Electronic Iraq : News & Analysis

Some Palestinian refugees in Iraq to get special IDs

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:50:18 CST

The Iraqi government has launched a registration process for Palestinian refugees who arrived between 1948 and 1967 -- and their descendants -- to help ensure they benefit from government aid programs. Those registered will be issued with ID cards which identify them as refugees, the Ministry of Displacement and Migration said on 26 August.

Members of "Awakening Group" say Sunni's have been unfairly targeted by Iraqi security forces

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:54:23 CST

Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail report that "a military operation said to target al-Qaeda has ended up targeting Sunni Muslims instead, creating new sectarian tensions. A U.S.-backed security operation launched last month has only targeted cities with majority Sunni populations such as Buhriz, Tahreer, Qatoon, Mafraq, and Hay in Diyala province, north of Baghdad. The operation has drawn more than 50,000 Iraqi soldiers."

The Past Destroyed: Five Years Later

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:13:07 CST

In the five years since the initial looting and pillaging of the Iraqi capital, thieves have stolen at least 32,000 items from some 12,000 archaeological sites across Iraq with no interference whatsoever from the occupying power. No funds have been appropriated by the American or Iraqi governments to protect the most valuable and vulnerable historical sites on Earth, even though experience has shown that just a daily helicopter overflight usually scares off looters. In 2006, the World Monuments Fund took the unprecedented step of putting the entire country of Iraq on its list of the most endangered sites.

Women Back In The Driver’s Seat in Baghdad

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:44:43 CST

Samira Hussein, 36, walks out of the supermarket and slips behind the wheel of her car in the Karrada Maryam area of Baghdad near the heavily protected Green Zone. It is a scene that is played out day after day in countries all around the world, but in Iraq, even simple tasks for women such as running errands and driving are deeply significant. Hussein, a mother of four, stopped driving in late 2003 as security in Baghdad deteriorated – but got behind the wheel again earlier this year.

UN Proposal Provokes Iraqi Anger

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:29:21 CST

Rival political factions have slammed a United Nations proposal to settle disputes over control of a number of areas in the north of the country, arguing the recommendations are more likely to deepen their disagreements than resolve them.

Iraq’s Provincial Elections: Another D-Day Approaching

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:26:36 CST

Monday June 30, 2008 could be one of those fateful dates in Iraqi politics that will remain mostly unnoticed by the outside world. June 30 is the new deadline set by Iraq’s electoral commission for forming coalitions for this autumn’s provincial elections. The deadline for registering political parties expired with some 500 entities having registered. The question is whether any of these parties are capable of amalgamating into larger alliances that could mount a challenge to the established elites represented by the core components of the Maliki government. In the previous local elections in January 2005, it was mainly those elites that excelled in the art of coalition building prior to the elections.

Internally displaced Iraqis demand government return them home

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:25:41 CST

Nearly 500 Iraqis took to the streets of central Baghdad on 14 June demanding the government secure their return to their homes and pay compensation to those with damaged propertie. "We have been displaced for nearly two years now and we don't see any serious action being taken by the government to end our suffering," said Emad Taha Ali, a 39-year-old father-of-two who took part in the demonstration in Baghdad's Jadiriyah area.

Finally, the U.S. Mega-Bases in Iraq Make the News

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:42:18 CST

Engelhardt begins with an almost $6 million contract recently awarded to a private contractor for "replacement facilities for Forward Operating Base Speicher," near Tikrit. Work on this small U.S. base is expected to be completed by January 31, 2009, a mere 11 days after a new president enters the Oval Office. It is but one modest reminder that, when the next administration hits Washington, American bases in Iraq, large and small, will still be undergoing the sort of repair and upgrading that has been ongoing for years.

Embarrassed U.S. Starts to Disown Basra Operation

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:59:47 CST

As it became clear last week that the "Operation Knights Assault" in Basra was in serious trouble, the George W. Bush administration began to claim in off-the-record statements to journalists that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had launched the operation without consulting Washington.

The struggle for Kirkuk

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:29:03 CST

You might have missed it as in most of the world it was not front page news but a NATO member attacked a sovereign state last week. Troops were amassed, as many as a 10,000 of them in some reports, and then poured across the border supported by combat helicopters and fighter jets.

