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Iraqi News
3 days ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
Mogadishu refinery find triggers Iraq's hunt for $100B in lost global assets
Baghdad ( – A startling revelation at the Arab Summit in Baghdad this May has jolted Iraq into confronting a forgotten legacy: a sprawling international portfolio of properties and investments, potentially worth at least $100B, that has languished in neglect and obscurity for two decades. The unexpected news of a large, Iraqi-built oil refinery still standing in Mogadishu, Somalia, has served as a dramatic wake-up call, triggering a renewed effort to trace and potentially reclaim these vast, squandered national assets. The ghost refinery in Mogadishu, constructed in 1978 under a bilateral agreement and largely forgotten by Iraqi officialdom since 2003, was brought back to Baghdad's attention by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. He informed Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani that the facility merely requires technical rehabilitation to become operational – a timely prospect as Somalia begins exploring offshore oil. This single revelation underscored a much larger, more complex issue: Iraq's dozens of lost properties scattered across three continents. During its oil-boom years in the 1970s and 1980s, Iraq strategically invested its wealth globally, acquiring an estimated 50 significant assets. These included luxury palaces and real estate in prime European locations like Cannes, France, Spain, the UK, and Italy; agricultural ventures such as tea, rice, rubber, and tobacco farms in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam; and diverse holdings in Africa, from tourist islands and agricultural factories in Mozambique and Nigeria to the aforementioned Somali refinery. This was a policy of extending economic and diplomatic influence. However, following the 2003 regime change, this global portfolio fell into disarray. Iraq's Parliamentary Integrity Committee previously revealed to news agencies that crucial ownership documents were stolen or destroyed. Some properties were illicitly transferred to individuals or shell companies linked to the former regime, while others simply vanished from official oversight, becoming a forgotten treasure. Early attempts at recovery highlighted the dangers. In 2012, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry delegation dispatched to Mozambique to inspect a state-owned asset, believed to be a palace on a tourist island, received direct threats from an armed group controlling the site, forcing their immediate withdrawal. The incident underscored the formidable challenges beyond mere legal claims. The Mogadishu refinery news has now spurred the Iraqi government into decisive action. Specialized legal and technical committees have been formed, and the Ministries of Oil, Foreign Affairs, and Justice are tasked with a coordinated global effort. This includes attempting to re-register properties, settle outstanding tax issues, and verify any remaining documentation. Legal experts suggest Iraq could pursue claims through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or negotiate bilateral agreements with host nations. They also stress the necessity of pursuing individuals and entities involved in the illicit appropriation of these assets, potentially through international arrest warrants via INTERPOL if sufficient evidence is available. For a nation facing ongoing economic challenges and heavily reliant on oil exports, the potential recovery or proper investment of these assets, valued around $100B, represents a monumental financial opportunity. Economists believe even partial success could generate sustainable revenue streams, offering a vital diversification away from almost exclusive dependence on crude oil exports for its budget. However, the path to reclamation is fraught with obstacles. Experts caution that some assets may now be subject to statute of limitations in their host countries, or may have been legally acquired by other parties during Iraq's two-decade absence from active management. Furthermore, concerns exist about potential internal political interference derailing recovery efforts, especially if assets are now linked to influential figures or complex, decades-old contracts that would be difficult to unwind without triggering intricate legal disputes. Despite these challenges, the surprise rediscovery of the Mogadishu refinery has ignited a new sense of urgency and hope. The Iraqi government's renewed commitment, if pursued with transparency, international cooperation, and persistence, could potentially unlock billions in national wealth that has lain dormant across the globe for far too long, offering a much-needed boost to its economic future. 5. Image Alt Text Suggestions: * 'Archival photo of the Iraqi-built oil refinery in Mogadishu, Somalia' * 'Map highlighting locations of potential lost Iraqi assets across Europe, Asia, and Africa' * 'Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud' * 'Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani' * 'Graph or visual representing the estimated $90 billion value of Iraq's forgotten assets' * 'A dilapidated historic building representing a neglected Iraqi asset abroad'
