Egypt Contributes to Housing Projects in Iraq

AKnews reports that the Egyptian Housing Ministry is to contribute to the Iraqi government's plan to build a million housing units in Iraq. The General Director of the Technical Department of the Iraqi Housing and Construction Ministry, Hussein Majid Hussein,  said on Thursday that the Iraqi Ministry signed a contract with the Egyptian Housing Ministry […]

Weekly Security Update for 23rd December 2010

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 […]

Iraq's New Future of Opportunity

The big news this week in Iraq was the announcement of Nouri al-Maliki's new cabinet, and, unusually for such a decision, the fact that it was made several days ahead of the legal deadline. Nevertheless, BBC reports that Iraq now has the dubious honour of holding the world record for the longest period between an […]

Iraq's New Oil Minister to Push Infrastructure

Iraq's new oil minister, Abdul Kareem Luaibi, put building infrastructure at the top of his priority list and said yesterday he expected the expansion of Basra's crude export facilities to be finished by the end of 2011, according to a report from Gulf Daily News. Luaibi, who was sworn into office with Iraq's new government […]

Iraq's Oil Production Hits New High

Iraq's daily oil production rose to 2.5 million barrels, the biggest since 2003, a spokesman for the oil ministry said on Wednesday. “The daily oil production rose by 10% through cooperation among national and foreign companies,” Essam Jehad told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, pointing out that this is the highest production since 2003. Iraq’s newly […]

President Obama Comments on New Iraqi Government

The following is a statement from US President, Barack Obama, on the formation of the new Iraqi government: Today’s vote in the Council of Representatives is a significant moment in Iraq’s history and a major step forward in advancing national unity. I congratulate Iraq’s political leaders, the members of the Council of Representatives, and the […]

ShaMaran Petroleum Rises on Iraq Update

Shares in ShaMaran Petroleum (TSX VENTURE:SNM) rose 8% today following an update on its Atrush-1 exploration well in Kurdistan. The well was spudded on October 5, 2010 and 9 5/8" intermediate pipe was set after logging the Jurassic section to the top of Kurrachine at a depth of approximately 2,230 metres. Drilling operations have progressed […]

Al-Maliki's New Program For Government

In addition to proposing his new cabinet, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presented his government's new program to Parliament this week. The full text of Iraq's program for government is as follows: 1. Maintaining and commitment to Iraq's constitution completely, and that any subsequent modifications will be in accordance with Article 142 of the Constitution, […]

New Industrial Development in Karbala

The Karbala Investment Commission has granted an investment license to an Iraqi company to build an industrial compound at a cost of $39 million, the chairman of the KIC said on Wednesday, according to a report from Aswat al-Iraq. “The KIC gave an investment license to an Iraqi company to implement a project to set […]

Iraq Govt Spends $95m on Dates

Iraq's Agriculture Minister has allocated 112 billion Iraqi Dinars (IQD) [over $95m] to purchase dates from the local growers. The deputy head of the ministry’s finance and management board told AKnews that the decision is to support and encourage the farmers and boost the agriculture sector. Each ton of first grade dates will be purchased […]

Full List of Iraq's New Cabinet

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 […]

Iraq to Sell Off Aircraft

Iraq’s Transportation Ministry said on Tuesday that Iraq has decided to sell all its aircraft parked at airports in Jordan, Tunisia and Iran by the former Ba'athist regime. “The Transportation Ministry has got the approval of the Council of Ministers to sell all its aircrafts, parked in Jordan, Tunisia and Iran, possessed by the Iraqi […]