Angry Protesters in Basra Storm Headquarters of ‘Lukoil’

Iraqi demonstrators cutting the road with burning tires in Basra on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Reuters
Iraqi demonstrators cutting the road with burning tires in Basra on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Reuters
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Angry Protesters in Basra Storm Headquarters of ‘Lukoil’

Iraqi demonstrators cutting the road with burning tires in Basra on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Reuters
Iraqi demonstrators cutting the road with burning tires in Basra on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Reuters

Mass demonstrations that have been ongoing in Basra developed on Thursday into sit-ins and threats to storm public institutions and official departments.

Protesters have been demanding services such as electricity and job opportunities for those unemployed in the province.

The demonstrators, some of whom raised sectarian slogans against workers in the oil fields in Basra, carried out what they have been threatening to do when they stormed the headquarters of Basra’s West Qurna 2 oilfield.

Run by Russian energy giant Lukoil, West Qurna 2, which is one of Iraq’s largest oilfields, currently produces roughly 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Activists on social media circulated pictures of the company's employees in panic and fear.

The workers of the firm packed their belongings, and many of them were evacuated by helicopters while security forces fired live bullets in the air to disperse the demonstrators, causing injuries.

The Iraqi cabinet has formed a government delegation under the leadership of the minister of oil and the membership of the ministers of reconstruction, housing, municipalities, public works, electricity, water resources and transport, the prime minister's advisers, the general secretariat of the cabinet and the crisis cell in order to find urgent solutions to the problems facing the province.

Meanwhile, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi issued an order to find jobs for 250 of Basra's residents.

“The appointments will be in the oil fields, under the supervision of the District Commissioner of the judiciary,” Luaibi said in a statement.

He added that job opportunities will be provided to the relatives of those killed during the demonstrations in Basra last Sunday.

Luaibi also stressed the importance of not attacking oil installations during the demonstrations because “the economy of the country is based on oil wealth."

He said that since taking office, he has reduced the number of foreign workers by up to 50 percent.



Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Egypt Says GERD Lacks Legally Binding Agreement

This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)
This grab taken from video shows Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022. (AP Photo)

Egypt said Friday that Ethiopia has consistently lacked the political will to reach a binding agreement on its now-complete dam, an issue that involves Nile River water rights and the interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia’s prime minister said Thursday that the country’s power-generating dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Nile is now complete and that the government is “preparing for its official inauguration” in September.

Egypt has long opposed the construction of the dam, because it would reduce the country's share of Nile River waters, which it almost entirely relies on for agriculture and to serve its more than 100 million people.

The more than the $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border began producing power in 2022. It’s expected to eventually produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity — double Ethiopia’s current output.

Ethiopia and Egypt have spent years trying to reach an agreement over the dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.

Both countries reached no deal despite negotiations over 13 years, and it remains unclear how much water Ethiopia will release downstream in case of a drought.

Egyptian officials, in a statement, called the completion of the dam “unlawful” and said that it violates international law, reflecting “an Ethiopian approach driven by an ideology that seeks to impose water hegemony” instead of equal partnership.

“Egypt firmly rejects Ethiopia’s continued policy of imposing a fait accompli through unilateral actions concerning the Nile River, which is an international shared watercourse,” Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement Friday.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said that his country “remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water,” he said. “Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

However, the Egyptian water ministry said Friday that Ethiopian statements calling for continued negotiations “are merely superficial attempts to improve its image on the international stage.”

“Ethiopia’s positions, marked by evasion and retreat while pursuing unilateralism, are in clear contradiction with its declared willingness to negotiate,” the statement read.

However, Egypt is addressing its water needs by expanding agricultural wastewater treatment and improving irrigation systems, according to the ministry, while also bolstering cooperation with Nile Basin countries through backing development and water-related projects.