The latest news from Baghdad – security updates, business, construction projects and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
Reuters reports that the French engineering group that has signed an outline agreement to build a metro line above Baghdad's streets is in fact Alstom. Shaker al-Zamili, the head of Baghdad Investment Commission, said on Thursday that Iraqi officials signed a memorandum of understanding with Alstom in France last week. An Alstom spokeswoman in Paris […]
Baghdad municipality has signed a contract with a Turkish company, Akdneiz, to clean up the city while statistical figures show high unemployment rates. According to the contract, the districts of Karkh, Rusafa and Karrada [Karadah] in central Baghdad will be cleaned up by Akdeniz for a period of one year. Iraq's Central Statistics Agency (CSA) […]
According to a report from AFP, Iraq's northern Kirkuk province said it had stopped supplying electricity to the national grid on Tuesday, in a bold move to force the central government's hand in a dispute over power rationing. "Kirkuk province has decided to cut the power going out from its electricity stations to other provinces […]
[Please click here for update] The Iraqi National Rail Company announced on Sunday that under its supervision the urban rail project in the Iraqi capital will be completed in 2013.. According to AKnews, the company’s press secretary, Jawad Kharsani, said the project will be carried out in conjunction with the French company Tharyom (sic) [Iraq […]
Four people, including three children, were kidnapped by criminals then freed by the authorities in Iraq last week. In recent months consular warnings have continued to remind foreign nationals of the risk of abduction still present in the country. With a rise in foreigners travelling to the country it may only be a matter of […]
The deputy Iraqi interior minister said the Iraqi Council of Ministers has agreed to recruit 200,000 policemen and interior ministry staff to increase security in Baghdad province. Hussein Kamal told AKnews that the new force will be deployed in Baghdad upon the ratification of the Iraqi general budget. The force will approximately double the number […]
Trends in 2010 demonstrated that violence is still a concern in Iraq. With opportunities for investment arising in 2011 the outlook for the country is fast improving, but companies looking to take part in Iraq’s economic redevelopment will have to take security into consideration if they are to succeed. Weekly Violence The above chart shows the […]
Overview Last week saw a rise in the number of attacks taking place in Iraq. Militant activity was concentrated in the centre of the country and in the northern city of Mosul. There were at least three suicide bombings in Anbar and Ninawa provinces while a Kurdish civilian was reportedly kidnapped in Kirkuk. As warned […]
Overview Recent days have seen deadly suicide attacks in Mosul and Ramadi. There has also been a worrying increase in the number of shooting attacks in Baghdad. However, last week otherwise saw a slight reduction in the total number of attacks taking place in Iraq. Incidents were concentrated in the capital, with no incidents recorded […]
Iraq's budget for 2011 was approved some months ago, but with the government now formed it is back on the table, according to AKNews. Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman said: "There is an agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to amend the current budget." Amendments are needed to resolve a […]
As Baghdad ponders fewer checkpoints, oil exports sent by sea face more checks. The capital has 870 security checkpoints, which have been blamed for slowing an already congested city down and inhibiting productivity. Some commuters must stop at half a dozen checkpoints each morning, sometimes waiting for an hour at just one of them. Many residents find […]
Baghdad's airport road was considered the most dangerous motorway in the world, but the city is now turning it into "the most beautiful street in the world", according to AFP. The US military had called it "RPG alley" (that's rocket-propelled grenade), as road users were at the receiving end of particularly frequent attacks during 2006 and 2007. […]
