The commander of Iraq's rapid response force has been arrested on suspicion of corruption. According to a report from Reuters, Brigadier General Numan Dakhil was caught during a sting operation in which he was filmed taking a $50,000 bribe from a contractor. Sabah al-Saedi, a member of the Integrity Committee, said that Brigadier General Numan […]
Associated Press quotes an Iraqi official as saying that security forces have foiled a new attack against the country's largest oil refinery. Salahaddin provincial spokesman Mohammed al–Assi said a bomb was found inside the Beiji [Baiji, Bayji] refinery earlier this week but it was successfully dismantled. It had been placed inside a storage tank. The […]
A bomb attack in the northern province of Nineveh halted oil flow through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, which carries a quarter of Iraq's crude exports, a spokesman for Iraq's oil ministry said on Wednesday. Reuters, quoting Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad, reported that the attack occurred on Tuesday night, but oil flow is expected to resume […]
Overview Levels of violence fell in Iraq over the past week. This is the first time this has occurred so far this year. Protests were less violent than the preceding week while there was a drop in the number of terrorist attacks in all parts of the country except the capital. The contested city of […]
A spokesman for Iraq's Oil Ministry has told AFP that production levels at the Baiji [Bayji, Beiji] oil refinery returned to normal on Friday, just six days after being damaged in terrorist bombing. If true, this contradicts earlier estimates that it would take several weeks to repair the unit. Assem Jihad said "the damaged unit […]
Thousands protested throughout Iraq on Friday in anti-government demonstrations, despite security checkpoints and a vehicle ban in at least ten cities. Baghdad: About 2,000 people demonstrated in and around Liberation Square [Tahrir Square], surrounded by hundreds of security force personnel. Mayor Saber al-Issawi has resigned. Basra: About 1,000 people gathered at the Basra provincial council […]
Overview Conditions continue to worsen in Iraq, with civil unrest gripping cities from Arbil in the north to Basrah in the south over the past week. As well as demonstrations in Kurdistan there has also been a lesser reported rise in ethnic tensions around the city of Kirkuk. The past week has also seen a […]
Radical Islamists may be attacking the Iraqi energy sector in an attempt to push up the already high price of oil. The past week saw attacks on three oil tankers and a refinery in the central provinces. Militants attacked Iraq’s largest refinery, located in Bayji in Salah ad-Din province on 26 February. Gunmen entered the […]
Versar, the Springfield Virginia-based project management company, has announced it was awarded an approx. $1.5 million contract from the United States Forces in Iraq for the training of Iraqi Ministry of Defense personnel. The contract will continue through September 2011. This contract will train and certify over 300 Iraqi engineers and technicians to operate and […]
A former U.S. Army major and his wife have been convicted of bribery and money laundering in a huge scheme that illegally funneled some $60 million in Iraq war contracts, the Justice Department said on Wednesday according to a report from AFP. Eddie Pressley and his wife Eurica, from Harvest, Alabama, engaged in "an audacious […]
Iraq restored partial operation at its largest oil refinery on Monday after a two-day shutdown due to a bomb attack, Reuters reports. "We have restarted production operation at 50 percent of the original capacity on Monday," Abdul-Qader Saab, the refinery's deputy manager, said. The militants planted explosives at a kerosene and benzene production unit at […]
A representative of the protesters in Sulaimaniya said the anti-government campaigners have given the Kurdistan Regional Government 48 hours to respond officially to their demands or they will stage a general strike in Sulaimaniya city. The parliament sent a 12-member delegation to hear the demands of the marchers on Monday, almost 12 days after the […]
