Oil portfolio added to Ministry of Trade and Industry, becoming Ministry of Trade, Industry and OilMay, 4411al-Kasraj, Abi'nadi - President Sulaimaan al-Baten was joined by Prime Minister Abdul Wahaab el-Shams and newly minted Minister of Trade, Industry and Oil Mukhtaar el-Mohamad who was formally announced when all former oil operation agencies were centralized underneath the Ministry of Trade and Industry. President al-Baten spoke very highly of Minister el-Mohamad who served an engineering specializing in drilling and upstream engineering. The ceremony was heavily guarded by elements of the Kafuri Republican Guard, the paramilitary body that is a
de facto branch of the armed forces. The police and military presence was felt as foreign journalist were subjected to security checkpoints and screening; only certain domestic media outlets were allowed to attend. The President praised the security officials, namely Major General Rafiqa bin Shahd Ahmad who is the commanding officer of the capital district's Republican Guard and overall the leading security official for the capital. Over the past several months the Kafuri Armed Forces have undergone a massive renovation underneath Minister of Defense General Faaid al-Baig, who also serves as the Chief of the General Staff & General-Director of the Operations Directorate granting him supreme authority within the military. The armed forces, while ruled by the Government of Kafuristan is ruled primarily by the Military Bureau of the Majatran Socialist Ba'ath Party; where President al-Baten is the Secretary-General (both for the region and national command).
President al-Baten also announced several projects that had begun 2 years prior at the behest of the Military Bureau and the Kafuri General Staff's Military Technical Directorate which includes an updated version of the Trigunian T-72 main battle tank; the updated locally produced variant is known as the
Lion of the Heart as well as domestically produced local variants of a wide variety of Trigunian equipment. It is likely that this plans are left over from the early days of the Majatran Organization for Industrialization. President al-Baten also announced that a series of overhauls would be targeted at re-building the defensive capabilities of Kafuristan; namely the ground and air and air defense forces. Security officials, notably the General Intelligence Directorate (foreign intelligence) and the Political Security Directorate (domestic intelligence) have been granted nigh unlimited power by decree's of the President and the Presidential Council. Military, security and police officials have been attached throughout the region and the Ministry of Defense is considered to be running at 75% after decades of neglect and mismanagement; while many political experts in the Northern world have said that Kafuristan would fall to corruption the Ba'athist "Party Discipline and Virtues Bureau" alongside the Presidential Councilor Ghaalib Shareef who is in charge of anti-corruption matters has carried out a series of raids leading to arrests and convictions of party members, industrialist, business and religious leaders who have sought to profit "...off the Majatran people in Kafuristan".
Economically the 3 and half years since the Ba'athist have taken power has shown the Kafuri economy grown ten-fold. The Minister of Finance, Economics and Commerce has worked with the People's Assembly to create the Strategic Reserve Fund of the Central Bank of Kafuristan which will act as a "rainy day" fund so to speak. A joint announcement earlier last year saw the creation of the Kafuri Investment and Monetary Authority which will act as the sovereign wealth fund of Kafuristan, it will also be responsible for coordinating foreign trade with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Oil and ensuring that the Kafuri Import-Export Bank is managed properly. Foreign investment in Kafuristan, despite being managed, is relatively open and new markets are expected to continue open as large swathes of country fall underneath the control of the government nearly 4 years later.
Minor stories-- Ba'athist affiliated militia's continue to operate under Ministry of the Interior's new "Militia Decree";
-- Suspected extremist Ahmadi's go missing;
-- al-Kasraj Stock Exchange set to open "soon" says Ministry of Finance, Economics and Commerce report;
-- Ministry of Defense HQ to undergo massive renovation alongside current Ministry of the Interior renovation