Newspaper: reopening of Iraq-Jordan border crossing stalled again

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The reopening of a vital border crossing between Iraq and Jordan has been halted again due to interferences by influential Iraqi political bodies, a newspaper has said.

The reopening of Treibil border crossing has been frozen again as “influential political bodies” in Iraq stonewalled the activation of a contract with a U.S. private security firm that is to be entrusted with securing the passageway, said Saudi newspaper Okaz.

Amman and Baghdad agreed to reopen Treibil Border late Augusut, ending a three-year closure prompted by security instability in Iraq under Islamic State militancy.

The newspaper referred to correspondences between authorities in Baghdad and Anbar governorate, where the crossing is located. It said the correspondences unveiled interference by “Iraq’s ruling coalition” with the activation of the contract.

Iraq had reportedly assigned security at the vital crossing to Olive Group, a private security firm.

Early August, the Iraqi parliament’s Security and Defense Committee asked for more information about the activities of U.S. security companies operating in Iraq after press reports claimed that Olive Group was a front for Blackwater,  a private security company which Iraq dismissed via a parliament vote. The dismissal came after company agents  had opened fire at a convoy of civilian vehicles in Baghdad’s al-Mansour district in September 2007, killing and wounding 41 people.