U.S. officials have arrested 13 people for their alleged involvement in an organised crime gang stealing cars for transport to Iraq. "Operation Hot Wheels," a two-year investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, resulted in nine Detroit and four in San Diego. The vehicles were shipped to Iraq through Canada. The […]
Archive | Security
Weekly Security Update for 1st September 2011
While last week was bloody in Iraq, levels of violence actually fell slightly in the country from the week before. Nonetheless, conditions should still be regarded as hostile, with dozens of people killed in a series of suicide bombings towards the end of Ramadan. As well as several such attacks in the centre of the […]
Tags: AKE, al-Qaeda, Anbar, Baghdad, Basrah, Bayji, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan News, Offshore Europe, PKK, Ramadan, Security, suicide, Turkey
Al-Shahristani to Answer Questions on Fraudulent Electricity Deals
Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured), Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, will be summoned to parliament after the Eid al-Fitr holiday to answer questions about two fraudulent ministry of electricity contracts worth more than $1.7 billion, according to AKnews. A member of the parliamentary commission set up to investigate the case, Uday Awwad, told the agency that MPs signatures have […]
Tags: Commission on Integrity, Corruption, Electricity In Iraq, Integrity Commission, Integrity Committee, Shahristani
$30-$60 Billion Wasted in Iraq, Afghan Contracts
The final report of the congressionally chartered US Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan says at least $31 billion has been lost to contract waste and fraud, and that major reforms are required. Commission reform objectives include improving federal planning for use of contracts, strengthening contract management and oversight, expanding competition, improving interagency […]
Committee Names Most Corrupt Ministries
The electricity, trade, defense and interior ministries have been identified as the most corrupt of the country's ministries, the Integrity Committee in parliament. Iraq's Integrity Commission has announced that it has opened an investigation into corruption in the Iraqi Defense Ministry AKnews reports that the investigation relates to all of the department's dealings since 2003, […]
Tags: Corruption
Antonov Aircraft 'Halts Work' on Iraqi Contract
A Ukrainian-based defence manufacturer has reportedly suspended work on a contract to supply the Iraqi military with light transport planes until it receives payment for work already done under the contract. Interfax reports that state-run Antonov has a $550 million contract to supply military equipmment, including its An-32 aircraft, to Iraq, and a spokesman said […]
Did Rockets from Iraq Target Kuwaiti Port?
Three rockets were fired in the area of the Iraq-Kuwait border on Friday. Reuters quotes an Iraqi official as saying that they landed inside Iraq and were not aimed at Kuwait or the disputed Mubarak port. "The rockets targeted the (former) Bucca prison building, which is used by foreign companies," Ali al-Maliki, head of the Basra […]
Weekly Security Update for 25th August 2011
The current world focus is on Libya, with AKE now ranking Tripoli as being much more hostile a working environment than Baghdad. However, conditions are still fluid and unstable in Iraq, and levels of violence have crept up in the country for the third consecutive week. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in […]
Tags: AKE, Anbar, Baghdad, Basrah, Diyala, energy, Iraq, K&R, Karbala, Kidnap, Kurdistan News, Kut, Libya, Maysan, Najaf, Ninawa, PKK, Qandil, Security, South, Southern, Ta'mim, terrorism, Wassit
Integrity Commission Demands Sacking of Haj Chairman
The Deputy Chairman of Iraq’s Integrity Commission had demanded Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sack the Chairman of the Haj (Pilgrimage) Commission, Mohammed Taqi al-Moula, following charges of corruption. “There are documents and dossiers, being studied since over one month by the Integrity Commission, that had agreed that the said official was involved in corruption,” Ahmed […]
US Captain Jailed for Iraq Corruption
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 […]
Tags: Corruption
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 […]
Tags: AKE, al-Qaeda, America, Anbar, Baghdad, Iran, Iraq, Karbala, Kirkuk, Kurdistan News, Kut, Najaf, Oil, Qandil Mountains, Ramadan, Security, terrorism, Turkey, US military, Wassit
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 […]
Tags: AKE, Anbar, Arbil, Baghdad, Basrah, energy, Erbil News, gas, Hydrocarbons, Iraq, Kirkuk, Kurdistan News, Maysan, Militancy, Mosul, Ninawa, Offshore Europe, Oil, Oil and Gas, Political Risk, Security, Statistics, Sulaymaniyah, Ta'mim, terrorism, Unrest, Upstream, Violence