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The Turkish-based IHH humanitarian relief organization -- in collaboration with Qatar Khairiyah Organization and Munazamah Dawah Islamiyah Qatar office -- has sent 22 trucks loaded with emergency aid supplies to Northern Iraq.

The trucks carrying 30,000 blankets, 7,500 straw mats, 1,250 flasks, 150 tons of bulgur, 75 tons of pasta, 50 tons of flour, and 6,600 mattresses will make a stop-over in IHH's Kilis coordination center. The aid campaign also involves the purchase and distribution of 750 stove heaters and 175,000 liters of gasoline for them in the region.

IHH Vice President Hasan Aynacı, commenting on the 22 aid trucks headed to Iraqs said:

"I would like to thank Khairiyah Organization and Dawah Islam Organization for their support to the humanitarian aid convoy. Just like how we went to help our Kurdish brothers in Sulaimaniyah before, how we went to help our Arabic brothers in Fallujah, how we went to help our Turkmen brothers in Kirkuk, today we will help our brothers from Mosul among whom are Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens. We cannot remain deaf to their cry for help.”

IHH Humanitarian Relief Organization has previously delivered 6,000 blankets to internally displaced people from Mosul.

(Source: IHH)

The Student Leaders program is an intensive, approximately 6-week exchange program to the United States for up to 120 undergraduate students from the Middle East and North Africa.

Students are divided among U.S. academic institutions where they develop leadership skills and expand their understanding of civil society, as well as the democratic process and how both may be applied in their home communities.

Participants have the opportunity to meet their American peers, engage in local community service activities, and observe and take part in the governmental process on the local, state, and federal levels.

The program includes academic coursework, as well as study tours to various regions of the United States. Upon completion of the U.S.-based programs, the program will work with students to support their civic engagement efforts. A follow-on training is generally held in the region approximately 6 months after the U.S. portion of the program.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Students from the following countries are eligible to apply: Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and West Bank/Gaza.

This program is open to university students between the ages of 20 and 24. We seek a gender-balanced pool of candidates and give preference to traditionally underserved participants when possible.

While nominees may be undergraduate or graduate students in any field of academic specialization, it is critical that they exhibit a serious interest in pursuing leadership opportunities in their home countries and demonstrate a desire to deepen their civic engagement.

Those who have traveled to the U.S. or studied abroad are ineligible. Applicants should demonstrate sufficient English-language skills to participate in U.S. university-level classes and must be enrolled in and attending a university in their home countries. At the time of application and while participating in the program, participants cannot hold U.S. citizenship or be a U.S. Legal Permanent Resident.

HOW DO PARTICIPANTS APPLY? 

Participants apply for the program online at https://studentleaders.fluidreview.com and are then interviewed and nominated by Embassies.  For questions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Deadline

The deadline for applications is December 31, 2016 with the following exceptions:
For Israeli applicants the application deadline is January 18^th, 2017.

(Source: US State Dept)

By John Lee.

Qatar's Energy Minister has reportedly said that Iran and Iraq are being asked to freeze oil output at current levels, as part of a wider deal to restrain production.

According to ArabianBusiness.com, Mohammed Al Sada told reporters:

"We are discussing with both countries on that and we are looking at various ways and means of coming to a mutual understanding."

Industry sources, and documents seen by Reuters, suggest that Iraq would have to compensate international oil companies (IOCs) for any limits placed on their production, compounding the financial hit of losing much-needed oil revenue.

(Sources: ArabianBusiness.com, Reuters)

By John Lee.

In its results for the first nine months of the year, Qatar-based Ooredoo said this morning that business at its Iraqi subsidiary Asiacell is still affected by the political and economic situation in the country, a "dysfunctional banking system", and VAT impact.

Despite these challenges, Asiacell maintained its revenue leadership in the market and according to the company is well positioned to capture growth as the situation on the ground improves. Customer number increased by 5% to 11.2 million on our leading 3G network.

For the 9M 2016 period, Asiacell's Revenue declined by almost 15% to reach QAR 3.2 billion, down from QAR 3.7 billion in 9M 2015.  

Due to cost optimization initiatives EBITDA was less impacted, registering QAR 1.5 billion in 9M 2016, down 9% as compared to the same period last year. Net Profit for 9M 2016 stood at QAR 79 million, down from QAR 152 million in 9M 2015.

(Source: Ooredoo)

By Fehim Taştekin for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

Turkey has been officially uninvited — in no uncertain terms — to the liberation of Mosul, Iraq.

When rumors began piling up recently that Turkey — after launching Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria — also has plans to intervene on the Iraqi front with Operation Tigris Shield, diplomatic channels between Ankara and Baghdad caught fire.

Baghdad was already unhappy with Turkey, believing Ankara is more interested in the post-Islamic State (IS) future of Mosul rather than helping to liberate it. Baghdad was also concerned about Turkey training Sunni-dominated Al-Hashd al-Watani forces at Bashiqa training camp 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Mosul.

So when Turkey's parliament decided Oct. 1 to extend for a year its military operations in Iraq and Syria, the Iraqi parliament responded with a blunt, unfriendly warning.

The warning called for summoning the Turkish ambassador, branding Turkish forces in Iraq as occupiers, prosecuting those responsible and denouncing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pronouncements. It also called for reviewing trade and economic relations with Turkey and initiating immediate action with the United Nations to expel Turkish troops.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry responded in similarly harsh language: “We denounce the decision of the Iraqi parliament. We strongly condemn the ugly accusations directed to our president.”

