Iraq

04 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iraqi security authorities arrested a man and his wife as they tried to sell their five-year-old son in the Karrada district in the capital, Baghdad, the Ministry of the Interior said.

"The Iraqi intelligence service had received information concerning a human trafficking operation which involves the sale of a child by his parents," the ministry said in a statement, adding that a technical team had been formed to follow up on the operation.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi leaders on Sunday called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq on the first anniversary of a U.S. drone strike that killed two senior commanders of Shiite militias.

During a rally of thousands of supporters of Hashd Shaabi forces at al-Tahrir Square in downtown Baghdad, Hadi al-Ameri, head of Iran-backed Badr Organization, told the demonstrators "the government must abide by its pledges to remove all foreign forces, especially the U.S. forces, according to a timetable."

Baghdad, Jan 3 (AP-PTI) A mock funeral procession in Iraq marked the one-year anniversary of the US drone strike near Baghdad that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Thousands of mourners joined the march on the highway leading to the Baghdad airport Saturday evening where the strike that killed the two men took place. It was blocked with cars.

BAGHDAD, Jan 2 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq’s Ministry of Oil said, Iraq exported 88.21 million barrels of oil in Dec, 2020, bringing in revenues of more than 4.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The average selling price in Dec, 2020, was 47.76 dollars per barrel, according to a ministry statement, citing statistics of the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil.

About 85 million barrels were exported from Iraq’s central and southern oil fields, via the Port of Basra, while about 3.16 million from the northern province of Kirkuk, via the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi explosives experts were working to defuse a large mine discovered on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and evacuate its crew, authorities said Friday.

The statement came a day after two private security firms said sailors feared they had found a limpet mine on the MT Pola, a Liberian-flagged tanker in the waters off the Iraqi port of Basra. A limpet mine is a type of naval mine that attaches to the side of a ship, usually by a diver-member of special forces. It later explodes, and can significantly damage a vessel.

01 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iraqi President Barham Salih acknowledged on Thursday the failure of the government, the rampant spread of corruption and the continued uncontrolled proliferation of arms in the country.

30 Dec 2020; MEMO: Unidentified gunmen have assassinated a senior official in Shia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr's Peace Brigades in Diwaniyah Governorate in southern Iraq.

Police Captain in Diwaniyah, Jamal Al-Din Al-Sudairy, said the gunmen shot Rami Al-Shabani killing him instantly, adding that authorities have opened an investigation into the attack.

There was no official comment made by the Peace Brigades or the Sadrist movement on the attack.

28 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iraq's capital Baghdad and other cities are at risk of serious power shortages after Iran slashed gas exports, the electricity ministry said on Sunday, potentially placing further pressure on the government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, reported Reuters.

Iran has reduced gas exports to Iraq to five million cubic metres from 50 million cubic metres two weeks ago citing unpaid bills, a ministry spokesman said.

26 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Iraqi Defence Ministry announced on Friday that an explosive device detonated on a convoy of Iraqi trucks carrying supplies for the US-led international coalition on Al-Diwaniyah highway, south of the country, Anadolu Agency reported.

The ministry's media department disclosed that the explosion wounded a driver, causing damage to his vehicle.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday warned Iran and the United States not to involve Iraq in their conflict.

"Iraq has become a victim to the U.S.-Iranian conflict and has been greatly affected as if it is an arena for their conflicts," al-Sadr said on his official Twitter account.

"Therefore, I call on Iran to distance Iraq from its conflict, and I warn the (U.S.) occupier against continuing its conflict ... Iraq and the Iraqis are not a party to the conflict," he added.