Iraq income up five years after war as oil production slowly increases, fetching more with high oil prices…

New data from Iraq's oil export arm finds increased production and high prices raised revenues by 31 percent to $39.8 billion in 2007, compared with 2006, United Press International reports. Improved output and security of the northern infrastructure helped Iraqi exports increase by 9.2 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to a revenues and quantities report from the Iraq State Oil Marketing Organization obtained by UPI.

Iraq's former top corruption watchdog says he was fired for outing political connections to the still booming racket of oil smuggling, UPI reports. "I was fired after I uncovered the names of oil smugglers," said Moussa Faraj, the former chief of Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, the Dar al-Salam newspaper reports.