Iraq: Iraq's Oil Minister Says Islamic State No Longer a Threat to Baghdad's 'Black Gold'

Nov 30, 2014 | Andrew Critchlow, The Telegraph
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Iraq’s oil minister believes that the Islamic State no longer poses a significant threat to the country’s vital oil facilities and that the new government in Baghdad is planning sweeping reforms to stamp out corruption and tighten up on spending after years of poor governance.

In his first interview with a British newspaper Adel Abdul-Mehdi said that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isil, has been hit with significant losses in recent weeks as the allied airstrikes by US and British planes and drones have helped to push back the terror group, which earlier in the year appeared to be on an unstoppable march towards the capital, Baghdad.