A US Army captain was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in federal prison for taking bribes to steer Army contracts in Iraq. Courthouse News reports that Bryant Williams demanded and got more than $30,000 in bribes to steer more than $930,000 worth of contracts while he served with the Army's 101st Airborne Division in […]
Archive | Security
Weekly Security Update for 17th August 2011
Up until Monday, the past week was turning into one of the quietest so far this year, but then a series of mass casualty attacks swept the country, leaving dozens of people dead and injured. Provincial government buildings and security force installations and patrols were the most common targets of the attacks, although civilians were […]
Oil and Security
Iraq’s oil wealth is massive, with significant economic potential for years to come. Unfortunately, development is being hampered by endemic violence and ongoing instability. However, the main reserves are not evenly distributed around the country and neither is the violence. By avoiding the violent hotspots companies can still make significant profits with minimal exposure to […]
Risks in Iraq: Perception and Real
By T. Keyzom Ngodup, co-founder and Executive Director at Ideas sYnergy, an Iraq based private sector development consulting company. IRAQ INSIGHTS, published by Ideas sYnergy aims to consolidate and build intellectual capital on private sector development, empowering stakeholders to address issues of access and structural reforms on a diverse range of topics impacting inclusive […]
Weekly Security Update for 11th August 2011
Levels of violence neither escalated nor decreased significantly in Iraq over the past week, although thankfully conditions are currently quieter than earlier in the summer. Across the country there were no reported kidnappings or suicide bombings, which is a welcome change from normality. It is likely that militants are lying low at present, partly because […]
Iraq's 'Dodgy' Power Generation Deals
Reuters reports that Iraq’s government has admitted to being duped when it signed multi-billion dollar power plant contracts with foreign companies that it later discovered were either bogus or had lied about their financial status. The announcement is embarrassing for Nouri al-Maliki’s government as it tries to lure foreign investors into Iraq. “These contracts damaged […]
Arson Epidemic Linked to Corruption Investigations
In Iraq almost all official records are kept on paper. So what better way to kill the paper trail that corruption investigators are tracking, than burn the evidence? A rash of fires inside government buildings has led to calls for further investigation. A recent rash of small fires inside the offices of various ministries and […]
Politician Injured in Rocket Attack
Iraqi politician Ayad Jamal ad-Din was injured in a rocket attack on his home earlier in the week. The weapon, believed to have been fired from southern Baghdad, slammed into his house in the normally quiet district of Jadriyah. He may be the latest victim of a string of attacks targeting politicians, mid-level ministry employees […]
Weekly Security Update for 3rd August 2011
Levels of violence rose slightly in Iraq over the past week although conditions remain quieter than much of the year so far. Fewer than 50 people were killed, which is a moderate figure by Iraqi standards, albeit still abhorrently high. A notable number of the dead and injured were caught up in a double suicide […]
Total CEO Faces Trial over Oil-for-Food
A French magistrate has decided to send giant Frence oil company Total and its chief executive to trial on charges that the company engaged in corruption during the United Nations oil-for-food program in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, according to Reuters. The magistrate is sending the company to trial on charges of corruption and involvement in fraudulent […]
China’s Iraq Investment
By By Mu Chunshan. Originally published in The Diplomat, and re-produced with permission by Iraq Business News. The visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to China didn’t just fail to grab much international media attention – there was also little coverage in the Chinese media, too. Most Chinese associate Iraq with Saddam Hussein and […]
Trailing Iraq's Cigarette Smugglers
Bandits, border guards and big profits NIQASH’s correspondent follows the illegal nicotine trail, as he joins local smugglers taking cigarettes into Syria. Dodging border guards and bandits, he meets the locals risking their lives to deliver millions of profitable packs to smokers every day. Several days ago, two soldiers and a member of the public […]