Shafaq News
4 days ago
- Business
- Shafaq News
From Mogadishu to Madrid: Iraq's forgotten global assets
Shafaq News/ From tea plantations in Vietnam to Mediterranean villas in France, and from the outskirts of Mogadishu to the coastlines of Mozambique, a vast trove of Iraqi-owned properties and investments—valued at no less than $90 billion—has slipped into obscurity. Once key instruments of influence and diplomacy, these assets now lie buried in unarchived files, undocumented contracts, and unnamed holdings. Forgotten Assets Senior diplomatic sources who spoke with Shafaq News reveal that Iraq holds more than 50 properties and foreign investments scattered across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Acquired over decades, this portfolio spans luxury real estate, farmland, banks, office buildings, and industrial facilities. Europe houses a significant portion of Iraq's footprint, with assets in Spain, France, the UK, and Italy. Some properties are situated in prestigious locations, such as Cannes on the French Riviera, a city synonymous with elite allure. Beyond residences, the holdings include financial institutions and commercial offices strategically placed across major cities, originally intended as economic diplomacy outposts. In Asia, the focus shifts to agricultural investments. Iraq's ventures include plantations producing tea, rice, rubber, and tobacco across Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Africa presents yet another dimension. Iraqi assets comprise tourist islands, agro-processing factories, and agricultural estates in Somalia, Nigeria, and Mozambique. This expansive network of international holdings traces back to policies from the 1970s and 1980s when surging oil revenues fueled Iraq's global investment ambitions. Under the Foreign Investment Law of 1981, the state secured the authority to acquire and manage overseas properties through embassies, commercial attachés, and sovereign investment vehicles. The goal was clear: establish Iraq as a player in global trade and leverage its economic presence abroad. Yet, that vision lost momentum over the years. The 1990s sanctions, the 2003 regime change, and prolonged instability severely disrupted oversight. Some assets fell into undocumented limbo, others became caught in legal grey zones, and several were absorbed into local markets under circumstances still not fully understood. Dormant Oil Plant A vivid example of this forgotten legacy emerged at the recent Arab League summit in Baghdad. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud brought to light an Iraqi-built oil refinery on the outskirts of Mogadishu that had vanished from official records. Constructed in 1978 through a formal agreement between Iraq and Somalia, the refinery disappeared from Iraq's inventories after Saddam Hussein's fall. For over two decades, its existence remained unacknowledged—absent from registries and erased from institutional memory. Somali officials informed Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani that the refinery remains structurally intact and could resume operations with technical rehabilitation. This revelation arrives as Somalia prepares to explore its offshore oil reserves, positioning the plant as a potential regional energy hub. Originally designed to refine imported crude and store petroleum products for domestic and regional use, the facility once processed over 10,000 barrels per day. Beyond its practical function, it symbolized Iraq's Cold War-era economic diplomacy—a strategic energy foothold anchoring Baghdad's influence in the Horn of Africa. In response, Baghdad swiftly organized specialized legal and technical committees to probe Iraq's overseas asset landscape, beginning with Somalia and expanding to other countries hosting similar projects. The Ministries of Oil, Foreign Affairs, and Justice joined efforts to verify ownership, review documentation, and regularize the legal and tax status of each facility. Diplomacy Meets Armed Threat These recovery efforts are not new. In 2012, Iraq initiated one of its earliest serious missions to reclaim overseas properties, sending a delegation to Mozambique to inspect a state-owned asset—reportedly a former palace on a tourist island. What was intended as a routine diplomatic inspection quickly turned precarious. According to a diplomatic source briefing Shafaq News, the delegation encountered no official representatives but instead faced armed threats. An armed group controlling the site forced the Iraqi team to abort their mission and leave the country immediately. This incident epitomizes the broader, intricate challenge Iraq faces in reclaiming its scattered global properties. Similar attempts in Sudan, Chad, and parts of Eastern Europe have met comparable resistance. In many cases, local militias, privatized