Iraq Suffers Power Crisis As Temperatures Soar
Frustration continues to mount in Iraq with the government unable to deliver sufficient electricity despite eight years of promises by officials.
![To match Feature IRAQ-WITHDRAWAL/OIL An electrician uses an Avometer to check wires connected to his local generator on a street in Baghdad, December 13, 2011. Iraq's financial system is slowly embracing the free market after years of tight control under Saddam; a fledging stock market is attracting foreign money while the banking and telecommunications industries are growing rapidly. But the national grid provides only a few hours of intermittent power a day, forcing Iraqis to live off noisy diesel-fueled generators. Picture taken December 13](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/07/RTR2V8E0.jpg/RTR2V8E0.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=5Qyvtbff)
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has admitted to a “defect and stupidity” in the contracts signed by Iraqi officials with international companies to improve his country's power distribution.
On July 23, in a Baghdad meeting with economic affairs experts broadcast by Iraqi satellite channels, Maliki said that he had “formed a committee to investigate the failure of Iraqi officials specialized in electricity.” He charged, “They were giving me wrong numbers. They said that Iraqis are getting 30,000 MW [megawatts] and that this amount exceeds their needs and can be exported abroad.”