According to various sources, either two or three bombs hit a crude oil pipeline in Iraq's southern oilfields leading to storage tanks around Basra. The impact on oil production or exports was not immediately clear, but the deputy head of the Basra provincial council, Ahmed al-Sulaiti, said firefighters were still battling the fire late on […]
Archive | Security
Tags: Attacks
Weekly Security Update for 13th December 2011
Levels of violence fell slightly in Iraq over the past week but conditions are still higher than most weeks in November. Incidents were concentrated in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk, as well as southern Salah ad-Din province, western Diyala province and central Babil province. At least 35 separate bomb attacks left over 60 people dead and […]
Blackwater Plans to Re-Enter Iraq
ABC News reports that the private security firm once known as Blackwater, wants to re-enter the Iraqi market. The company was forced out of Iraq after a shooting incident in which 17 civilians died, and then changed its name to Xe Services in early 2009. It is now changing its name for the second time […]
Video: UN Special Representative on Security in Iraq
Informal comments to the media by Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI): (Source: United Nations) For more analysis on the current security situation please see today's report from our Expert Blogger John Drake.
Deterioration Ahead of the Pullout
Many are concerned that conditions could worsen in Iraq once the US military has withdrawn its forces from the country. Troops are required to leave by the end of the year and the pullout is already well underway. Hundreds of transport vehicles are currently snaking their way south towards the Kuwaiti border. Most of the […]
Iraq Improves Rank in Corruption Index
Iraq has improved its position in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index from 4th worst to joint 8th worst. This places it ahead of Somalia, North Korea, Burma (Myanmar), Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Sudan, and on a par with Haiti. The improvement is to praised, but being behind countries such as Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of […]
Iraq Participates in Anti-Corruption Workshop in Amman
Iraq has recently participated in an Arab workshop on combating financial and administrative corruption in governmental and private institutions, according to a report from Aswat al-Iraq. The Jordanian al-Arab daily said that Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan are participating in the workshop in Amman, Jordan, that tackles combating corruption with new technologies and the […]
Tags: Corruption
Weekly Security Update for 7th December 2011
As the US military withdrawal continues, many are worried at the possibility of increased militancy over the coming year in Iraq. Levels of violence rose over the past week with the highest number of casualties recorded in six months. As warned, terrorists targeted Shi’ah worshippers gathering to commemorate Ashura, with a number of attacks in […]
Tags: AKE, alcohol, Baghdad, Christians, Cultural Awareness, Dahuk, Iraq, Kurdistan News, Security, Sulaymaniyah, US military, Yazidis, Zakho
Iraq F-16 Order Finally Confirmed
Iraq wants to make a deal with the United States for another 18 F-16 multi-role fighters to expand its fledgling air force, according to reports from UPI and Aviation Week. Lockheed Martin won the deal to provide 12 F-16C and six F-16D Block 52 aircraft, plus spares and support. The contract runs through May 2018. […]
Tags: F-16, Lockheed Martin
Iraqi Advisor Objects to Transparency International
The reports by the Transparency International over the corruption in Iraq are not "precise", an advisor to the Iraqi government said on Friday, according to AKnews. The annual survey by the Berlin-based organization listed Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Iraq as perceived to be the most corrupt, with Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland, and Canada perceived […]
VP Biden and the Great American Reposture in the Middle East
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 Business News. […]
VP Biden's Address to US-Iraq Higher Coordinating Cmte
Remarks by Vice President Biden at the Conclusion of a Meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. Prime Minister, my distinguished colleagues, as I stated at the outset, both our countries are now launching on a new phase of this relationship. What we discussed here today was not totally new, but […]
Tags: Joe Biden