The deputy Iraqi interior minister said the Iraqi Council of Ministers has agreed to recruit 200,000 policemen and interior ministry staff to increase security in Baghdad province. Hussein Kamal told AKnews that the new force will be deployed in Baghdad upon the ratification of the Iraqi general budget. The force will approximately double the number […]
Bloomberg reports that U.S. prosecutors have filed a civil suit against Kuwaiti logistics company Agility, accusing it of defrauding the government over food contracts to the U.S. military in the Middle East worth $9.8 billion. Agility was the largest supplier to the U.S. Army in the Middle East during the war in Iraq and a […]
Iraq’s Ambassador to the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), Hassan al-Janaby, has stated in Rome on Saturday that the prices of foodstuffs were increasing and all reports are indicating that the world is facing a very embarrasing situation, threatening to unleash a major hunger wave, but he said Iraq was able to satisfy the […]
Trends in 2010 demonstrated that violence is still a concern in Iraq. With opportunities for investment arising in 2011 the outlook for the country is fast improving, but companies looking to take part in Iraq’s economic redevelopment will have to take security into consideration if they are to succeed. Weekly Violence The above chart shows the […]
Another wild-card was thrown into the Iraqi mix on Wednesday with the return of radical Shia'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr from nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. A fierce opponent of the United States and head of Iraq's feared militia, the Mehdi Army, al-Sadr's return was reportedly low-key, and was not entirely unexpected following […]
Overview Last week saw a rise in the number of attacks taking place in Iraq. Militant activity was concentrated in the centre of the country and in the northern city of Mosul. There were at least three suicide bombings in Anbar and Ninawa provinces while a Kurdish civilian was reportedly kidnapped in Kirkuk. As warned […]
Overview Recent days have seen deadly suicide attacks in Mosul and Ramadi. There has also been a worrying increase in the number of shooting attacks in Baghdad. However, last week otherwise saw a slight reduction in the total number of attacks taking place in Iraq. Incidents were concentrated in the capital, with no incidents recorded […]
As Baghdad ponders fewer checkpoints, oil exports sent by sea face more checks. The capital has 870 security checkpoints, which have been blamed for slowing an already congested city down and inhibiting productivity. Some commuters must stop at half a dozen checkpoints each morning, sometimes waiting for an hour at just one of them. Many residents find […]
Oil companies working in Iraq complained of a "mafia" type atmosphere that drove the price of security up considerably, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables revealed by Wikileaks. London's Guardian newspaper reports that official at oil services company Halliburton complained the price of security in Iraq was "unwarranted" during a modestly secure environment in 2008. […]
Overview Levels of violence rose last week in Iraq as Shi'ahs marked al-'Ashura. Pilgrims travelling to the holy city of Karbala were attacked on several occasions, in Baghdad and the central provinces, although Karbala itself saw little in the way of violence. The police arrested numerous suspected militants ahead of the event and many potentially […]
Following on from our listing on Monday of the main cabinet positions, we present a more complete line-up below, compiled from information sourced from Iraq Oil Report and Reuters. The official website of the Iraq cabinet has not published the official list, and has chosen instead to lead with an article about the importation of […]
The following article was published by STRATFOR Global Intelligence. It is reproduced here in full with their permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. With Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and al-Iraqiya List leader Iyad Allawi meeting in Baghdad Tuesday night, a […]
