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This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Interview With Ninawa’s Governor: “Getting Rid of the Extremists in Mosul Should be Easy"

Prominent Sunni Muslim politician, Atheel [Athil] al-Nujaifi, who is also the governor of Ninawa province in-exile, talks about why he fled the city when Sunni Muslim extremists attacked. He also explains why the solution for the current Iraqi crisis must come from within the Sunni Muslim population, and why having the Iraqi PM resign won’t solve all the country’s problems.

The governor-in-exile of Ninawa province, the northern region first brought under the control of Sunni Muslim extremists over three weeks ago, talks about why he left the city while it was under attack and how Baghdad refused to let Iraqi Kurdish military come to the city’s aid.

As a prominent Sunni Muslim politician, governor Atheel al-Nujaifi also presents his solutions to the current problem. He believes Iraq’s Sunni know that the Sunni Muslim extremists of the Islamic State, or IS, group are dangerous but that, given the current state of heightened sectarian tensions, they are seeing the group as their protectors, rather than their enemies. If this opinion could be changed, he says, then it should be easy to get rid of the militants from Mosul and other parts of the province.

NIQASH: Can you tell us how the provincial government you once headed in Ninawa is currently operating?

Atheel al-Nujaifi: There are still 14 administrative units which belong to the province of Ninawa and which are not controlled by the IS group. And the provincial government is now based in one of these areas, Qosh. We are holding our council meetings there. And with regard to the provincial council’s service-related departments, we have asked that services - such as water, electricity and health services - continue to be provided. We have opened new offices for these departments outside of Mosul.

Because the IS group doesn’t seem to have a vision for, or system for, managing facilities like this, and given that it cannot pay the salaries of state employees, many of the employees are still communicating with us.

By Shaida al-Ameen for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

An estimated 10,000 Christians have been displaced from the Nineveh plains to Iraqi Kurdistan during the past few days as a result of raids by the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), surrounding the majority-Christian Hamdaniyah district. Al-Monitor has confirmed that shelters for displaced persons have been opened in the town of Ainkawa, in Erbil province.

Tamara Jirjees, who fled ISIS attacks with her four children, told Al-Monitor: “We heard the thud of strong blasts that shook our region, and my kids broke out in tears and cries of fear. We took our things and escaped to the Iraqi Kurdistan region.” She further stated, “We reached the checkpoint in Erbil in the evening, and many people were fleeing. It took us a long time to enter the province. The Kurdistan Regional Government opened schools to shelter us and offered us food and water. A representative of the church also visited us and helped us.”

Ainkawa Mayor Jalal Habib told Al-Monitor, “Ten thousand Christian citizens were displaced to Ainkawa in the past few days, and 20 schools and youth centers were turned into shelters to accommodate them. Moreover, the Barzani Charity Foundation, UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] and UNICEF … in addition to several other civil associations have provided humanitarian aid to the displaced.”

After the 2003 US-led invasion and occupation and the subsequent rise of extremist Shiite and Sunni organizations, acts of violence against Christians increased in Iraq. The most violent attacks that targeted Christians occurred on Aug. 1, 2004, with the simultaneous bombing of five churches in Baghdad and Mosul.

The violence has since expanded to target liquor stores, clothing stores and beauty salons — most of which are owned by Christians — with the aim of shutting them down. Music shops have also come under attack. Moreover, Christian women have been threatened if they fail to cover their heads like Muslims. A number of abductions and assassinations of Christian clerics have also been reported.

Iraq’s electricity shortages cannot be resolved unless sufficient fuel flows to the power plants feeding Iraq’s national grid, according to Dr Jafar D. Jafar, co-founder and CEO of Uruk Engineering & Contracting, addressing a recent conference.

Uruk’s CEO highlighted the short-fall in fuel availability, particularly gas, currently impacting Iraq’s power generation capacity. He noted that the current gas fuel shortage has decreased Iraq’s power availability on the national grid by at least 3000 MW.

Major Power plants such as Nainawa (6x125 MW), Al-Mansurya (4x182 MW) and Rumaila (5x290 MW) are idle because of lack of fuel. The irony is that Iraq is currently flaring more than 900 million standard cubic feet per day of associated gas in the South whereas major power plants are shut down because of lack of gas.

Peak power supplied from Iraq’s national grid has exceeded 12,000 MW and electricity peak demand is estimated at 16,000 MW. Therefore, these currently idle power plants would go a long way towards reducing black outs during the long Summer months.

Dr. Jafar also noted that gas as a fuel for power generation is the best choice when compared with liquid fuel options such as light distillate or diesel, crude oil or heavy fuel oil (HFO). Gas is best from the environmental view point and from every other standpoint.

For example, power plants operating on gas require the least maintenance and provide the highest availability when compared with power plants operating on liquid fuels.

Ensuring Iraq’s long- term electricity security will require a number of bold and aggressive steps to be taken not only by the government; but also by the international oil companies (IOCs) that have development contracts in the country.

