Baghdad and Kurdish region solve issue of payment for oil firms

  By Ali al-Mawsawi Azzaman, February 23, 2013 The long-standing conflict over payments to oil firms operating in Iraqi Kurdistan has been solved, according to a senior Iraqi official. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who heads the pro-government national alliance, announced that the sides “have reached a legal framework to cover the payments due to foreign firms with [...]

Ministry offers 10,000 scholarships to upgrade tertiary level teaching and research

By Adel Kadhem Azzaman, February 22, 2013 The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has announced 10,000 scholarships for students and university teachers to proceed ahead with studies abroad. The announcement was made by Higher Education Minister Ali al-Adeeb as he bid farewell to the first batch of students on their way to universities [...]

Cheap imports may ‘destroy’ Iraq’s cement industry

By Khayoun Saleh Azzaman, February 21, 2013 The State Company for Cement Industries says cheap and low-quality imports of cement are making it hard for it to sell its products. The company’s director-general, Nasser Idris, warned that the industry might collapse without immediate state support. Idris did not say where the cement was imported from, [...]

Police seize more ancient relics in southern province

By Khayoun Saleh Azzaman, February 20, 2013 Iraqi police have seized 13 archaeological pieces in the southern Province of Dhiqar, an Antiquities Department official said. The official, Hakem al-Shammari, said the relics were passed to the Iraq Museum and Iraqi scientists were examining their antiquity and value. “The pieces were stolen from ancient mounds in [...]

Iraqi Christians urge authorities to safeguard relics

By Wail Matti Azzaman, February 18, 2013 Iraqi Christians have asked the authorities to preserve their churches and other monuments as excavations reveal that Christianity was the dominant religion in many parts of the country until the Arab Muslim invasion of the seventh century. Latest digs and earth moving activities to prepare the ground for [...]

Politicizing the fate of minorities in Iraq, Syria and Egypt

By Fatih Abdulsalam U.S.’s media and diplomacy machine are stirring the issue of minorities in the Arab world in an intensive and extensive manner. But there is little sincerity in raising the issue. The fate of minorities in the Arab world is being politicized. For the U.S. the target is not preserving and safeguarding these [...]

Iraq’s wheat harvest exceeded 3 million tons in 2012

By Adel Kadhem Azzaman, February 15, 2013 There has been a substantial surge in Iraq’s wheat produce in the years since 2003, when a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country. Wheat harvest had dwindled to an average 1.5 million tons in the years since the invasion, turning the country into a net importer of wheat and [...]

Iraqi forces storm Qaeda camp in Mosul

By Samer Saaid Azzaman, February 14, 2013 A police force has stormed a camp in northern Iraq, where al-Qaeda members had piled weapons, explosives, car bombs and fuel trucks. The camp is located in Jazira, a plateau to the north west of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. “The camp was administered by al-Qaeda. It [...]

French firm wins $1.5 billion for a railway suspension system in Baghdad

By Ali Shattab Azzaman, February 12, 2013 Iraq has signed a deal with the French firm Alstom for the construction of a suspension trains system in Baghdad. The deal was signed by Baghdad Governor Salah Abdulrazzaq and Alstom representatives in the Iraqi capital. Alstom, a global leader in railways systems, will design the project and [...]

Oil tension mounts between Kurds and Baghdad

By Fareed Hassan Azzaman, February 11, 2013 Tension over oil development and exports are mounting between Kurds in the north and the central government in Baghdad. The tension is no longer economic, according to Arshad al-Salihi of the parliamentary oil and energy commission. “The crisis and the rhetoric accompanying the exploration of oil, work of [...]