28

Feb 2017

This week’s latest outrage by the terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf, in the Philippines has brought kidnapping back into the focus of the world’s media. Kidnapping has been part of the way of life in the Middle East for centuries. It was a part of the standard modus operandi of the inter tribal feud and a […]

21

Feb 2017

After 2 years of mixed fortunes, and the disastrous fall of Kut, the British Army in Mesopotamia spent much of 1916 reorganising and rebuilding their army. In December a new offensive began, mainly following the axis of the River Tigris. Taking part was the British 13th Division and the Indian III Corps – also known […]

14

Feb 2017

On the 11 Feb 2017, a large gathering took place in Tahir Square. It had originally been billed as a ‘spontaneous demonstration’ as the Shia cleric Sadr had called for a million-man demonstration and attempted to march towards the International Zone (IZ). The ISF closed the nearby roads and bridges, and eventually engaged the demonstrators […]

22

Dec 2016

For more than the past century Iraq has been a place of contradictions and frequent turmoil. A desert country that was part of the fertile crescent, a country of fiercely independent tribes with a compulsion for centralisation and a state of three very different confessional communities. The past 30 years have also seen the destruction […]

20

Sep 2016

The debate about mobile team profile is always there. In Iraq since 2003 it has taken place across the whole breadth of those involved from government agencies, through commercial companies to the UN and NGOs.