This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

NIQASH visited Hawija, a large northern Iraqi town near Kirkuk, which is currently controlled by Sunni Muslim extremists and local tribes. The town is dominated by ISIS’ black flags and ISIS’ rules. And on the way into town, everybody gets a free Koran.

The area south of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk is now controlled by Sunni Muslim extremist fighters – and part of this includes Hawija, a large, mostly Sunni Muslim town. Although there have been clashes between the Sunni Muslim extremists and the Iraqi Kurdish military who control Kirkuk, the road between the two centres is still open.

It is only being used by a few cars: People returning to Kirkuk after visiting their relatives in Hawija or people from Hawija fleeing to Kirkuk, afraid of further problems in the area.

To get to Hawija you need to go through the Kiwan area, which is now known as the “death strip”. The two opposing forces, the Sunni Muslim extremists led by the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and the Iraqi Kurdish military, known as the Peshmerga, are stationed on either side of the road. Both sides are on high alert. If anyone fires a bullet over the other side, fighting breaks out.

Hawija was taken over by Sunni Muslim extremists and members of local Sunni Muslim tribes around June 16 after the Iraqi army withdrew.

As you pass the last Peshmerga checkpoint, the soldiers there advise you not to go any further unless it is extremely important. People are being killed on this road and also being abducted by ISIS, they say.

“Be careful, they will ask you well prepared questions about why you’re going into this area and they will verify the information you give them,” one of the soldiers told me. “If you give them the wrong information, you will be in a lot of trouble.”

I had already taken his advice. I studied at the art school in Hawija for several years, I know a lot of people there and I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to enter the area if I carried my ID card from the art school.

The eighth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government was sworn into office on 18 June 2014 at the Kurdistan Parliament. 

The cabinet consists of the following ministries and departments:

Prime Minister: Nechirvan Idris Barzani

Deputy Prime Minister: Qubad Jalal Talabani

Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources: Abdulstar Majeed

Ministry of Culture and Youth: Khalid Doski

Ministry of Education: Pishtiwan Sadiq

Ministry of Electricity: Salahaddin Babakir

Ministry of Endowment & Religious Affairs: Kamal Muslim

Ministry of Finance & the Economy: Rebaz Mohammad

Ministry of Health: Rekawt Hama Rasheed

Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research: Yousif Mohammad

The eighth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government was announced at a special session of the Kurdistan Parliament held on 18 June 2014. Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, and all cabinet ministers were sworn into office.

In a speech outlining the programme of the eighth cabinet, Prime Minister Barzani stated that the new cabinet has been announced during a critical point in time. He emphasised that in 2003, the people of Kurdistan needed to act with one voice and work together in order to protect and preserve the achievements and interests of the Kurdistan Region.

He noted the need to have the same strategic posture at this difficult period for Iraq in order to not squander any achievements that have been made and to ensure the safety and security of those living in the Kurdistan Region and in parts of Kurdistan outside of KRG administration. For this reason the decision constitutes a historic responsibility for the people of Kurdistan.

The Prime Minister also said that the eighth cabinet is a broad-based government, reflecting the aspirations of the political forces in the Kurdistan Region. Achieving this task required patience during the process of forming such a cabinet in order to construct a real partnership that would respond to the current needs of the people and the political constituencies of the Kurdistan Region.

Prime Minister Barzani thanked the people of the Kurdistan Region for their patience during the government formation process, especially after Iraq’s federal government cut the salaries of KRG employees. He stressed that this unjust and unconstitutional decision has made the lives of the people in the Region more difficult and has also had a negative impact on Kurdistan’s economy and investment. He expressed his sorrow and sadness for the trouble that this situation has caused for the people of Kurdistan. However, he stated that in the coming years the resistance and fortitude of the people of the Kurdistan Region would usher in a new stage in which injustice would be confronted. This would help to settle these issues, and the Kurdistan Region would not face political or financial crises such as this again.

By Tariq Abdell. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

“…The ultimate test of statesmanship is what to do in the face of war…”   -- Thatcher’s statecraft

The upsurge in Sectarian violence across Iraq underscores the blatant failure of Iraq’s consensual democracy and the vulnerabilities of its security forces as result of a host of daunting and intricate constraints: A sectarian commander-in-chief, lingering ethno-sectarian loyalties, politicized security apparatus; and the regions geopolitical tensions, namely Syria’s civil war and Saudi-Iran’s rivalries.

Irrefutably, the cumulative effects of Maliki’s sectarian-based policies – marginalization and disenfranchising of Sunnis in particular- are to blame for exacerbating Iraq’s sectarian violence and, subsequently, entrenching Iraq’s centuries-old ethno-sectarian schisms as evidenced by ISIS’s recent offensive, supported by Sunni tribes, in north-central and northern Iraq.

