We have just received news that Iraq's newly-appointed President, Jalal Talabani, has formally asked Nouri al-Maliki to accept the position of Prime Minister and form the next government. Following his appointment today (Thursday), al-Maliki will have 30 days in which to choose a cabinet. Maliki has reportedly asked Iraqi's to “turn over a new page, […]
AKE has analysed all of the attacks reported in Iraq over the past three months. Commercial sectors such as retail and banking were actually targeted in only a small proportion of cases. Findings The overwhelming majority of victims were civilians targeted on an indiscriminate basis. The police were the second most targeted group while the […]
Overview Last week was one of the quietest reported in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Many people were observing the festival of ‘Eid ul-Adha and in all likelihood, militants and terrorists were also participating. As mentioned in last week’s update, religious events such as this are generally less inflammatory in Iraq, mainly because they are […]
Iraq's newly-appointed President, Jalal Talabani (pictured), is apparently using his full allowance of 15 days to formally appoint a new Prime Minister, thus allowing the haggling over the details to continue. And while Nouri al-Maliki remains the 'agreed' candidate, we should never under-estimate the Iraqi parliament's ability to throw us a last-minute surprise. If al-Maliki […]
Iraq inaugurated a new court on Wednesday to resolve disputes between foreign investors and Iraqi companies, according to a report from Khaleej Times. In a ceremony attended by senior judges, prosecutors and judicial officials, Iraq’s most senior judge pronounced the new court open, and announced plans to establish similar courts in Mosul and Basra. The […]
The formation of a new Iraqi government will undoubtedly be good for stock market sentiment, as such events generally are. And indeed the market has pretty obviously turned around already, with volumes increasing and the Rabee Securities index up about 6% since bottoming in early October. But skeptics may still argue that investors have no […]
Halliburton signed the one-year contract with Shell on Tuesday to develop the Majnoon oilfield, according to a media source from Shell. Hanadi al-Salman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency that, “according to the new deal, Halliburton will set up operation centers to dig 15 new wells,” he added. When the contract win was originally announced in […]
Iraq will soon ask for bids on projects to install and run 22 gas turbines that could boost its power generating capacity by 30 percent in the next few years, an official from the Ministry of Electricity said on Tuesday. Reuters reports that the ministry plans to ask companies to build plants in four provinces, […]
A leading official in the Iraqi Ministry of Finance said on Monday that the Iranian banks currently operating in Iraq, and those planning to open branches in the country, are not covered by UN sanctions as they are not state-owned. The Finance Ministry’s undersecretary, Fadel Nabi, told AKnews that the Iranian banks present in Iraq […]
Iraq and Kuwait have agreed to create a 500-metre no-man's land on each side of the border, and to move Iraqi farmers to new homes, a Kuwaiti official said today (Wednesday). The Al-Seyassah daily quoted foreign ministry official Jassem Al-Mubaraki as saying that under the deal, Kuwait undertakes to build up to 50 homes inside […]
With the stated aim of contributing to the reform of the Iraqi banking sector, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)'s Banking Institute has begun training employees of Iraq's central bank in modern methods of banking and finance, administration and human resources. According to Banking Institute Executive Director, Hala al-Said, the move comes within the context […]
A trade delegation from Iceland has arrived in the Kurdistan Region to hold talks with regional officials, seeking business opportunities and to strengthen bilateral relations, according to a report from AKnews. The delegation includes some Icelandic companies invited by a delegation of the region’s Kurdistan Exports and Imports Union (KEIU) in September, when they visited Iceland […]