Civilian deaths rise in February but still lower than in 2007

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:08:34 CST

Two major suicide attacks in February led to a sharp increase in violence-related civilian deaths that month - up by more than a third from the previous month, government figures show. The figures, released by the interior, defense and health ministries, showed at least 633 civilians were killed or found dead nationwide compared to 466 in January. At least 701 civilians were wounded in February.

Bombs Away Over Iraq

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:14:52 CST

Let's focus, for a moment, on American air power in Iraq and gather together a little basic information you're otherwise not likely to find in one place. In these last years, the Pentagon has invested billions of dollars in building up an air-power infrastructure in and around Iraq. As a start, it constructed one of its largest foreign bases anywhere on the planet about 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. Balad Air Base has been described by Newsweek as a "15-square-mile mini-city of thousands of trailers and vehicle depots," whose air fields handle 27,500 takeoffs and landings every month.

Baghdad liquor stores reopen

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:01:10 CST

Mazin George is busily bagging up bottles of whiskey and beer for his customers at his shop in central Baghdad. Just a few months ago, George and other shop owners in the capital refused to sell alcohol for fear of attacks by Islamic militants. Now, the owners of shops selling alcohol - most of whom are Christians - said they are trading openly as confidence in the capital's security builds.

Iraq's scholars reluctant to return

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 06:55:09 CST

Zahra, a doctoral candidate studying immune-system diseases, shook her head in disappointment when she saw the list of professors who were supposed to review her thesis. Three had fled the country. While one promised to attend her defense of her thesis, another was unable to make it because of the security situation. The continuing shortage of academics is damaging higher education throughout the country.

Baghdad Park Bridges Sectarian Divide

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:38:06 CST

Old friendships between Sunni and Shia friends are revived on neutral ground - a central park in the Iraqi capital. Mohammed Omar Ali sits on a bench under a tree in al-Zawra Park, looking around impatiently for any sign of his friend. Ali, 31, has not seen Ayad Murtadha for almost a year since he and his family, who are Shia Muslims, were forced to leave the Baghdad neighborhood where the two friends grew up together.

Not Even the Hajj is Free of Corruption

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 06:42:52 CST

Many Iraqis are angry that the government seems to be picking favorites for the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims are obliged to carry out the pilgrimage, as long as they are able-bodied and can afford to, at least once in their lifetime. Iraqis who want to go on the pilgrimage say officials have issued approvals only for relatives and party members. The Iraqi government led by U.S.-appointed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is Shia dominated, and many Iraqis say selection for the pilgrimage is sectarian.

Harsh refugee life rather than improved security spurs return of Iraqi refugees

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:21:44 CST

The recent return of considerable numbers of Iraqi refugees to their homeland has been hailed by some as evidence of an improvement in the security situation inside Iraq. Many Iraqi refugees face little alternative, however, than to return to their homeland, according to a survey by the United Nations refugee agency in Syria. Most returnees did so because they were running out of money or because their visas had expired, states the report, with less than 15 per cent found to be returning because they believed the security situation had improved.

Education Becomes the New Casualty in Baquba

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:38:54 CST

The alarming security situation in Diyala province north of Baghdad has killed off much of the education system. The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq had at first brought hope. Salaries were increased; a newly appointed primary or secondary school teacher was given 200,000 Iraqi Dinars, about 150 dollars a month. But lack of security means many teachers have quit, and children are not going to school.

Returning to destroyed, looted or occupied homes

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:25:18 CST

Iraqi refugee Ibtissam Abdul-Wahab Hassan returned from Syria to her home in Baghdad to find the doors broken down, some furniture stolen and parts of the house gutted by fire. The house of another returnee, Adil Abdullah Munthir, was spared a ransacking, but is now occupied by another family who refuse to leave until he finds them another place to live. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees living in Syria have been coming back to Baghdad after a sharp decline in violence in the Iraqi capital. Many of the returnees have been shocked to find their homes destroyed, looted or occupied.

Extremists fuel anti-women violence in Basra

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 07:15:13 CST

Anti-women violence in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, has increased markedly in recent months and has forced women to stay indoors, police and local NGOs have said. "Basra is facing a new type of terror which leaves at least 10 women killed monthly, some of them are later found in garbage dumps with bullet holes while others are found decapitated or mutilated," the city's police chief Maj. Gen. Abdel Jalil Khalaf said in a telephone interview.