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 […]
Wednesday's United Nations Security Council decisions removed, among other things, the restrictions on Iraq's importation of nuclear technology. But how will Iraq use this new freedom? A report from Reuters suggests some options: Nuclear Energy The UN move allows Iraq to re-develop nuclear reactors, but Science and Technology Minister, Raed Fahmy, said a full study […]
Following today's momentous decision by the UN Security Council to ease several longstanding Chapter VII restrictions on Iraq, politicians close to the discussions were all in agreement that this was a major step forward for the country. US Vice President Joe Biden, who chaired the meeting, said "Iraq is on the cusp of something remarkable […]
Today's session of United Nations Security Council, which led to the crucially important easing of restriction on Iraq, was chaired by the US Vice President, Joe Biden (pictured). The following is the text of the statement issued from his office, including full details of the decisions made by the Council. Today marks an important milestone […]
The UN Security Council decided on Wednesday to lift several longstanding Chapter VII restrictions on Iraqi trade and activity. In summary, the 15-nation Council passed three resolutions: Resolution 1956, which terminates the UN supervised arrangements for the Development Fund for Iraq on June 30, 2011, which will allow Iraq to take full responsibility for its […]
Overview Levels of violence fell in Iraq last week for the third week in a row. However, conditions have started to deteriorate once again with a rise in attacks since Sunday, particularly in the central provinces and Baghdad. The number of terrorist attacks is likely to increase further over the coming days, despite numerous police […]
The Defense Department is being forced to extend multimillion-dollar contracts for services in Iraq, including one with a firm under criminal indictment, because losing bidders have legally challenged the companies selected as replacements, according to a report from the Washington Post. The Kuwaiti firm Agility, charged in November 2009 with overbilling food contracts worth $8.5 […]
The United States Forces-Iraq and Iraqi Army has signed a document transferring ownership of areas at Camp Taji known as “The Triangle” and “North Side”. The areas encompass more than $43 million in property and equipment – 218 buildings, more than 1,000 Containerized Housing Units, and more than 10,000 pieces of equipment. With this transfer […]