entities, or reorganized state bodies invoke laws on adverse possession or post-conflict redistribution to justify retaining control over assets Iraq insists are rightfully theirs. A Complex Recovery Preliminary valuations place these foreign holdings between $80 billion and $90 billion—an amount economists view as a vital resource for diversifying Iraq's income. With the 2024 federal budget totaling approximately $152 billion and crude oil exports accounting for 93% of revenues, recovering even 10% of these assets could contribute nearly 6% of the annual budget. Such a boost would provide a critical cushion against oil market volatility. Nonetheless, reclaiming these assets remains a complex endeavor. Legal experts highlight numerous obstacles, including statutes of limitations and protective court rulings that recognize new ownership, given Iraq's prolonged absence from these jurisdictions. Years of neglect have compounded the difficulty. Complicating matters further, Iraq's Parliamentary Integrity Committee acknowledges that a significant portion of ownership records was lost, stolen, or destroyed following the 2003 invasion. During the ensuing chaos, some properties transferred quietly to individuals or front companies linked to the former regime, while others vanished into legal limbo—abandoned, seized without challenge, or entangled in unclear ownership. The situation grows more complicated in countries like Italy and Nigeria, where inheritance claims, local investment restrictions, and debates over whether assets were held directly by the Iraqi state or through now-defunct shell companies create additional hurdles. In weaker judicial systems, forged documents have surfaced, supporting false ownership claims, while legitimate Iraqi cases face bureaucratic delays, political interference, and corruption. Faced with these challenges, Iraq's Anti-Corruption Commission warns that without a centralized, publicly accessible registry of foreign holdings, future recovery attempts risk repeating past failures. To bridge this gap, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry has launched a historical mapping initiative aimed at reconstructing records of foreign assets. This project taps into embassy archives, decades-old trade agreements, and files from the United Nations oil-for-food program. Retired diplomats and senior officials who managed these holdings during the 1980s and 1990s have also been called upon to help unravel the complex ownership puzzle. Legal specialists interviewed by Shafaq News emphasize the need for Iraq to move beyond initial inquiries and behind-the-scenes discussions. They recommend initiating formal legal proceedings before the International Court of Justice, alongside negotiating bilateral treaties with host countries to reaffirm Iraq's ownership claims. Equally important, they note, is the creation of accountability mechanisms to identify and address those who have benefited from or hidden these assets over the years.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
US conducts airstrike against Al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia
U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab over the weekend in Somalia. The airstrike by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) targeted an area nearly 40 miles northwest of Kismayo, Somalia, where al-Shabab was reportedly located. According to a press release from AFRICOM, al-Shabab "has proven both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces." "AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali Armed Forces, continues to take action to degrade al-Shabab's ability to plan and conduct attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, our forces, and our citizens abroad," the press release read. Trump Takes Swipe At Biden, Says Us Will Support Somalia Against Houthis No further details about units and assets were released to ensure continued security of operations. Read On The Fox News App The East African country of Somalia has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and al-Shabab. U.S. Africa Command reported in April that it had carried out four airstrikes: three against ISIS terrorists and one against al-Shabab. At least one of these strikes, the command stated, was against multiple targets. Trump Says He Ordered Airstrikes On Isis Leaders In Somalia For years, the U.S. has helped Somali forces with airstrikes and other support against the al-Shabab extremist group. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, in March, drafted a letter to Trump offering the U.S. exclusive access to air bases and seaports, which reignited tensions between the government of Somalia and the breakaway region of Somaliland, the Associated Press reported. Isis Increasingly Unopposed Following Us Withdrawal From Afghanistan, Collapse Of Syria In the letter, Somalia offered "exclusive operational control" over the Berbera and Baledogle air bases and the ports of Berbera and Bosaso to "bolster American engagement in the region." One of the ports, Berbera, is in a key city located in Somaliland, whose long assertion as an independent state has not received international recognition. Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of the central government. It maintains its own government, security forces and currency and has held elections. Fox News Digital's Paul Tilsley and The Associated Press contributed to this article source: US conducts airstrike against Al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- New Indian Express
