Baghdad (NINA)- Saturday newspaper mainly focused the Stockholm conference of the International Compact with Iraq, the expected visits by Premier Nouri al-Maliki to Iran and Jordan, the US-Iraq's intended agreement and impact of rising oil prices on the living conditions in Iraq.

Stockholm conference
Al-Mada said the second conference of the UN sponsored International Compact with Iraq concluded last Thursday with assertions on supporting Iraq politically and economically, while the Iraqi delegation's effort to write off the remaining Iraq's debts were not successful.

Visits
Al-sabah said the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will start shortly visits to Iran and Jordan, "within Iraqi government's efforts to bridge gaps in viewpoints with Iraq's neighbouring countries." The paper quoted "informed sources" as saying that intense preparations are underway in Tehran to receive PM al-Maliki next Saturday. They reported that al-Maliki will also visit Jordan, responding to an official invitation by his Jordanian counterpart.

Long-term agreement
Over the intended long-term cooperation agreement between Iraq and the United States, al-Mashriq wrote that Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the parliament's majority bloc the United Iraqi Alliance has stated after a meeting of the political bureau of his party –the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council- that the negotiations over holding the agreement "have not achieved results." The paper said the statements coincided with releases by sources close to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's office that al-Sistani had called PM al-Maliki, during the latter's visit to Najaf "to deal cautiously with the agreement and to refer its draft to public referendum." Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi, for his part, has announced rejection of the agreement "with its current form" as it contains articles that "infringe Iraq's sovereignty," according to al-Mashriq.

Oil prices
Azzaman quoted the Minister of Oil Hussein al-Shahristani as saying that Iraq has got advantage of the recent crude oil price's raises, and it got additional revenues that amounted to $21.5 billion during the first four months of 2008. Nevertheless, the paper said the extra revenues had minimal effect on Iraqis' living conditions due to the high inflation rates in the country. /End/