Latest news with #Sulaymaniyah
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 days ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
US Urges Baghdad, Erbil to Carry Out ‘Constructive Dialogue'
The United States has urged Baghdad and Erbil 'to resolve their issues through constructive dialogue consistent with their constitutional responsibilities' after rising tension over the payment of salaries in the Kurdistan region. Tensions have escalated between Iraq's central government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the country's north in a long-running dispute over the sharing of oil revenues. The central government has accused the Kurdish regional authorities of making illegal deals and facilitating oil smuggling. Baghdad cut off funding for public sector salaries in the Kurdish region ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. Kurdish authorities called the move 'collective punishment' and threatened to retaliate. 'Resolving the salaries issue quickly sends a signal that Iraq is creating an environment in which US companies would want to invest,' US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Tuesday. 'Successful resolution would also send a positive signal on broader cooperation for the benefit of all Iraqis, such as reopening the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline and additional energy exploration, including with US companies,' Bruce said. 'US support for a strong and resilient Iraqi Kurdistan Region remains a crucial element of our relationship with Iraq,' she added. Her remarks, which were seen as supportive of Baghdad, came as Sulaymaniyah - a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region – witnessed demonstrations on Wednesday over the delay in the payment of public sector salaries. Employees in several departments announced an open-ended strike, saying they will not return to work unless the authorities pay them their wages. The employees called on Erbil and the Baghdad government to assume their legal and humanitarian responsibilities, saying their living conditions require action.
Asharq Al-Awsat
21-05-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
US Energy Firms' Deals with Iraqi Kurdistan ‘Null and Void', Baghdad Says
Iraqi Kurdistan announced deals worth $110 billion over their lifetime with US firms HKN Energy and WesternZagros on Tuesday, drawing swift opposition from Baghdad's oil ministry which deemed them "null and void". Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced the deals in a speech in Washington, a day after they were flagged by an adviser on social media. "The regional government is fully committed to developing the energy sector, especially as our reforms represent a significant step towards securing round-the-clock electricity supplies for all residents ...We also hope to contribute to providing electricity to other areas in Iraq," Barzani said, according to a statement released by the Kurdistan government. The deals involve the development of the Miran and Topkhana-Kurdamir gas fields in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah. "These contracts are null and void. Natural resources belong to all Iraqis, and any agreement to invest in them must be made through the federal government, not in defiance of the law and the constitution," Iraq's oil ministry said. Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil. In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies. The Kurdish region's Ministry of Natural Resources issued a statement in response to the Iraqi oil ministry asserting its right and authority to sign energy deals. "These deals are based on contracts signed many years ago, which have also been upheld as legal and valid by Iraqi courts... The recent change has been in the operating companies, in accordance with the legal and contractual framework of the existing agreements," it said. An oil ministry official said agreement signings in Washington were conducted without Baghdad's previous knowledge. "Signing energy agreements without consulting with the central government will further complicate relations between Baghdad and Erbil and will impact efforts to resume the export of Kurdistan regional oil," said a senior oil ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Key to those exports is a pipeline running through Türkiye halted since March 2023 after the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled Ankara violated provisions of a 1973 treaty by facilitating Kurdish exports without Baghdad's consent. Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details. Foreign energy companies have demanded clarification on repayment of debts accumulated between 2022 and 2023 and have and have sought contract guarantees, according to Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish officials.
Al Bawaba
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Al Bawaba
Al-Uroush Automotive is Appointed the Mazda Exclusive Distributor in Iraq – Ushering in a New Era of Japanese Automotive Excellence on Iraqi Roads
In a landmark moment for Iraq's automotive sector, Al-Uroush Automotive proudly announces the signing of its official Distribution Agreement with Mazda Motor Corporation, held in Hiroshima, Japan. The ceremony was attended by Dr. Sabah Abdul Latif Al-Salem, CEO of Al-Uroush Automotive and Mr. Manabu Osuga, General Manager of Global Sales & Marketing Division at Mazda. Under this strategic partnership, Al-Uroush Automotive becomes the exclusive distributor of Mazda in Iraq, introducing a lineup of Japan-manufactured models celebrated for their engineering precision, high performance and elegant design — all specially adapted to meet the demands of Middle Eastern climates and driving conditions. The first phase of operations will see the opening of two integrated branches in Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah, offering full services ranging from new vehicle sales to aftersales support and spare parts. A second phase will follow with new locations planned in Erbil and Basrah, reflecting Al-Uroush's ambitious expansion plan to deliver the Mazda experience across the country. But this journey isn't only about new beginnings — Al-Uroush Automotive is equally committed to serving existing Mazda owners across Iraq, ensuring continued access to genuine spare parts, expert care and the full Mazda experience, wherever they are. For Al-Uroush Automotive, this partnership represents more than a business agreement — it is a long-term commitment to delivering Japanese automotive excellence and a refined driving experience to car enthusiasts across Iraq.