The Pirates are coming
On what was supposed to be a relaxed Sunday, April 11, 2010, Pralav Dhyani, a deck cadet on the cargo ship RAK Afrikana, was engaged in routine deck work after breakfast. His peaceful morning was disrupted by an unfamiliar sound, initially dismissed as a car backfiring. However, when the sound repeated, Dhyani recognised it as something out of the ordinary. Moments later, the unsettling truth dawned on him: the cargo ship was under attack by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. This is how the author and 36-year-old founder of ARC Continental FZE, a ship brokerage and consulting firm in Dubai describes the attack on his cargo ship by Somali pirates in his book, Hijacked: A True Story of Surviving 331 Days with Somali Pirates (HarperCollins). At present, a businessman in Dubai, 15 years after the incident, Dhyani, in an interview with The Morning Standard, recalls those turbulent 331 days when he was at the mercy of the pirates. 'The idea of writing the book came to me during COVID-19. The world came to a standstill during the pandemic. People were forced to stay inside their homes. They were desperate to move out and move around freely. At that time, I remembered the days when I was grounded and a hostage of the Somali pirates. I thought of writing and sharing my story to tell readers how I overcame my confinement under gunpoint for 331 days,' he says. Hijacked… perfectly captures the author's state of mind—his helplessness, survival skills, and his refusal to give up hope in the midst of crisis. 'There were of course moments of highs and lows. I did not know when I would be able to go back home and see my parents. I recalled the best moments of life which I spent with my parents and my friends while being a hostage so that I would not lose hope. Not for a second, did I allow myself to think that I would not be able to return,' Dhyani says. The book also focuses on the pirates and their motivations for choosing that life. Why piracy? What were the things he first noticed about them? 'To me, they all looked strikingly similar, except for their different heights. They were extremely skinny, had similar hairdos, yellow-tinted and jaundiced-looking eyes, yellow teeth, and dirty nails. Their lungis and feet were wet because their skiff was tiny…' Dhyani writes in the third chapter of the book. It also talks of the economic crisis of Somalia and that many of its people have taken up arms and gone rogue as a result of economic deprivation. 'It is not right to compare pirates with terrorists, as the pirates were never after our lives,' he says. 'They joined the world of piracy as they were suffering from extreme poverty. The pirates with whom we interacted, were just footsoldiers, and they did this in search of easy money and food. Once they got their ransom, they let us go.' As the days went by, Dhyani remembers noting other details. 'We spoke with a few of them. There was one pirate who exhibited his pride at being Somalian saying, 'Somalia is a country that accepts all sorts of currencies available in the world'. There was another person who was aware of the complete coastline of West Africa. However, there were others who did not know a single thing beyond their country. I found it all surprising—to see two people sitting together, holding the same guns, chatting, with one aware of many things, and the other, not at all,' notes Dhyani. Back home with a lesson After being released, his first thoughts were about his parents and the kind of curiosity that awaited him from people outside his family. Hence, he decided to go to Pilani in Rajasthan to spend time with his close family to avoid unwanted interactions. 'While growing up, I spent a lot of time on the BITS Pilani campus. The place offers a lot of calm and composure. Besides, my extended family (my uncle was a professor at BITS Pilani at that time) was still there. So, I decided to go there as I wanted to stay away from the hustle of metropolitan cities. I was trying to catch up on things. I met my friends and tried to get hold of the changes that occurred in their lives. Later, I went on a vacation with my friends, and after coming back, I hit the restart button. That's when life kicked in,' notes Dhyani. Although Dhyani does not sail anymore, the incident has taught him the biggest lessons of his life. 'It was a test of my endurance and survival skills. It provided me with a mammoth mental challenge that I overcame. It made me stronger. Every time I get into any difficulty, I remember how I handled those moments with patience and care,' he says.
