Murat Karayilan, the chief of the PKK's armed wing, explains the Kurdish role in Syria and the impact of the Arab Spring on the region, in this interview with Al Jazeera: (Source: Al Jazeera)
Video: PKK Military Leader Interviewed
Archive | Security
Iraq to Spend $1bn on Czech Attack Jets
By John Lee. Iraq has agreed to buy 28 Czech-made Aero Vodochody L-159 advanced trainer/light-attack jets valued at $1 billion dollars (770 billions euros), a Czech defence ministry announced on Friday. Agreement to buy the 24 new planes and four older army surplus aircraft was reached at the end of a two-day visit to Prague by […]
Video: Russia-Iraq Arms Deal - Business as Usual?
By John Lee. Russia has agreed to sell up to $5bn worth of arms to Iraq. Are the motives behind the deal purely financial, and does it impact the delicate balance of power in the region? Guests: Sabah al-Mukhtar, Jorge Benitez, Dmitry Babich: (Source: Al Jazeera)
From Russia With Love
By John Lee. A high-level Iraqi delegation visiting Russia has made quite a stir this week: Arms deals worth $4.2 billion were announced, making Russia Iraq's second biggest supplier of arms after the US; A memorandum of understanding was signed for political and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, with Iraq asking Russia’s help to […]
Tags: Russia
Russia Bags $4.2bn Iraq Arms Deals
By John Lee. Iraq is to buy more than $4.2 billion of weapons from Russia under contracts signed in recent months, the Russian government announced on Wednesday, making it the largest weapons supplier to the Middle East country after the United States. While a spokesman for Russia's state-controlled arms exporter, Rosvooruzheniye, said it never discusses […]
Weekly Security Update
By Gary Sandiford, Olive Group’s Dubai based assessments manager. Olive Group is a leading provider of security and technology solutions and has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003. Overview Olive Groups Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]
Iran's Ahmadinejad May Visit Iraq Soon
Tehran Times reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Iraq in the near future. In an interview with the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency on Sunday, the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danaiifar, also said that the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Naval Force, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, will […]
Iraq may Sign $5bn Defence Contract with Russia
By John Lee. Russia's Pravda reports that Iraq may be about to buy $5 billion worth of MiG fighter jets, Russian helicopters, anti-aircraft missile systems, armored vehicles and other weapons. Between 2008 and 2011 Baghdad purchased Russian weapons worth $246 million dollars, most of which were helicopters. In the same period, deliveries of weapons and […]
US, Iraq Sign Agreement to Improve Access to Justice
By John Lee. On October 4, 2012, the United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iraq’s Council of Representatives (COR) to launch a joint program to improve access to the Iraqi legal system for vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. The signing ceremony was attended by […]
Tags: USAID
Weekly Security Update
By Gary Sandiford, Olive Group’s Dubai based assessments manager. Olive Group is a leading provider of security and technology solutions and has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003. Overview Olive Groups Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]
Pentagon to Continue Funding Iraqi Training
By John Lee. Pentagon press secretary George Little has said that the US Department of Defense will be able to fund the training of Iraqi security forces for the next 90 days, even though Congress did not include money for the program in its temporary budget resolution. He confirmed that $1.7 million will be used […]
Tags: defence
Kobler Calls for Commitment to Peaceful Conflict Resolution
By John Lee. On the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler (pictured), called on all Iraqis to commit to resolving differences solely through non-violent means. “I am deeply concerned by the increasing violence Iraq has witnessed recently,” Mr. Kobler said. “Official figures […]