28 November 2002 After several delays — and a huge amount of infighting — key Iraqi dissidents in exile are finally set to meet in London on Dec. 10 with the goal of establishing a common stand over the shape of an Iraq without Saddam Hussein. Signs aren’t hopeful. The meeting, called by the US administration, is expected to discuss issues ranging from the establishment of a government in exile…
Author: Ruba Husari
IOF Editor
Opposition Squabbles
20 December 2002 The US wanted the recent London gathering of Iraqi exiles to be a media event — and that’s exactly what it was. The haggling among the 350-plus opposition members at the four-day meeting, not to mention the outcome, showed the wisdom of Washington’s insistence that all fundamental issues related to a new political system in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq be avoided. The US had urged the attendees,…
Saudi Arabia Seizes Iraqi Pipeline
15 June 2001 In a further sign of deteriorating relations with neighboring Iraq, Saudi Arabia has confiscated an Iraqi-built crude oil pipeline that runs across the Kingdom to the Red Sea port of Muajjiz. The $2 billion IPSA line has been closed for nearly 11 years. The move came two weeks after Saudi Arabia complained to the UN that Iraqi troops had been attacking Saudi border guards since March. Officials…
Who Runs Somo
7 September 2001 A fresh shakeup in the Iraqi oil industry has left Oil Ministry employees — not to mention industry observers and traders — puzzled as to who is in charge of Somo, Iraq’s influential state marketing organization. The latest change came shortly after a reshuffle among top echelons at the ministry and at key state energy companies. Last month, Oil Minister Amer Rashid appointed Somo’s former executive director,…