Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) — The man wearing an explosive vest emerged from a car and calmly marched toward the gates of the intelligence building in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk. When he ignored their shouts to halt, guards opened fire, and he blew himself up, wounding three security personnel in the first week of Ramadan.

Days later, a three-pronged coordinated attack killed 10 Iraqi militia fighters in the northern province of Salahaddin — the deadliest and most complex operation in many months.

3 May 2020; MEMO: On Friday Iraq announced the start of implementing the decision of OPEC+ to reduce crude oil production by 23 per cent, aiming to stabilise prices in the international markets, DPA International reported.

Sources in Basra Oil Company confirmed that it had started the reduction plan on 1 May in its oil fields.

BAGHDAD, May 2 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq said, it exported more than 103 million barrels of crude oil in Apr, bringing in revenues of more than 1.42 billion U.S. dollars.

Iraq’s total exports of crude oil during the month exceeded 103.14 million barrels, with an average of 3.43 million barrels per day, Iraqi Oil Ministry said, citing statistics of the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil.

The average selling price for crude oil in Apr was 13.8 dollars per barrel, the statement said.

29 April 2020; MEMO: Iraqi protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in the capital Baghdad after the government scaled back some of its anti-coronavirus measures during the month of Ramadan, Anadolu Agency reported

The protesters held photos of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Kadhimi with a red “X” on his face in rejection of his candidacy for the role.

27 April 2020; MEMO: A spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, revealed yesterday that Baghdad and Washington will negotiate in June the setting of a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq is planning painful cuts in social benefits relied on by millions of government workers. Saudi Arabia will likely have to delay mega-projects. Egypt and Lebanon face a blow as their workers in the Gulf send back less of the much-needed dollars that help keep their fragile economies afloat.

BAGHDAD, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Four Islamic State (IS) militants and a policeman were killed on Saturday in separate incidents in the Iraqi provinces of Kirkuk and Diyala, security source said.

In the northern province of Kirkuk, a joint force from the federal police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi carried out a raid on an IS hideout at a village in the south of the namesake provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Abbas al-Obaidi from Kirkuk police told Xinhua.

BAGHDAD, Apr 16 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi authorities decided to extend the nationwide curfew until the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, to contain the outbreak of COVID-19.

The decision came, after a video conference by the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, headed by the caretaker Prime Minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, the committee said in a statement.

The committee also decided to hold another meeting next week, before Ramadan, which is expected to start on Apr 24 or 25, according the Islamic lunar calendar, the statement said.

09 April 2020; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Adnan Al-Zurfi has resigned his candidacy this morning after he failed to gather enough support to form a government.

Al-Zurfi announced his resignation on Twitter, saying: “I offer my apologies first to everyone who put trust in us.”

BAGHDAD, Apr 9 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Kurdish and some Sunni political blocs, on Wednesday, pushed to support the nomination of intelligence chief, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, to replace the current Prime Minister-designate, Adnan al-Zurfi, to form a new government.

The Iraqi Forces Coalition, a major Sunni political bloc, headed by Parliament Speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, announced in a statement its support to nominate al-Kadhimi to be the prime minister-designate.