Iraq's Mansour to extend network

Iraq's Mansour Bank, an affiliate of Qatar National Bank, expects to open four more branches by the end of 2008, one of Mansour's shareholders said on Sunday.

The bank, one of five to receive new licences in 2005, has until now has only operated in the capital Baghdad.

The bank has permission to open branches in the southern city of Basra, in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, and in Sulaimaniyah and Irbil in Iraq's Kurdish north, said Basil al-Rahim, managing partner of UK-based investment bank Merchant Bridge

Merchant Bridge won the commercial bank licence and set up Mansour with a capital of $38.5 million. Qatar National Bank owns about 30 % of the Iraqi lender.

Iraqi banks have little cash to lend. Iraqis living amid an insurgency and sectarian violence have little faith in the banking system, preferring to keep money at home.

Ten percent of the Mansour's shares were sold in an initial public offering.

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