Jan 31 2013
By Fareed Hussein Azzaman, January 31, 2013 The Investment Commission in the Kurdish region has licensed 517 project worth $24.3 billion, new statistics by the commission reveal. The statistics issued show a surge in private applications to start new projects in the autonomous region comprising the provinces of Dahouk, Arbil and Sulaimaniya. The commission said [...]
Jan 29 2013
By Khayoun Saleh Azzaman, January 29, 2013 A Syrian passenger plane landed in Baghdad for the first time in three months. The plane was carrying 50 Iraqi passengers who flew from Damascus International Airport. Scheduled flights between Baghdad and Damascus came to a halt when Syrian rebels mounted attacks in the airport’s vicinity. Iraqi Airways [...]
Jan 28 2013
By Shaymaa Adel Azzaman, January 28, 2013 Iraq has issued a stern warning to Kurds over their attempts to export large quantities of crude oil to Turkey. “This is a red line,” warned Iraqi Oil Minister Abdulkareem al-Aibi. The warning came as the minister was briefing the local press on the surge in the country’s [...]
Jan 26 2013
By Shaymaa Adel Azzaman, January 26, 2013 The southern Province of Missan has emerged as a major oil producer in Iraq as more of its giant oil fields come on stream. Foreign firms are developing Missan fields and currently the province produces 230,000 barrels of oil a day, according to Ali Muaarij the head of [...]
Jan 25 2013
By Fatih Abdulsalam Azzaman, January 25, 2013 The question “How many times did you blow yourself up?” is part of a joke doing rounds in Iraq. It refers to a prisoner who under duress and in order to prevent his interrogators from torturing him any further had to admit that he had blown himself up [...]
Jan 24 2013
By Zeena Sami Azzaman, January 24, 2013 The government has approved a license allowing an Indian firm to start a pipe construction project in the southern city of Basra, the cabinet said in a statement. The statement said the government’s National Commission for Investment has agreed for the Indian firm to build the plant, estimated [...]
Jan 23 2013
By Shaymaa Adel Azzaman, January 23, 2013 There has been a slash in unemployment rates in Iraq but little change in poverty levels, the Ministry of Planning says. “Unemployment rate fell to 20% in 2012 from 38% in 2004,” said Abdulzahra al-Hindawi, the ministry’s spokesperson. However, he added, the country still faced high poverty levels [...]
Jan 21 2013
By Fareed Hussein Azzaman, January 21, 2013 Groups representing major Kurdish cities are visiting the semi-independent Kurdish region in northern Iraq, to voice their support of its local government, Turkish Kurdish delegates said. Delegations from six municipalities of major Kurdish cities in Turkey are holding talks with Iraqi Kurdish authorities mainly to boost economic ties. [...]
Jan 20 2013
By Shaymaa Adel Azzaman, January 20, 2013 Iraq’s oil riches are a blessing for a country that has seen ruinous wars and devastating civil strife. But they can also be a bone of contention. The sparring is pitting two of Iraq’s richest oil provinces against each other. The provinces of Missan and Basra both lay [...]
Jan 19 2013
By Laith Jawad Azzaman, January 19, 2013 The once violent Province of Diyala has urged the government to allocate resources for the construction of 33,000 new homes to replace its slums. Diyala of which the city Baqouba is the provincial capital was one of the most violent provinces in the country during the turmoil that [...]
