Iraq Gears Up for Comprehensive Census, Sidesteps Controversies


Vehicles pass by the waterfront of the Shatt al-Arab River in Basra, southern Iraq (AFP)
Vehicles pass by the waterfront of the Shatt al-Arab River in Basra, southern Iraq (AFP)
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Iraq Gears Up for Comprehensive Census, Sidesteps Controversies


Vehicles pass by the waterfront of the Shatt al-Arab River in Basra, southern Iraq (AFP)
Vehicles pass by the waterfront of the Shatt al-Arab River in Basra, southern Iraq (AFP)

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning, Mohammed Ali Tamim, announced Wednesday the start of a trial census across all provinces, including Kurdistan Region (Erbil, Dohuk, Sulaymaniyah), set for next Friday.

Officials say the census will avoid sensitive topics like ethnicity and focus on religion.

If successful, the government plans to launch an official census on Nov. 20, the first in 27 years since 1997.

The previous census, more than 25 years ago, didn’t include Kurdistan due to political issues under Saddam Hussein's rule.

Since 2005, Iraq has tried to conduct a census, but it faced setbacks, mainly due to political tensions over areas like Kirkuk, disputed between Arabs and Kurds.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Tamim thanked families and local communities for their cooperation with researchers in the trial census, stressing the importance of keeping data private.

He assured that data collection would follow strict privacy standards and only be used for development purposes. The trial will start in specific areas across all provinces on Friday, covering 86 localities with 764 researchers involved.

According to the minister, the trial will include various localities in Baghdad, Basra, Nineveh, and others, with researchers wearing uniforms and carrying tablets to transmit data securely.

Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, a spokesperson for the Planning Ministry, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the November census is solely for development purposes and won’t ask about ethnicity or religion.

He said the focus is on understanding people’s living conditions to address them, not on demographics like Arab or Kurdish populations.

Al-Hindawi stressed that international standards suggest avoiding controversial topics in population surveys.



Hamas Expects 'Real Progress' in Cairo Talks to End Gaza War

 Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Hamas Expects 'Real Progress' in Cairo Talks to End Gaza War

 Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Hamas expects "real progress" towards a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, an official said, as senior leaders from the Palestinian movement hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.

The meeting between Hamas and Egyptian mediators come amid ongoing violence in Gaza, as the Israeli military intercepted three projectiles fired from the territory and launched air strikes and artillery shelling on several areas. No injuries were reported, the military said in a statement.

The scheduled talks in Cairo also come days after US President Donald Trump suggested an agreement to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza was close to being finalized.

A Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian group anticipated the meeting with Egyptian mediators would yield significant progress.

"We hope the meeting will achieve real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza," the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations told AFP on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The delegation will be led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, he said.

According to the official, Hamas has not yet received any new ceasefire proposals, despite Israeli media reports suggesting that Israel and Egypt had exchanged draft documents outlining a potential ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

"However, contacts and discussions with mediators are ongoing," he added, accusing Israel of "continuing its aggression" in Gaza.

The Times of Israel reported that Egypt's proposal would involve the release of eight living hostages and eight bodies, in exchange for a truce lasting between 40 and 70 days and a substantial release of Palestinian prisoners.

President Trump said during a cabinet meeting this week that "we're getting close to getting them (hostages in Gaza) back".

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was also quoted in an Israeli media report as saying "a very serious deal is taking shape, it's a matter of days".

Israel resumed its Gaza strikes on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

Since then, more than 1,500 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory to which Israel cut off aid more than a month ago.

Dozens of these strikes have killed "only women and children," according to a report by UN human rights office.

The report also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the "forcible transfer" of people into ever-shrinking areas, raising "real concern as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza".

On Saturday, Israel continued with its offensive.

Gaza's civil defense agency reported an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City on Saturday morning.

AFP footage of the aftermath of the strike showed the bodies of four men, wrapped in white shrouds, at a local hospital, while several individuals gathered to offer prayers before the funeral.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said its air force intercepted three projectiles that were identified as crossing into Israeli territory from southern Gaza on Saturday.

The ceasefire that ended on March 17 had led to the release of 33 hostages from Gaza -- eight of them deceased -- and the release of around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. It resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Gaza's health ministry said on Friday that at least 1,563 Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,933.