For Washington to help Baghdad fend off a protracted sectarian war and a total chaos, it must first devise a set of benchmarks as a precondition of U.S. military and financial support. The endgame of such benchmarks it to force Maliki to renounce his sectarian-based policies, espouse a genuine and inclusive democracy, and form a government of national unity that heads to the people’s aspirations regardless of their political and religious beliefs; to include an action plan that reflects the country’s pressing priorities:

• Genuine national reconciliation to overcome interfaith communal distrust and sectarian violence.
• Overhauling of Iraq’s security apparatus namely the forces reporting directly to Maliki -SWAT and CTS in particular- to curb sectarian loyalties, rein in corruption, and build a cohesive and effective Military.
• Repealing of the Anti-terrorism law - Article 4 in particular- and the use of secret informants and coerce confessions.
• Reversal of targeted and unjust De-Ba’atification law.
• Merit-based appointments to promote efficiency and accountability.
• Providing access to basic services (e.g., potable water, electricity, running sewer, etc) and equitable distribution of oil revenues.
• Investing in human capital through education and training to fend off societal and political unrest.
• Advancing the principles of human rights and rule of law.
• Diversifying and reviving of Iraq’ strategic industries to curb its dependence on a single commodity – fossil fuel.

The United Arab Emirates Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade, Abdullah Saleh, visited the Kurdistan Region this week to attend the 2014 TradeUAE Iraq conference in Erbil.

The conference included 115 Emirati companies specializing in a wide range of sectors, including energy, the food industry, petrochemicals, construction, as well as companies offering banking and communications services.

Deputy Trade Minister Saleh said that the UAE remains committed to its investment projects in the Kurdistan Region, clarifying that they have not been halted. He attributed delays to minor obstacles, which include bureaucratic issues common in most countries in the region.

He said, “The UAE is committed to contribute to the economic growth of Kurdistan, where we have been among the pioneers.”

The Deputy Minister added that business and investment opportunities continue to expand and that this has led to increased opportunities for potential investors in various sectors. He emphasized that the UAE remains committed to investing in Kurdistan as well as expanding its operations and activities, stating that the UAE is not under pressure from the federal government in Baghdad regarding its investment projects in the Kurdistan Region.

Deputy Minister Saleh also said that UAE companies are looking to establish heavy industrial projects to serve the Kurdistan Region as well as Iraq as a whole. He reaffirmed that last year’s conference, the first TradeUAE conference held in Iraq, was also a success and that Erbil will be the gateway for UAE investment. He pointed out that the volume of bilateral trade between Iraq and the UAE exceeds $13 billion, $4 billion of which is invested in Kurdistan, with the majority, $3 billion, dedicated to Erbil.

UAE Consul General Rashid al-Mansouri said that there are more than 120 Emirati companies operating in the Kurdistan Region. He said, “The UAE is committed to strengthening relations with the Kurdistan Region politically and economically, and we will work together towards a strong, strategic relationship.”

By Bob Tollast.

This article constitutes an introduction on the recent history of Iraq’s electricity sector followed by a Q and A with Mr. Istepanian.

As Iraq endures the most serious terrorist offensive since 2004, what is certain is that this year a separate fight will continue to improve services, also crucial to the legitimacy of the government.

Iraq’s electricity sector today has overcome many challenges since it’s heyday before the onset of hostilities at the start of the 1991 Gulf War.

But the mountain is only half climbed, because although the spring 2014 saw almost 24 hour electricity in parts of the country for the first time since Operation Desert Storm, the situation is tenuous. With the arrival of summer and its associated need for full blast air conditioning, demand will surge again and we could soon be seeing the power outages Iraqis have become too familiar with.

A casualty of war

Twenty three years ago, as coalition aircraft massed in the Gulf to attack Saddam’s power base in Iraq, the country was producing more than enough electricity, over 9000 MW. This development arose from Saddam’s spending sprees of the 1970s and 80s where the nationalised oil industry produced a windfall of petrodollars, which the Ba’ath Party was keen to spend on infrastructure. The good times soon ground to a halt however, with the immense expenditure incurred by Iraq’s war effort against Iran. Nonetheless, the lights stayed on until the electricity infrastructure was targeted as a part of the coalition air campaign to cripple Saddam’s million strong armed forces.

By Nassir al-Hassoub for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

The official spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Assem Jihad, announced that the licensing contracts with international oil companies bound them to formulate systems to invest in associated petroleum gas, stressing that Iraq has what it takes to be on the list of countries exporting natural gas by 2019.

The Ministry of Oil and the Ministry of Electricity have been trading accusations during the past two weeks, following the decrease in electricity supplies. The Ministry of Electricity confirmed that this is due to the failure of the Ministry of Oil to meet the requirements of natural gas in thermal power plants.

Under a contract that was signed on July 22, 2013, and was the first of its kind, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity bound the Iranian Ministry of Oil to supply it with natural gas. The agreement will provide Iraq with 5 million cubic meters of gas per day for the next three years at world market price. The contract, which is subject to renewal, is seen by Iraq as the perfect solution to the problem of round-the-clock electricity supplies for Iraqis.

“There is a problem in the quantities of natural gas associated with oil extraction,” said Jihad. In an interview with Al-Hayat he said, “Iraq has failed to invest in this wealth [i.e. associated petroleum gas] throughout the past few years. The gas is being totally burned with a waste of 700 million cubic feet [per day], which is seen as high record.”