Allawi Backs Out of New Policy Body
Ayad Allawi, whose Iraqiya party won the most seats in last year’s election but failed to secure the position of prime minister, has resigned as chair of the National Council on Strategic Policies, because the supervisory council has not been formed. The position was created as a concession in a power-sharing deal that would allow […]
Demonstrations and Deadlines in Iraq
Iraq has seen its share of demonstrations over the past week, with number of fatalities reaching into double figures, public offices being burned, and the governors of Basra and Babil being forced to resign; the governor of Ninewa, a brother of the parliamentary Speaker, has rejected calls from Nouri al-Maliki and others to follow suit. […]
Attacking the Oil Sector
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 […]
Iraq Oil Exports Up Again in Feb
Reuters reports that Iraq exported an average of 2.202 million barrels per day in February, up from 2.16 million bpd in January, and the highest level since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Falah Alamri, head of the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO), said exports from the northern fields, which included crude from the country's Kurdish region, […]
Iraq's Asiacell Grows Revenues by 26%
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has announced significant growth last year in its Iraqi Asiacell operations. Following on from the strong subscriber growth achieved in 2009, Asiacell has continued to increase its subscriber base this year leveraging its country-wide network. Asiacell's total subscriber base at 31 December 2010 stood at 8.1 million (FY 2009: 7.4 million). At […]
Zain Iraq Secures $400m Debt Facility
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is supporting economic growth and expanded access to telecommunications services in Iraq through a landmark $400 million, seven-year debt facility for Zain Iraq, the country’s largest mobile phone operator. Zain Iraq is a subsidiary of Kuwait-based telecommunications operator Zain Group, a longtime IFC partner. Zain is the […]
$3.5bn Investment Licences Issued in Baghdad
Baghdad Investment Commission has issued 87 investment licenses worth a total of 3.5 billion dollars during the last thirteen months, and it claims these will provide about 350,000 jobs. The Commission's Chairman, Mr. Shaker Al- Zamily, said the licences included 13 in the construction sector (consisting of 17 projects for the construction of 120,000 housing […]
Versar Wins $1.5 Training Contract in Iraq
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 […]
UN Calls for Participation of all Iraqis in Building the New Iraq
The United Nations in Iraq calls on all Iraqi authorities to fully recognize the importance of participation of all Iraqis in building a democratic, stable and prosperous State in order to consolidate and further strengthen significant progress made in the recent period. The UN in Iraq emphasizes that freedom of expression and assembly are fundamental […]
Basra Investment Commission Grants 12 Licences in 2010
The Chairman of Basra Investment Commission said that the commission had granted 12 new investment licenses during 2010, which is the same number of projects licensed in 2009. Haidar Ali showed that the value of housing projects exceeded $500 million [600 billion Iraqi dinars], while the value of industrial projects was more than $245 million. […]
NIC Calls to Standardise Investment Licences
NIC Chairman, Dr. Sami Al- Araji has proposed standardising the investment licence template for investors in all provinces. The new licence template was discussed during a meeting headed by Dr. Sami and attended by the chairmen of the PICs (Provincial Investment Commissions). Dr. Sami also gave his directives to accelerate the process of allocating the […]
US Army Major Guilty of Iraq Bribery
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 […]