By John Lee. Kurdistan's Qaiwan Group has secured two loans totalling $105 million to refinance part of the firm's investment in the 442-MW Bazian Power Plant (pictured). According to a report from Trade Arabia, Deutsche Bank has arranged an eight-year $75-million buyer credit, along with the Dubai branch of Lebanon's Bankmed. The finance is being […]
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani yesterday received the Lebanese Embassy Charge d’Affaires in Iraq, Mr. Walid Al-Ghossaini.Mr. Walid Al-Ghossaini said that his country intends to open a representation office in the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil, in a near future, to raise it later to the level of consulate. Mr. Al-Ghossaini discussed the current situation in the […]
UNDP's New Resilience Agenda will help to give options to displaced Iraqis and refugees A new Resilience Agenda has been adopted at the high level Resilience Development Forum on 8 and 9 November in Dead Sea, Jordan attended by delegations from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and Syria. The pathbreaking Resilience Agenda presents five key […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Dr. Haider Al-Abadi received in his office on Saturday the Lebanese Industry Minister Mr. Hussein Hajj Hassan and his accompanying delegation. During the meeting they discussed strengthening bilateral relations in the industrial field between the two countries and investment in Iraq and overcoming the obstacles facing Lebanese businessmen. Dr. Al-Abadi […]
By John Lee. The Lebanese government is to open a consulate Erbil in August. According to BasNews, weekly flights connect Erbil and Beirut as over 6,000 Lebanese work in Iraqi Kurdistan, in mainly in education, tourism and investment. More than 25 countries have already opened consulates and representative offices in the Kurdistan Region. (Source: BasNews) […]
By John Lee. Passengers arriving in Lebanon on flights from are reportedly being forced to receive oral polio vaccinations. Writing in Rudaw, Judit Neurink says "these forced immunization boosters are a human rights violation, as they breech the integrity of one’s one body. More importantly, it discriminates against and scandalizes a whole population already plagued […]
By John Lee. A Lebanese company has launched a major construction project in Maysan governorate. Hariri Construction and Contracting Company (HARCO) was awarded the $80-milllion 'Luluat Al Amarah' (Pearl of Amarah) contract in late 2014, and has just started excavation at the site. It involves the construction of a five-star 16-storey hotel with 192 rooms, […]
By John Lee. Several airlines have suspended flights to Baghdad on Tuesday after bullets hit an airplane as it was landing at Baghdad International Airport. Reuters reports that two passengers were slightly injured when three or four bullets hit the body of a flydubai plane carrying 154 passengers on Monday evening. It was not known […]
By John Lee. The son of former Iraqi Prime Minister and current Vice President Nouri al-Maliki has reportedly been arrested in Lebanon in possession of more than US $1.5 billion "in cash". BasNews cites Lebanese media sources as claiming that Ahmed al-Maliki is being detained in a prison on Beirut, and that Nouri al-Maliki has […]
By John Lee. Stuart Bowen, the former Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), has claimed that between $1.2 billion [1.4 trillion Iraqi dinars] and $1.6 billion [IQD 1.9 trillion] allocated for the reconstruction of Iraq was stolen and hidden in a bunker in Lebanon, as the American and Iraqi governments ignored appeals to recover […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Commission of Integrity has reportedly repatriated five billion Iraqi dinars [$4.3 million] that were smuggled to Lebanon. According to Aswat al Iraq, the money, in addition to some real estate investments, were illegally obtained by British businessman James (Jim) McCormick, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Britain for […]
By John Lee. Fadi Abboud, the former head of the Lebanese industrialists association, has told The Daily Star that Lebanon’s total exports to Iraq will see a sharp decline over the coming months due to the deteriorating security situation in the country. Adding that Iraq is the fifth-largest recipient of Lebanese products, he said that […]
