Category: Iraq

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil said Wednesday it was dedicated to providing a safe environment for international companies working in the oil sector. Sunni-led militants have declared an Islamist state in part of northwestern Iraq and have threatened to push south into the predominately Shiite areas of the country. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Karim Luaibi said the government was dedicated to supplying the ideal safe environment for international companies working in Iraq. "Work in oil refining facilities and oil fields is normal and the ministry has supplied the extra protection needed for those locations by coordinating with security authorities and energy officials," he said in a statement . The U.S. Energy Information Administration said violence in Iraq has not reduced the availability of Iraqi oil on the global export market. Nevertheless, EIA said there was a degree of uncertainty in the Iraqi oil sector because of the Sunni insurgency. […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Iraq’s Kurdish political bloc says it is pulling its ministers from the Cabinet and suspending its participation in the government of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The announcement comes a day after al-Maliki accused the largely autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq of harboring the Sunni militants who have overrun much of the country. The prime minister provided no evidence, and the Kurds denied the allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Roz Nouri Shawez, the highest level Kurdish official in the government, told reporters Thursday that "such statements are meant to hide the big security fiasco by blaming others, and we announce our boycott of Cabinet meetings." Kurds also hold the minister posts for foreign affairs, trade, health and immigration and displacement. It was unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Iraq’s Kurdish political bloc says it is pulling its ministers from the Cabinet and suspending its participation in the government of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The announcement comes a day after al-Maliki accused the largely autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq of harboring the Sunni militants who have overrun much of the country. The prime minister provided no evidence, and the Kurds denied the allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Roz Nouri Shawez, the highest level Kurdish official in the government, told reporters Thursday that "such statements are meant to hide the big security fiasco by blaming others, and we announce our boycott of Cabinet meetings." Kurds also hold the minister posts for foreign affairs, trade, health and immigration and displacement. It was unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Since invading huge swaths of northern and central Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has been smuggling increasing amounts of crude scavenged from Iraq’s stricken oil infrastructure Continue Reading

Iraqi officials say 50 bodies have been discovered outside a city south of Baghdad, many of them blindfolded and with their hands bound. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim says the bodies were discovered Wednesday in an agricultural area outside the city of Hillah. Hillah is a predominantly Shiite city about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Ibrahim says an investigation is underway to determine the identities of the dead as well as the circumstances of the killings. The discovery of bullet-riddled bodies was common during the worst days of Iraq’s sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007.

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Isis-led Sunni rebels are in control of a disused chemical weapons factory, Iraqi officials have confirmed. In a letter to the UN, Iraq said it would be unable to keep to obligations to destroy its chemical weapons. The Muthanna complex northwest of Baghdad houses remnants of rockets filled with sarin and other deadly nerve agents. The UN and US say the munitions are degraded and the rebels will be unable to make usable chemical arms from them. Commitment on hold In the letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Iraq’s UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said the rebels took over the complex on 11 June, after disarming soldiers who guarded the site. The document stated that Muthanna’s surveillance system showed that there was "looting of some equipment and appliances" at the factory, about 70km (45 miles) north-west of the Iraqi capital. […]

Click here to view full article at www.bbc.com

Mohamed Thaban al Shiblawy, head of Iraq’s powerful Shibil tribe, pledged 2,500 of his best fighters to join government forces in the battle against the al Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State. A massive paramilitary effort is under way to shore up the beleaguered Iraqi army, but there are concerns that the central government is too weak to keep so many new militiamen under control. HANNAH ALLAM — MCT Related Stories: NAJAF, Iraq — Mohamed Thaban al Shiblawy was prepared for this moment from the time he was a boy, with lessons about the protocols of battle from tribal lore and old photos that show his rifle-toting grandfather astride a horse during the 1920 uprising against the British occupation of Iraq. Shiblawy, 46, is now emir of his ancient tribe, the Shibil, which claims more than 250,000 members and keeps offices near Najaf in an area locals still proudly refer […]

Click here to view full article at www.mcclatchydc.com

Chief of the powerful Dulaim tribe in Ramadi, Sheikh Hatem al-Suleiman. Photo: Rudaw Chief of the powerful Dulaim tribe in Ramadi, Sheikh Hatem al-Suleiman. Photo: Rudaw Sheikh Hatem al-Suleiman, 43, is one of Anbar province’s most influential tribal sheikhs and is chief of the powerful Dulaim tribe in Ramadi. Suleiman is founding member of the Anbar Salvation Council, a key group in the Sunni Awakening that collapsed after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to include the group in state and military institutions. As the leader of Anbar’s Tribes Revolutionary Council, he is a key leader in the Anbar insurgency and a sharp critic of Maliki. As early as 2006, he became a leader in mobilizing Sunni Arab rebels against Al-Qaeda. In an exclusive interview with Rudaw , Suleiman claimed the Islamic State (formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS) and Iraq’s Sunni Arab tribes have drastically […]

Click here to view full article at rudaw.net

Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday promised "intense and sustained" U.S. support for Iraq, but said the divided country would only survive if its leaders took urgent steps to bring it together. Hours before Kerry arrived in Baghdad, Sunni tribes who have joined a militant takeover of northern Iraq seized the only legal crossing point with Jordan, security sources said, leaving troops with no presence along the entire western frontier which includes some of the Middle East’s most important trade routes. U.S. President Barack Obama has offered up to 300 American advisers to Iraq but held off granting a request by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite Muslim-led government for air strikes to counter the two-week advance by Sunni militants. Officials have meanwhile called for Iraqis to form an inclusive government. The insurgency has been fuelled largely by a sense of materialization and persecution among Iraq’s […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday promised "intense and sustained" U.S. support for Iraq, but said the divided country would only survive if its leaders took urgent steps to bring it together. Hours before Kerry arrived in Baghdad, Sunni tribes who have joined a militant takeover of northern Iraq seized the only legal crossing point with Jordan, security sources said, leaving troops with no presence along the entire western frontier which includes some of the Middle East’s most important trade routes. U.S. President Barack Obama has offered up to 300 American advisers to Iraq but held off granting a request by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite Muslim-led government for air strikes to counter the two-week advance by Sunni militants. Officials have meanwhile called for Iraqis to form an inclusive government. The insurgency has been fuelled largely by a sense of materialization and persecution among Iraq’s […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com