Businesses trying to operate in Iraq facing supply chain nightmare

Aljazeera has reported that ‘Iraq's commercial transport network has practically come to a halt because of a deterioration in security and the closure of main roads.’ This is making business continuity very difficult for companies trying to operate in the region, including western businesses involved in reconstruction work.

"Baghdad has been effectively isolated," Muzahim al-Azzawi, executive manager of Jazairi Transport, told Aljazeera.

Specific problems include:

* A bridge on the only road left open to Baghdad from the south is now too weak to cross because of war damage and recent sabotage.

* The western route leading to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon accounts for an estimated 70 percent of Iraqi shipments but this route has recently been the target for frequent attacks and ‘stop and search’ patrols by anti-western fighters.

* Shippers say that the only remaining road to Turkey is dangerous and the border is hard to cross.

* US forces have closed the main road leading to the city of Mosul, a trading post with Syria.

Read the Aljazeera story

•Date: 20th April 2004 •Region: Middle East •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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