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Iraqi immigrant can stay in UK because his parents sent him
An illegal Iraqi immigrant who arrived in Britain as an unaccompanied child has been allowed to stay because it was not his decision to leave his home country. An asylum tribunal ruled it would be unfair to deport Akam Abdalkarim because the adults in his life had sent him away when he was 15 years old in the hope he would find a better life. A judge found that after that he simply 'continued on a path for which he was not initially responsible'. The 24-year-old is married to an Iranian woman, and together they have a five-year-old child and are expecting their second this summer. The tribunal ruled it would be harsh on his daughter, born in the UK, if he was forced to leave. It rejected Home Office arguments that it was in the public interest to remove Mr Abdalkarim, who had lived illegally in Britain as an 'overstayer' since arriving as an unaccompanied teenager and put forward 'unreliable claims for asylum in the past'. The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws to remain in the UK or halt their deportations. There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds, which Labour has pledged to clear by halving the time it takes for them to come to court to just 24 days. Mr Abdalkarim is from Said Sadiq, a city in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate in Iraq, and is of Kurdish ethnicity. He left Iraq at the age of 15 and claimed asylum in Slovenia. After telling authorities in the country he had a brother in the UK he was flown here in 2016. He was 16 when his asylum appeal process began in June 2017, and he has never been granted leave. He married his wife in August 2019 in an Islamic ceremony. The Home Office alleged Mr Abdalkarim was lying about his wife being pregnant with their second child, however the tribunal ruled he was telling the truth. The Home Office said he put forward 'unreliable claims for asylum in the past' and that the public interest was in deporting him. Mr Abdalkarim said he should remain in the UK 'given the length of time both [he] and his wife had lived in the UK' and because he had not been removed by this point. He argued it would be 'disproportionate' to remove him from his young family and said the separation would have a severe impact. 'Unaccompanied asylum-seeking child' Upper Tribunal Judge Anna-Rose Landes ruled Mr Abdalkarim's appeal must succeed because of the impact it would have on his daughter and because he did not set the wheels in motion for him to leave Iraq in 2016. Judge Landes said: 'I note that although he entered the UK unlawfully, he came as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child brought to the UK because his brother was in the UK. 'Although given the findings of previous judges he must have been an economic migrant, being a child who left Iraq at the age of 15 it is reasonable to infer that the decision to leave for better opportunities elsewhere must have been one taken for him by the adults in his life. 'Again, as with my findings about family life, [Mr Abdalkarim] was in the UK initially being looked after by the local authority and would have been rightly encouraged to form friendships and to begin to integrate into the UK; he has been in the UK for 8.5 years. 'It does add to the public interest in his removal that [Mr Abdalkarim] is an overstayer, but I consider it significant when evaluating the strength of such additional factor that [Mr Abdalkarim] initially came to the UK as a child and... it would have been the choice of adults to send him away from Iraq. 'He remained in the UK after he became adult but that must be seen in the light of his continuing on a path for which he was not initially responsible. 'I find that there [are] exceptional circumstances which outweigh the public interest in removal and mean that the decision is disproportionate. '[Mr Abdalkarim's] daughter's best interests are a primary consideration, as the decision would separate a father from his daughter born in the UK who is approaching the end of her route to settlement. 'In addition to the daughter's best interests are his family life with his wife and his private life to which I give some weight bearing in mind as I have said that [Mr Abdalkarim] came to the UK as an unaccompanied child and has lived in the UK for 8.5 years since the age of 16.'
Iraqi News
10-02-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraqi Finance Minister shocked by President's lawsuit, denies withholding salaries
Baghdad ( – Iraq's Finance Minister Taif Sami has asserted that Baghdad disbursed the Kurdistan Region's salaries for December and has not withheld any funds. Her statement to news agencies comes amid ongoing protests by Iraqi Kurdish teachers demanding their unpaid wages. Sami expressed surprise at Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid's lawsuit against her and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani over the delayed salary payments. For over two weeks, Sulaymaniyah teachers have been demonstrating outside the UN headquarters, demanding that their December salaries be paid in full. The dispute over salary payments highlights ongoing tensions between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan, raising concerns over financial and political relations between the two sides.
