Page 11 - Al-Rashed Newsletter March 2020

KUWAIT & IRAQ

KUWAIT NEWS

This month of March, Kuwait joined the world in being one of the victim of
the disastrous outbreak of covid 19. The Government was quick in
response to the same unlike many other countries and on a war footing,
the country’s cabinet took action on 11th march by announcing the
closure of the airport commencing from 13th march till further notice. The
government had announced country wide holiday (inclusive of closure of
schools / colleges and education institutions)and instructed the citizens
to stay at home. The Port continues to work without any disruption as of
date however the customs and other ancillary offices are on skeletal
staff.
As a second stage , Later on 22nd march Kuwait announced curfew from
5 p.m to 4am till further notice. On 27th march Kuwait announced the ban
of all public transport including taxis which has forced public to be
indoors and now majority of the offices are on WFH mode (Work From
Home).
The outbreak of COVID has forced the government to bring out many
regulations and restrictions in terms of vessels calling the Ports of
Kuwait. MOC , MOH and KPA has jointly brought in several changes. In
case of any query regarding the same you may feel free to send your
queries thru email to our Email address (kuwait@al-rashedgroup.com )
Al Rashed would like to join the rest of the world in applauding the Kuwait
government for its swift action in implementing various preventive
measures against this deadly virus.

IRAQ NEWS

The US army is pulling out of al-Qaim and two other key military bases in

Iraq The decision to leave three of its eight bases in Iraq is a sign the US is
looking to dramatically reduce its footprint in the country. It comes amid
heightened tensions with the Iraqi government and Iran. A ceremony will take
place 1st week of April at al-Qaim, where the US will formally hand over
“LIFE IS 10% WHAT equipment to the Iraqi army to help it ensure security in the area.It will end any
US presence along the Iraqi side of the border with Syria.
HAPPENS TO US

AND 90% Iraq’s president has named Adnan al-Zurfi as prime minister-designate in a
bid to end months of political deadlock.
HOW WE REACT TO IT.”
Mr. Zurfi, who served three terms as governor of Najaf, is a member of the small
Nasr parliamentary group of former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.He was
DENNIS P. KIMBRO
nominated by President Barham Saleh after larger groups could not agree on a
successor to Adel Abdul Mahdi.The move also comes as Iraq struggles to contain
an outbreak of the new coronavirus disease.The health authorities have reported
154 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 11 associated deaths.A week-long curfew
will be imposed on the capital, Baghdad, from 31st March night to prevent the
spread of the disease.

Source: Arab Times, Kuwaiit Times, Menabytes.com, Rudaw.net, http://en.ce.cn/