29 April 2005 Three months after Iraqis voted in national elections, the first Shiite-led government in Iraq’s modern history has won the support of the elected National Assembly. However, protracted negotiations among political factions and differences within the biggest Shiite bloc mean that the positions of two deputy premiers and five ministers, including the oil portfolio, have yet to be filled. In a sign of the difficult horse-trading since the…
Bahr Al-Uloum Poised For Iraq Oil Job
6 May 2005 Former Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum is set to make a comeback as the next oil minister, barring any last-minute hitches, after beating Ahmad Chalabi, the deputy prime minister and acting oil minister, as the candidate backed by a Shiite party. The Shiite Al-Fadhila Party, considered close to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, was allocated the oil job in the ethnic carve-up of portfolios in Iraq’s new…
Iraqi Oil Minister Sets Up Committees in Bid to Fight Corruption
14 June 2005 Iraq’s Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum has set up three new committees for marketing, contracts and downstream in a bid to fight corruption, as promised when he took over in May, Iraqi sources said. However, the sources warned that the new formula of running the oil ministry’s affairs by committees could paralyze the workings of the different departments by adding a new layer of bureaucracy. Just a…
Iraqi Officials Replaced In Political Move
1 July 2005 Two of Iraq’s top oil officials have been replaced by the country’s new oil minister, in a move widely regarded as politically motivated. The changes represent the second major shake up of the oil ministry since Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum was appointed as minister in May, Baghdad sources told International Oil Daily Thursday. Nabil Lamuza, director general of planning and studies, was replaced by an outsider, Fayad Hassan…