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Barzani's Goodwill Baghdad Tour

By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Kurdistan Region of Iraq President Massoud Barzani's visit to Baghdad on July 7 carries many connotations. It also reflects an Iraqi environment favorable to dialogue, not only to resolve the problems […]

Parliament Manages to Agree… On Own Membership

By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq […]

India Interested in Iraqi Refineries

By John Lee. India is interested in building refineries and petrochemical plants in Iraq, according to a report from the Economic Times. Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily (pictured), who led a 28-member delegation to participate in the 17th India-Iraq Joint Commission meeting in Baghdad, expressed interest in setting up gas-based projects including fertiliser plants. He […]

Spudding of Shaikan-10 Development Well

Gulf Keystone has announced that further to the approval of the Field Development Plan for the Shaikan field, a world class commercial discovery, announced on 26 June 2013, the Company has commenced its development drilling programme with the spudding of Shaikan-10. In parallel, production operations from the newly commissioned Shaikan production facility ("PF-1") are scheduled […]

Failed Banking System Prompts Iraqis to Hoard Gold

By Abdel Hamid Zebari for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. There is an old Arabic saying that "gold is both for decoration and storing." Currently, Iraqis, particularly residents of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, are taking these words to heart. […]

Italy to Upgrade Diplomatic Presence

The newly arrived Italian Consul in Erbil, Dr Carmelo Ficarra, met with Minister Falah Mustafa to discuss ways of building upon his predecessor’s success. Italy has a Consular Office in Erbil, which is due to be upgraded to a fully-fledged Consulate later this year. In welcoming him to Kurdistan, Minister Mustafa encouraged him to use […]

Dutch Delegation Visits Kurdistan

The Dutch Minister for Migration and State Secretary of Security and Justice, Mr Fred Teeven, met with Minister Falah Mustafa as part of his visit to the Kurdistan Region to discuss bilateral ties. The visit is part of an effort to further strengthen ties between Kurdistan and the Netherlands. Minister Mustafa expressed his appreciation to […]

What are Egypt's Lessons for Iraq?

By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The June 30 events in Egypt deserve to be carefully and attentively interpreted at all levels, as far as Iraq is concerned. The rapid political change in Egypt did not take […]

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The Fragmentation of the Political Landscape

By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq […]

Total Cleared of Iraqi Corruption

By John Lee. A Paris court has cleared oil company Total, its chief executive Christophe de Margerie (pictured), and over a dozen other defendants of corruption charges related to the UN's oil-for-food programme in Iraq. The former interior minister Charles Pasqua, the Swiss oil trader Vitol, and a former French ambassador to the UN, were […]

Wyndham Opens First Hotel in Iraq

Wyndham Hotel Group, the world’s largest hotel company with approximately 7,380 hotels and part of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN), has announced its entrance into Iraq with the opening of the newly-built, 71-room Ramada Sulaymaniyah Salim Street in Kurdistan. The hotel opened on the same day as the Ramada Plaza Beirut Raouche in Beirut, Lebanon. […]