Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has completed an oil pipeline that bypasses the Iranian-dominated Strait of Hormuz. Officials said the pipeline that links the Habshan oil fields to the UAE port of Fujairah was completed in April. They said the facility would allow the UAE and other Gulf Cooperation Council [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq has ordered the release of a commander of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. An Iraqi court has ordered the release of Hizbullah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq for lack of evidence. On May 7, the court determined insufficient evidence against Daqduq, charged with plotting to kill four U.S. soldiers in the Shi’ite [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United States has determined that hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding was relayed to militias in Iraq. A U.S. government report asserted that 10 percent of $4 billion in relief and reconstruction aid was siphoned to unidentified Iraqi militias, including tribal groups. The report, quoting U.S. commanders, [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Kurdistan has urged the United States to halt its F-16 multi-role fighter project with Iraq. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani warned that Iraq would use the F-16s against the autonomous region of Kurdistan. Barzani said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has already raised the prospect that Baghdad [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq has drafted what officials termed a soft security plan that would remove checkpoints and focus on intelligence in the war against Al Qaida. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has approved a plan to improve coordination by the military and security forces, particularly around major [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq has submitted a major order for U.S. civilian aircraft. The Iraqi government said it signed an agreement for the purchase of 40 civilian aircraft from the U.S. firm Boeing. The Iraqi government said it would receive the Boeing 737-800 as well as the 787 in 2012. “Delivery would take [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq has agreed to help dispose of weapons of mass destruction in Libya. Officials said the Baghdad government has approved an effort to help Libya remove chemical weapons found in the arsenal of the late Libyan Col. Moammar Gadhafi. The officials said the project would begin over the next few [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Sunni majority has become a leading contributor to the revolt in neighboring Syria. Diplomats and officials agreed that Sunni tribal leaders were helping organize a massive flow of weapons and fighters from Iraq to Syria. They said the flow stemmed from several Iraqi cities, including Qaim in the west [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — An Iraqi crude oil pipeline to Turkey has been bombed. Officials said the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline was struck by at least three explosions in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sirnak. They said the explosions on early April 5 sparked fires around the facility in what appeared to be sabotage. “We are [...]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki is preparing for a reshuffle in Iraq’s military and security command. Iraqi sources said Al Maliki was consulting with advisers and political allies to decide on the replacement of scores of senior officials in the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry. The sources said the prime [...]
