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To: lurqer who wrote (37418)	2/7/2004 10:30:40 PM
From: Mannie	Respond to of 89467

Got Gold? WRAPUP 1-Japan welcomes G7 statement,wary of market verdict Reuters, 02.07.04, 9:35 PM ET By Shinichi Kishima BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb 7 (Reuters) - Japan on Saturday welcomed a Group of Seven statement warning against excessive currency volatility, but remained on guard against the risk that markets may still cast the words in bad light. Although the G7 economic powers said after a meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., that excessive volatility and disorderly movements in currencies were undesirable, they also maintained their call for greater exchange rate flexibility in major countries that lacked such flexibility. Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki told a news conference he was happy with the outcome of his first G7 meeting but quickly found himself fielding a flurry of questions about concerns that the "flexibility" phrase in the communique could fuel a further slide in the dollar against the yen. "Is Japan lacking currency flexibility? That's not the case," he said after the meeting with his counterparts from the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy. "The Japanese currency has fluctuated widely ... moving roughly as much as the euro has since September. Therefore Japan is not one of the countries that are lacking flexibility and that was understood at this G7 meeting." That "flexibility" phrase was introduced at the previous G7 meeting five months ago in Dubai, immediately causing a sharp reaction in the foreign exchange market, which took it as a cue to further beat down an already groggy dollar. The dollar has dropped more than 10 percent against the yen since early September, hitting 3-year lows on Wednesday. ON DEFENSIVE To a certain extent, Tokyo had only itself to blame about having to be so defensive. Japan sold a record 20 trillion yen ($190 billion) to intervene in foreign-exchange markets last year and a further 7 trillion in January alone. As a result, Japan's official external reserves swelled to $741.2 billion by end-January, a world record. Despite the yen's rise, the conspicuous government forays into the market relegated Japanese officials to the back seat in currency talks at Boca Raton, driven by Europe's concerns about the euro's 20-percent rise over the last year to record highs near $1.29 last month. Analysts said that when the dust settled the yen and other Asian currencies were likely to remain buoyant. "The flexibility reference probably has China in mind, and the fact that this word remained will keep an upward pressure on Asian currencies," said Eiji Dohke, chief strategist at UBS Securities in Tokyo. "On the other hand, the new phrase about excessive volatility will be linked to the euro, prompting a retracement in the euro/dollar pair." Tanigaki insisted that U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said at their bilateral meeting that he agreed with Japan's mantra -- that currencies should be stable and reflect economic fundamentals and that any excessive moves beyond that should be dealt with appropriately. Tanigaki also said it was the G7's common understanding that Japan was not one of the countries that should loosen its grip. However, asked if the phrase alluded to China, which has pegged its currency to the dollar and has been blamed for a flood of cheap exports around the world, Tanigaki declined to comment. Tanigaki pleaded with journalists and traders to read the communique thoroughly so as to avoid a reoccurrence of the confusion that followed the Dubai statement. But, as a reporter pointed out during the news conference, at which Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui was also present, the central bank chief had said exactly the same after that ill-fated G7 meeting. Fukui did not appear to think this reminder was funny and kept an uncharacteristically grim look on his face. Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service

To: lurqer who wrote (37418)	2/8/2004 6:04:12 AM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Kurdish parliament defies Baghdad The Kurdish parliament decided today not to recognize a Governing Council decision to change rules on divorce and other family issues - a move that outraged some Iraqi women who saw it as a setback for women's rights here. In December, under the rotating presidency of Shiite cleric Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, the council voted to abolish the law regulating marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance, instead allowing different religious groups to apply their own traditions. The Kurdish parliament said in a statement it was sticking to a family law passed in 1959 and the amendments that the Kurdish administrations have introduced to it. The council's December decision raised strong opposition even among some of its own members. The decision has not been approved by U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer, who wields a veto. Council member Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd, said the Governing Council decision was hasty and should have been deliberated with experts and women's organizations first. The decision passed by a slight majority instead of the necessary two-thirds, he said. Under the secular Baath party of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi women enjoyed more rights - in education, the workplace and marital status - than those in many other Arab countries. Kurdish women, living under their own regional governments since 1991, have campaigned against the Governing Council decision. However, some women's groups fear that the new influence of the conservative Islamic clergy since the collapse of Saddam's regime threatens the status of women in the future Iraq. thestar.com lurqer