Oil losses mount after sabotage
(Al-Mutamar) An oil source said the 32 destructive operations that targeted the southern oil companies and establishments caused a loss of 15 million barrels of oil. That comes to $600 million of lost revenues plus not less than $7 billion for the maintenance and rebuilding of the destroyed establishment. The source said those operations aimed to weaken the national economy, but that the company had found alternatives to keep exporting oil to international markets.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

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New gun licences for old
(Al-Mashriq) The Ministry of Interior has established a new office to deal with the issuance of new conditions for possessing weapons by civilians. The office will follow a new mechanism of licensing people to possess weapons quite different from that issued by the Coalition forces. Once the new licences are issued, the old ones will become invalid.
(Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments.)

Iran armed Mahdi militiamen says defence chief
(Addustour) Minister of Defence Hazim al-Shalaan said Iranian weapons had been found with the Mahdi army, a clear sign that Iran had supported the insurgents. Shalaan added there would be no direct negotiations with Muqtada al-Sadr or the Mahdi Army but only with Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, the founder of the peace initiative in Najaf. He said military confrontation would be the government's response to any similar insurgence that might happen anywhere in Iraq.
(Addustour is an independent daily published by former journalist Basim al-Sheikh.)

National Council starts tomorrow
(Tareek al-Shaab) The transitional Iraqi National Council will start its works on Thursday to establish the mechanism of operations and bylaws along with the schedules of meetings and the issues to be discussed in the future meetings. Fuad Masoom said the National Councillors would keep talking to groups that did not participate in the National Conference to unify different points of view.
(Tareek al-Shaab is issued by the Iraqi Communist Party.)

Property prices rise in Basra
(Asharq Al-Awsat) Political economists from Basra University have criticised the registration law which enables non-Iraqis to possess houses and property in the country. They said many people from Kuwait and neighbouring states have bought property in Shatt al-Arab coasts of Basra making use of the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar. Real-estate offices said brokers bought properties for the benefit of investors from the neighbouring states, resulting in a rise in property prices in Basra, especially in the Asshar area.
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

Najaf recovering after clashes
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed) Quietude has come over Najaf as government offices continue working to support service departments which were exposed to considerable damage during the recent clashes in the city. Ministry of Interior spokesman Sabah Kadhim said the ministry would keep peace and order, in collaboration with the supreme religious establishment, for better stability of the city. He added that Iraqi police had worked hard to end military confrontations and make citizens feel secure. The Iraqi Red Crescent also assisted returnees by providing them with essential requirements.
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)