25 July 2008 Tarek al-Hashemi, the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, holds the highest Sunni political position in the current political setup as vice president and plays a major role in determining which way Sunni politics go. His most recent achievement is negotiating the return of Sunni ministers to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government this week, after a boycott that lasted for almost a year over differences on security…
Tag: oil fields
Iraq Starts Countdown for Contract Awards
14 October 2008 Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday launched a competition among 35 international oil companies for six of Iraq’s most prized oil fields and two undeveloped gas fields under 20-year service contracts, which Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said he expects to be “finalized and presented to the Iraqi cabinet for ratification before the end of June.” Prequalified companies for Iraq’s first bid round, including all the majors as…
Power Struggle in South Iraq
31 August 2007 British forces, in control of southern Iraq since 2003, are expected to complete their withdrawal from Basrah in September and redeploy to a desert airbase, having already exited most urban centers in the last year. The move is interpreted by some as a prelude to a full British military withdrawal from Iraq, and a fight for supremacy is already raging in Iraq’s oil heartland among competing political…
Iraq Cracks Down in Basrah, Imposes State of Emergency
1 June 2006 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday declared a month-long state of emergency in Basrah city, in an attempt to rescue the southern oil region from a power struggle among Shiite factions. “We hope after this month that we will come back to Basrah and see that the situation has improved a lot,” al-Maliki told reporters after announcing the measure and after meeting with tribal leaders, political…