By Anne-Laure Barbosa at Constellis Consulting Amid worsening levels of violence owing to the increase in direct clashes between the ISF and ISIS militias, Iraq witnessed movements in the political sphere with the election of a new President. Fouad Massoum, a Kurd member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) put forward by the Kurdish alliance, […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. The United Nations Security Council has released as statement following concerns about radical groups in Iraq and Syria using captured oil fields as a means to generate revenue for their organizations. The statement read “that any oilfields and related infrastructure controlled by terrorist organizations could generate material income for terrorists, which […]
In an interview wtih Al-Monitor's Mehmet Cetingulec, Turkey’s Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci said said the Islamic State (IS) is now contacting individual Turkish businessmen to call them back to Iraq: Al-Monitor: The Islamic State is blocking Turkey’s exports to southern Iraq. Are you doing anything to overcome this? Zeybekci: Of our exports, 70% is […]
By John Lee. A former contractor has been extradited from Iraq after six years on the run, making him the first person to be returned to the United States under the U.S.-Iraq extradition treaty of 1936. Metin Atilan, 54, who has dual U.S. and Turkish citizenship, pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges on […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. On Saturday, Iraqi security forces reported that ISIS militants had taken control of a portion of the Baiji [Bayji, Beiji] oil refinery. Since then, security forces have driven the militants off of the oil refinery’s premises and are now searching the area for any remaining militants. Over the past month, Baiji […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. Sir Tim Clark, Chief Executive of Emirates Airlines, has announced that the airline would no longer allow its own aircraft to fly over Iraq. This statement comes as a reaction to the missile strike on Malaysian Airlines MH-17 and concerns about ISIS militants in the north of Iraq being in possession […]
From the BBC. John McCarthy meets the Kurds of northern Iraq, a unique island of stability in a nation broken into warring fragments. He asks how a people who have been victims of abuse and atrocity for generations managed to transform their fortunes so dramatically. How did they recently gain the confidence to calmly take […]
The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), which settles the damage claims of those who suffered losses due to Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, today made $1.19 billion (1.4 trillion Iraqi dinars) available to the Government of Kuwait. With today’s payment, the Commission has disbursed $46.7 billion, leaving approximately $5.7 billion remaining to be directed to […]
By Omar al-Jaffal for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. After the occupation of the Iraqi town of Mosul by armed groups, including the Islamic State (IS) and the Baath Party — banned by the Iraqi Constitution — prices of food increased significantly, a result […]
By Mushreq Abbas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. With the public appearance in Mosul of Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and his self-proclamation as caliph of all Muslims, Baghdadi has declared a war on everyone inside and […]
By Daniella Peled. This article was originally published by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net, and it is reproduced by Iraq Business News with permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) poses […]
By Shaida al-Ameen for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Kurdistan’s Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said its troops are not attacking armed groups in Iraq, but are just taking defensive positions. It said the speeches of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki do not scare the […]
