The latest security news from Iraq – Baghdad & Iraq Provinces security reports – brought to you by Iraq Business News
By Dr Michael Knights, Vice President and lead Iraq analyst at Olive Group. The holy month of Ramadan – which ended on 11 September – is meant to be a time of peace, but in Iraq it has more often been a testing time for the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the United States. Insurgents […]
Seven years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, Iraq largely has been unable to revamp business laws that would help make the country more attractive to investors, according to a report from Bloomberg. “Investors still note security concerns, but now are more likely to cite regulatory hindrances and other practical barriers to doing business,” […]
AFP reports that 90 percent of the $1.9m batch of US-purchased computers destined for schoolchildren but allegedly sold off on the cheap have been recovered. As we reported on Saturday, an unnamed senior official at Umm Qasr port had reportedly misappropriated the gift and auctioned the computers for just $45,700. But customs chief Nofal Salim […]
The U.S. military is demanding to know what happened to $1.9 million worth of computers purchased by American taxpayers, and intended for Iraqi schoolchildren, that have instead been auctioned off by Iraqi officials for less than $50,000. Reports from Associated Press and al Jazeera say the shipment of computers intended for schoolchildren in the central […]
MAG (pronounced "Mag") – Mines Advisory Group – is a neutral and impartial humanitarian organisation that clears the remnants of conflict for the benefit of communities worldwide. Summary of outputs: MAG teams released 632,966 m2 of land through a combination of electronic, hand mechanical, MDD clearance and area reduction as well as minefield cancellation; MAG […]
A survey of more than 300 senior executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) found that foreign investors are still put off by violence in Iraq, but most companies believe the security situation will improve, despite the withdrawal of international troops. The EIU surveyed 367 senior executives from 52 countries about their perceptions of investment […]
Xe Services, the private security company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, has reached an agreement with the State Department for the company to pay $42 million in fines for hundreds of violations of United States export control regulations, according to a report in the New York Times. But by paying fines rather than facing criminal […]
An Iraqi navy has tracked down the thieves who hijacked a number of ships near Iraq’s oil ports in Basra, a news report from Aswat al-Iraq quotes an Iraqi Web site. “We cannot describe these thieves as pirates, they are just thieves,” said an Iraqi source. He described such incidents as one-off events committed by […]
A new survey of senior businesspeople by the Economist Intelligence Unit finds that investor perceptions of Iraq are slowly improving, despite the country’s many problems. Preliminary results from our survey of 300 executives – all of whom have direct input into their company’s decisions on doing business in the Middle East – show that the […]
The Iraqi Navy is on track to assume full command of protecting Iraq's vital offshore platforms within the next two years, outgoing US Navy 5th Fleet commander, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney said Monday. 'We are working very closely with the Iraqi Navy and within two years we will be ready to turn over the entire […]
The Iraqi paper Addustour (Constitution) has reported that recent attacks on financial institutions have led some savers to withdraw cash from their bank deposits and keep it hidden at home. At first glance, it might seem that such a trend could potentially lead to runs on the banks or even a breakdown in the payments […]
Violence, corruption and the lack of infrastructure are seen top three risks to the businesses in Iraq, according to the findings of a survey made public on Sunday. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in its survey revealed that the top three risks to business were judged to be violence (67 percent), corruption (44 percent), and […]
