UK Cuts Aid to Iraq
Britain's International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell (pictured), announced on Tuesday the key outcomes of two aid reviews and set out the results that UK aid will deliver for the world's poorest people over the next four years. These ambitious reviews of DFID's [Department for International Development] country programmes and funding to international organisations will, according […]
Baiji Refinery Partially Re-Started
Iraq restored partial operation at its largest oil refinery on Monday after a two-day shutdown due to a bomb attack, Reuters reports. "We have restarted production operation at 50 percent of the original capacity on Monday," Abdul-Qader Saab, the refinery's deputy manager, said. The militants planted explosives at a kerosene and benzene production unit at […]
Govt Responds to Demands; Possible Strike in Sulaimaniya
A representative of the protesters in Sulaimaniya said the anti-government campaigners have given the Kurdistan Regional Government 48 hours to respond officially to their demands or they will stage a general strike in Sulaimaniya city. The parliament sent a 12-member delegation to hear the demands of the marchers on Monday, almost 12 days after the […]
Kurdistan Finalises $11.9bn Budget
The budget of Iraq's Kurdistan Region for the current year is 13.94 trillion Iraqi dinars ($11.9 billion), Kurdistan's Premier, Barham Saleh, told a news conference in Erbil. This includes 9.687 trillion dinars for 'expenditures and commissioning', 4.15 billion for investment projects, 54 billion dinars for the Kurdistan Parliament's expenditures, 48 billion dinars for the Region's […]
Details of Proposed New Ministers' Salaries
Iraq’s Presidency issued a draft-law on Monday for the monthly salaries of high-ranking officials and employees, already approved by the Council of Ministers, a copy of which was sent to the Parliament, according to Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The draft-law would set the basic monthly salary of the President and the Prime Minister at 8 […]
Questions for Maliki and Nujayfi
The following article was published on Monday by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq […]
Iraq Oil Exports Up Again in January
Revenue from Iraqi crude oil exports rose to $6.08 billion in January, the most in more than a year, the country’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has reported. The average price for Iraqi oil was $90.78 a barrel, compared with $86.31 in December and $80.59 in November. Exports increased last month by about 10 percent […]
British Trade Delegation Arrives in Erbil
A delegation of 13 businessmen, traders and investors from the United Kingdom has reportedly arrived in Erbil today, on a trip to study economic conditions in the region. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman (pictured) told AKnews that, "the British delegation aims to invest and participate in the reconstruction campaign in the region". (Source: AKnews)
Turkish Company Considers Power Plant in Iraq
Turkey’s Tekfen Insaat, a construction company active in 12 countries, aims to build a power plant in Iraq together with a French company as Iraq’s risk profile improves, chief executive Umit Ozdemir said, according to the Kipp Report. The company is looking into projects in the southern part of Iraq, ha told a conference in […]
Reidar Visser on Iraq's Day of Protest
The following article was published on Friday by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq […]
Press 'Under Attack' in Iraq
The head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) in Iraq has condemned the violence that federal security forces inflicted upon a number of journalists covering the public demonstrations across the country on Friday, according to a report from AKnews. Hadi Jallo Merei told the news agency that a large number of journalists were physically attacked […]
$90m Water Supply Contract in Dohuk
Kurdistan's Ministry of Municipality and Tourism sealed a contract on Monday for the construction of a drinking water supply project for Amedi, in Dohuk province. According to a report from AKnews, the ministry said the minister, Samir Abdullah Mustafa, singed the $90m contract with Ster Group and Homan Ederson. With the project getting underway, the […]