6 days ago
- Health
US aid kept many hungry Somali children alive. Now that money is disappearing
MOGADISHU, Somalia -- The cries of distressed children filled the ward for the severely malnourished. Among the patients was 1-year-old Maka'il Mohamed. Doctors pressed his chest in a desperate attempt to support his breathing. His father brought him too late to a hospital in Somalia 's capital, Mogadishu. The victim of complications related to malnutrition, the boy did not survive. 'Are you certain? Did he really die?' the father, Mohamed Ma'ow, asked a doctor, shocked. The death earlier this month at Banadir Hospital captured the agony of a growing number of Somalis who are unable to feed their children — and that of health workers who are seeing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. support disappear under the Trump administration. The U.S. Agency for International Development once provided 65% of Somalia's foreign aid, according to Dr. Abdiqani Sheikh Omar, the former director general of the Ministry of Health and now a government advisor. Now USAID is being dismantled. And in Somalia, dozens of centers treating the hungry are closing. They have been crucial in a country described as having one of the world's most fragile health systems as it wrestles with decades of insecurity. Save the Children, the largest non-governmental provider of health and nutrition services to children in Somalia, said the lives of 55,000 children will be at risk by June as it closes 121 nutrition centers it can no longer fund. Aid cuts mean that 11% more children are expected to be severely malnourished than in the previous year, Save the Children said. Somalia has long faced food insecurity because of climate shocks like drought. But aid groups and Somalis alike now fear a catastrophe. Former Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalin told state-run TV last month that USAID had provided $1 billion in funding for Somalia in fiscal year 2023, with a similar amount expected for 2024. Much of that funding is now gone. A U.S. State Department spokesperson in a statement to the AP said 'several lifesaving USAID humanitarian assistance programs are active in Somalia, including programs that provide food and nutrition assistance to children," and they were working to make sure the programs continue when such aid transitions to the State Department on July 1. The problem, aid workers say, is the U.S. hasn't made clear what programs are lifesaving, or whether whatever funding is left will continue after July 1. The aid group CARE has warned that 4.6 million people in Somalia are projected to face severe hunger by June, an uptick of hundreds of thousands of people from forecasts before the aid cuts. The effects are felt in rural areas and in Mogadishu, where over 800,000 displaced people shelter. Camps for them are ubiquitous in the city's suburbs, but many of their centers for feeding the hungry are now closing. Some people still go to the closed centers and hope that help will come. Mogadishu residents said they suffer, too. Ma'ow, the bereaved father, is a tailor. He said he had been unable recently to provide three meals a day for his family of six. His wife had no breast milk for Maka'il, whose malnutrition deteriorated between multiple trips to the hospital. Doctors confirmed that malnutrition was the primary factor in Maka'il's decline. The nutrition center at Banadir Hospital where Ma'ow family had been receiving food assistance is run by Alight Africa, a local partner for the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, and one that has lost funding. The funding cuts have left UNICEF's partners unable to provide lifesaving support, including therapeutic supplies and supplemental nutrition at a time when 15% of Somali children are acutely malnourished, said Simon Karanja, a regional UNICEF official. One Alight Africa worker, Abdullahi Hassan, confirmed that the group had to close all their nutrition centers in several districts of Mogadishu. One nutrition project supervisor for the group, Said Abdullahi Hassan, said closures have caused, 'tragically, the deaths of some children.' Without the food assistance they had taken for granted, many Somalis are seeing their children waste away. More than 500 malnourished children were admitted to the center for malnourished children at Banadir Hospital between April and May, according to Dr. Mohamed Jama, head of the nutrition center. He said such increases in patients usually occur during major crises like drought or famine but called the current situation unprecedented. "The funding gap has impacted not only the malnourished but also health staff, whose salaries have been cut,' he said. Fadumo Ali Adawe, a mother of five who lives in one of the camps, said she urgently needed help for her 3-year-old daughter, malnourished now for nine months. The nearby nutrition center she frequented is now closed. 'We are unsure of what to do next," she said. Inside that center, empty food packages were strewn about — and USAID posters still hung on the walls.
