Middle East

Iraqi Kurdistan

Ameena Abdullah stands outside her makeshift home where she has lived for six years in the Makbali refuge camp (Photo: Rasheed Duhok)
Iraq: Kurdish Refugees Remain in Limbo
Rasheed Duhok
1 Nov 11
Thousands of refugees living in camps for over two decades are still without citizenship.
العربيةکوردی
Recent demonstration by students in Sulaimaniyah over killing of journalist. (Photo: Metrography - Sartip Osman)
Special Report
Storm Gathers Over Slain Journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan
IWPR
24 May 10
Political feud fuels dispute over murder of student who criticised the government.
دریپښتو
Story Behind the Story
The Drug Courier Children of Herat
Fawad Ahmadi
13 May 10
العربية
Legal wrangle: an Iraqi airlines 737-200 taxis in front of the control tower at Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 29, 2008. (Photo: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav)
Airline Dispute Raises Iraqi-Kuwaiti Tensions
Ali Kareem
Mohammad Furat
7 May 10
Kuwait seeks 1.2 billion dollars in heated legal dispute with Iraqi Airways.
Male followers of the Qadriya sect engage in traditional acts of worship in Barzinja, a small mountainous village, east of Sulaimaniyah city in Iraqi Kurdistan. Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani founded the sect in Baghdad in the late 11th century. Photo by Kamaran Najm/Metrography.
Sufi Gather in Iraqi Kurdistan
Metrography
7 May 10
Thousands of followers of an ancient Sufi sect gathered for a traditional religious ceremony on April 30 in Barzinja, a small, mountainous village in Iraqi Kurdistan.
العربيةکوردی
Former minister for Martyrs and Anfal affairs Chinar Sadullah is one of many women leaders who are concerned about the lack of female representation in top government posts in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Glass Ceiling for Female Kurdish Politicians
Shorsh Khalid
29 Apr 10
Campaigners say women in northern Iraq are underrepresented in leadership posts.
Families set up picnics on Qandil mountain in Sulaimaniyah province during the Nawrooz holiday on March 22, when the picnicking season begins in Iraqi Kurdistan. A Kurdish flag blows in the background.
Taking it Easy in Iraqi Kurdistan
Jamal Penjweny
10 Apr 10
At the gates of Fallujah, a man rides past blast walls in his horse and cart - the preferred mode of transport for those who cannot afford cars or pick-up trucks. The city’s economy has not recovered since 2004, when its streets were the scene of battles between United States-led forces and Sunni Arab insurgents. Iraqi Kurds watch a group of rebels prepare to cross the border into Turkey and give themselves up to authorities there. The move earlier this month was part of efforts to promote a peace settlement between Ankara and the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, who have been fighting for Kurdish rights in south-eastern Turkey. “Although I don’t completely agree with the constitution, I urge my students to vote ‘yes’,” said Peyman Najeed, 36, an English-language teacher at the Khazad school for girls. Thousands of Marsh Arabs have returned to the wetlands of southern Iraq to revive an ancient way of life disrupted by the draining of their habitat. Baghdad: A woman shrouds her daughter in a black abaya in their home, a single room in a bombed-out building used by security forces in Saddam’s time. Border areas in northern Iraq come under regular air and artillery attack from Turkey and Iran, who say they are fighting separatist Kurdish rebels.
Legal wrangle: an Iraqi airlines 737-200 taxis in front of the control tower at Baghdad International Airport on Jan. 29, 2008. (Photo: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav) Abdullah Hamid Habib, the top Patriotic Union of Kurdistan official in the village of Topzawa, north of Baghdad, examines a watch found in one of three mass graves on December 10. Kurdish security forces move to pacify demonstrators in the town of Pirmagrun on December 23, following a day of rioting that left dozens of people wounded. By nightfall, hundreds of riot police and troops had entered the town in armoured personnel carriers followed by ambulances. The security forces announced their arrival by firing automatic weapons in the air, eyewitnesses said. People were keen to vote in Halabja, the town Saddam Hussein targeted in a chemical attack in 1988. (Photo: Mariwan Hamarasheed) Police Chief Colonel Sarhad Qadir plans the raid with a senior army official. Chamchamal police chief Dara Abdullah stands in front of police headquarters to greet a high-level delegation of security officials. Security forces were sent to the restive town following a spate of unsolved murders.