Tension between Ankara and Baghdad escalated after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned that the presence of Turkish soldiers in Iraq could lead to a regional war.

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus contributed to the squabble. “Where was the Iraqi government when [IS] occupied Mosul in one day?” he asked, referring to the takeover in June 2014.

Many people wondered what had prompted the Iraqi parliament's bad-tempered action.

In its results for the first half of 2016, Qatar-based Ooredoo said that its Iraqi mobile phone business Asiacell continued to be impacted by the security situation, the challenging economic environment and a decrease of customer purchasing power in Iraq.

Revenue stood at QAR 2.1 billion [$577 million], down 15% compared with QAR 2.5 billion in H1 2015. EBITDA remained relatively stable at just over QAR 1 billion, a 3% decrease compared to H1 2015 and EBITDA margin improved to 48% from 42% in H1 2015 due to Asiacell's successful cost reduction strategy.

Net Profit increased by more than 18% to QAR 74 million. Asiacell's customer base remained relatively stable at 10.8 million, approximately in line with the previous year.

Asiacell continues to see an increase in data revenue following its launch of 3G services in 2015, in a market still largely driven by voice services.

During the period, Asiacell enhanced its sales channels to drive the penetration of data services and continues to make progress in recovering its network in liberated areas.

(Source: Ooredoo)

By John Lee.

The secretary of Iran's Cement Industry Employers Association has said that Iraq has promised to remove its ban on the import of Iranian cement.

Fars news agency quotes Abdolreza Sheikhan as saying that following several meetings between Iranian and Iraqi officials, Baghdad promised to give priority to Iranian exports, once general ban on cement import is removed.

He said Iraq's cement demand is currently met from domestic production.

Iran's cement and clinker exports fell by 20 percent in the Iranian year ended March 20, and stood at 15 million tons.

Iraq had previously accounted for 60 percent of Iran's cement exports.

Last year Baghdad increased tariffs on Iranian cement from $4 to $13.

Iran currently exports cement to some 24 countries including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Oman, India, and China.

Last year, Sheikhan warned that Iran is gradually losing its domestic and foreign cement markets.

"Cement supply and demand is not balanced in the market and this has created problems for producers," he said.

(Source: Trend)

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.

Iraqi Journalists Targeted By Security Forces During Green Zone Protests

Last Friday demonstrators broke into Baghdad’s Green Zone a second time. Security forces were waiting for them - and the media, say local journalists who believe they were deliberately targeted by the military.

On Friday afternoon in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, thousands of protestors gathered - as has become their habit over the past few months. As was also usual they chanted their demands for political reform and anti-government slogans.

After an hour or so, the protestors decided to cross the Jumhuriyah bridge, near the square, and break into the highly protected Green Zone area, which houses Iraq’s government buildings and many foreign embassies, again.

Last time the protestors made it into the Green Zone and stayed for two days. However this time, security forces guarding the Green Zone did not let the protestors through. Instead they used tear gas and rubber bullets – even some live ammunition was used and it is estimated four people lost their lives – to disperse the protestors; the demonstrations ended around two hours later.

This time though, members of the local media who had accompanied the demonstrations were among the security forces’ victims. A statement from the Metro Centre for Defending Journalists' Rights said more than 13 journalists were attacked while they were trying to cover the demonstrations.

By Human Rights Watch.

The closure of Al Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau by the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission is nothing but an effort to clamp down on freedom of expression. The commission should promptly reverse its decision and allow the bureau to operate freely in accordance with international standards on freedom of the media and free speech, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The commission, in a letter to the bureau, accused Al Jazeera of “incit[ing] sectarianism and violence.” The station’s Baghdad bureau chief, Waleed Ibrahim, said that commission officials later told him the order stemmed from their displeasure with the editorial policies of Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Qatar.

Iraqi authorities should immediately allow Al Jazeera to resume its work, or spell out exactly how and when the station incited violence, Human Rights Watch said.

“Iraqis have a right to hear a variety of perspectives on current events,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Closing down a prominent international network on the basis of vague and unsubstantiated allegations smacks of political motivation to shut out uncomfortable criticism, and it’s an action that should be immediately reversed.”

Ibrahim told Human Rights Watch that the commission’s executive board called him into a meeting on February 21, 2016. At the meeting, he said, the board members accused Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha of being sectarian and encouraging what they said were “violations” in its Iraq coverage. Ibrahim said he refused to sign a letter that he agreed with the allegations, “but also explained that I do not have any control over the content coming out of Doha, only out of Baghdad.”

Due to the circumstances experienced by the brotherly Iraqi people and the blockade from which many Iraqi cities are suffering, HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has instructed the provision of with $ 10 million to the brotherly Iraqi people.

The Foreign Ministry stressed, in a statement issued on Sunday, that the humanitarian assistance stems from the keenness of the State of Qatar to stand with the Iraqi people and alleviate their suffering, and in completion of the role being played in the emergency response to cope with the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iraq.

The statement added that the agreement was signed on Sunday between Qatar Development Fund (QDF) and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) to carry out emergency relief for the benefit of the people of the besieged City of Fallujah in Iraq within the amount of $ 1 million, in coordination with international organizations and UN agencies.

The Qatari assistance to the brotherly Iraqi people includes a number of sectors such as food security and health care sectors. ORCS had since started drawing up an urgent intervention plan to execute several relief projects covering various areas of Anbar province.

(Source: Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs)