Iraq Review

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) reports that more than 1,000 people were killed in Iraq
in May, making it the deadliest month since the widespread sectarian violence of 2006-2007, reports
BBC. The vast majority of deaths were civilian. Baghdad was the worst-hit region of the country. The
increase in attacks has been accompanied by rumours of sectarian militias roaming Baghdad seeking
revenge-killings. UN Special Representative in Iraq Martin Kobler warned, “[s]ystematic violence is
ready to explode at any moment if all Iraqi leaders do not engage immediately to pull the country out
of this mayhem”, reports United Press International (UPI). Later, Kobler reported that a weekend
meeting with political leaders included the Prime Minister, religious leaders and key administrative
officials addressing the uptick in violence, reports UPI.

Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussein al Shahristani warned Israel on 03 June that
Baghdad would respond to any attempts to use Iraqi airspace for a strike against Iran’s controversial
nuclear energy programme, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Iraq’s defence ministry reports
it interrupted an al Qaeda cell operating in Baghdad, working to produce poisonous gas for terrorist
attacks, according to Al Jazeera. The five-man cell used instructions obtained from another al Qaeda
group to build two facilities for production of sarin and mustard gas. The cell intended to launch
domestic attacks, as well as attacks in Europe, Canada and the United States. An al Qaeda plot to pack
tanker trucks with explosives and attack a key Baghdad oil facility was thwarted by Iraqi security,
reports Al Jazeera.

Russian oil company Lukoil Vice President Andrei Kuzyaev stated that his company will invest USD 4 billion in West Qurna, the oil complex near the Iraqi port city of Basra, one of the largest undeveloped oil fields in the world, according to UPI. Lukoil predicts the first oil from the West Qurna-2 oil field will flow within six months. The New York Times (NYT) reports that China is now Iraq’s largest oil customer, purchasing nearly 1.5 billion barrels per day (bpd). China continues to move aggressively towards expanding its role in Iraq’s petroleum industry, as the Iraqi government is increasingly at odds with some foreign oil companies that previously cut deals with the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan.

One of the world’s most famous wetlands is enjoying a major restoration, after being drained and destroyed under Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, reports BBC. Some regard the lush Iraqi marshes as the original Biblical Garden of Eden. Also, BBC reports that although the Kurdish region of Iraq has progressed economically and socially, the northern region continues to be a very patriarchal and conservative society where women continue to experience domestic violence, social injustice and discrimination. As a result, doctors report that each month they see “hundreds of cases of self-immolation”.

• Daily Star Reports: on 28-May; 28 people were killed during an attacks in Baghdad and villages north of capital.
• Aljazeera reports on 29-May; a weeding party in southern Jihad district of baghdad was attacked. Resulting 16 deaths and 42 wounded.
• CNN reported on 29-May; In the Abu Graib district, 20 people were killed when a roudside bomb and a subsequent car bomb exploded near market. In Musol an anti-government sunni activist assassinated, he was one of ten people found dead from act violence on 29-May.
• AP reports on 30-May; string of bombings at north of Mosul killed at least 30 people. 
• Same day Daily Star reports; at least 26 people were killed in baghdad.
• Aljazeera Reports: on 2-June; 6 people were killed and five kidnapped in series attacks in Anbar province.
• Routers Reports: on 3-June; PKK militants fired  on Turkish troops in south east Turkey, the first such accident since announcements of the PKK withdrawal from Turkey.

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Resources: CimicWeb, NATO, CNN, Aljazeera, Daily Star, AFP, AP, NYT.

as it by: Linda Lavender.