UN Casualty Figures for February 2014, Anbar province excluded According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of 703 Iraqis were killed and another 1,381 were injured in acts of terrorism and violence in February*. The number of civilians killed was 564 (including 152 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was […]
By John Lee. Angola's Sonangol has decided to abandon its Qayara and Najmah oilfields in Nineveh province due to security problems. Reuters reports that Anabela Fonseca, Sonangol board member in charge of international investments, told a news conference: "Our presence in Iraq was as an operator in an area with much conflict. Last year we […]
By Constellis Consulting www.constellis-consulting.com Amid continued unrest in the outskirts of Fallujah and Ramadi, ISF forces regained control of Sulaiman Pek, Salahuddin province, which was overrun by ISIL militants on 13 February. This outcome contrasts with the situation in Anbar, where a much more complex tribal landscape has prevented a direct assault on urban areas […]
By John Lee. An investigation by Reuters has found that Iraq has purchased $195 million worth of small arms, ammunition and infantry kit from Iran, in addition to artillery ammunition. The move will likely unnerve some observers in the US, but analysts are still divided over the extent of Iranian influence in Iraq. Touted by an […]
Minister Falah Mustafa, the Head of the Department of Foreign Relations, addressed a conference in the European Parliament on human rights in Kurdistan and Iraq during a two-day official visit to Brussels this week. Minister Mustafa also met with members of the European Parliament, government officials from the European Union and Belgium and visited both […]
By Constellis Consulting www.constellis-consulting.com Amid sustained levels of violence, this week was dominated by Muqtada al-Sadr’s withdrawal from politics. The announcement, made on 15 February, comes only two months before parliamentary elections for which Sadr was considered a serious candidate for the office of Prime Minister. While reasons behind his decision remain speculative, Sadr has […]
By Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In a Feb. 4 interview with the semi-official Iranian Tasnim News Agency, Mohammed Majid al-Sheikh, Iraq’s ambassador to Iran, was reported to have revealed his country’s intention to strike a deal […]
UN Envoy Concerned about Deteriorating Situation in Fallujah, Calls for Unity and Political Engagement Since the beginning of the fighting in Anbar Province over 63,000 families have been registered as internally displaced. Although many have fled to other parts of the country, including Karbala, Baghdad and Erbil provinces, others have sought safety in outlying communities […]
By Constellis Consulting www.constellis-consulting.com Political tensions continued to escalate with the killing in Baghdad of Hamza al-Shimmari, a Shia politician running for parliament in the April elections and allied with the Sadrist bloc. On 10 February, Parliament Speaker and probable Presidential candidate Osama al-Nujaifi escaped an assassination attempt after his convoy was hit by a […]
This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Karbala’s New Computer System to Prevent Bribery, Abuse and Burning of Official Documents Authorities in the religious centre of Karbala are planning to computerize their records and start a […]
By John Lee. Versar Inc. has announced that the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Middle East District (USACE-TAM) has extended the Company's ongoing Personal Services and Support contract in Iraq by six months. The extension has a ceiling value of $1.5 million and the period of performance runs through August 6, 2014. Versar has […]
By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford. 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 Business News. With Iraqi political turmoil once more making headlines in the United […]
