "biased" in treating the events of Iraq. The channel expressed hope that the new government would start its new era by ending restrictions on media and not by adding extra restrictions on the freedom of expression. The channel said the government would bear responsibility of any harm to any of its staff in Baghdad.
(Addaawa is a daily paper issued by the Islamic Dawa Party.)

Oil to flow through Lebanon
(Al-Nahdhah) - Iraq has expressed readiness to start exporting oil through Lebanon's port of Tripoli. Minister of Oil Abbas al-Ghadban said meetings would be held with Syrian and Lebanese officials to activate that vital project. The ministry said it has invited specialised Lebanese companies to participate in executing the oil projects. The minister said the coming days would witness enhancement of bilateral relations through having joint projects to serve the peoples of the region.
(Al-Nahdhah is a daily newspaper issued by Adnan al-Pachachi, head of the Independent Democrats Movement.)

Federalism debated in the south
(Al-Ittihad) - Representatives of political parties and civil society organizations in the southern cities of Basra, Amara, Samawa and Nasiriya have attended the southern area conference held in Nasiriya to decide federalism and decentralisation. The conference has discussed the issue of federalism in the Iraqi south as it was with the Kurdish area. Head of the conference preparatory committee Najim Abid Uthaib said they are based on article 71 of the Interim Law. He denied the conference constituted any kind of secession from Iraq. "The southern people, like other Iraqis, were loyal to Iraq" he added.
(Al-Ittihad is published daily by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.)

Southern leaders call for quick reconstruction
(Azzaman) - Clerics and notables in Basra, Misan and Thee Qar have aided the proposals to hasten rebuilding the southern area. They said they had to oppose the suspected projects driven by foreign bodies to disunite Iraq under different slogans. Representative of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani said in a conference held in Thee Qar that the southern area should be looked after better. He opposed any project of secession and asked for clean-handed bodies to be assigned to leading positions.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)

Walls and wire to come down
(Al-Sabah) - The Secretariat of the Ministerial Board has agreed to lift the unnecessary concrete walls and barbed wires from pavements and streets to smoothen the traffic in Baghdad. Baghdad Mayor Alaa al-Tameemi said embassies, along with government and non-government organisations and parties' headquarters, have exaggerated in setting up concrete walls and barbed wire, which adversely affects traffic. The Board has asked all concerned bodies to collaborate with the Baghdad municipality to lift the concrete walls and barbed wire except those needed for security reasons. Tameemi added that approvals should be obtained from the Municipality to install walls only for security and in a way that does not affect traffic.
(Al-Sabah is a daily independent publicly owned newspaper.)