Iraqi?? oil paintings from the 1980's - Can somebody read Arabic?

Going trough my paintings I collected trough the years and researching now these two paintings. I think that they are from a Iraqi artist made in the 1980s. Think its an Iraqi artist because on one of the paintings you can see a Flag which looks Iraqi to me and the way the people are dressed looks also correct from that region. The signature is in Arabic and one of the painting has a signature or titel ''Akeel'' and a other painting has Arabic text on the back. These were bought in the UK and probably been brought to the the UK by a Iraq Veteran. Just trying out my luck. The 80s were good years for the artist in Iraq.

Any help is welcome

 

Could be Iraq, could also be Egypt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Egypt.
There are also Bedouin (Arab) in Egypt.
You could check Arab or Egyptian types of boats.
Alternatively, you could take the photographs along to your friendly neighbourhood Moroccan shopkeeper, buy some dates and ask him/her to translate. It would have to be one who can read Arabic of course, many of them just speak Amazigh (Berber).

 

I also thought about Egypt. Only thing is which made me believe its a Iraqi artist because of the name Akeel. This name is more common in Iraq than it is in Egypt. Also if you look very carefully in the middle of the flag see can see traces of the color green. The flag of Iraq has green text on it and the Egypt flag has a yellow symbol.

I had that idea and tried to find one of them shops but nothing where I live.. We have more Indian corner shops here with delicious food but nothing Arabic. I did show it to somebody who is from Afghanistan but he could not translate it and communication was bad.. Was hoping to find somebody on the net. Art is not picky.

 

These are absolutely beautiful.

 

The flag does look Egyptian. Well spotted.

 

Around here the pizza shops, at least other than the chain ones, are owned by Greeks and Turks. If you have a mosque in the area, that's another possibility. There's one in the next town over from me, and they're often more than happy to help.

 

They do, but if it is Farsi the Afghan person would probably have been able to make sense of it, since Afghan language and script are related to Farsi.
The subject matter is not culturally Persian but very Arabic, but that doesn't mean the painter can't be culturally Persian.

The spelling of the name Akeel points to an area which has been under British rule. In areas that have been under French rule, the spelling is likely to be Aqil. Egypt and several Middle Eastern countries were under British rule.
I think it is best to research the type of boat (a type of dhow) or find someone who can read Arabic.
The idea of evelyb30 to go to a mosque is sensible.

 

Wow! You really went the extra mile.... straight to the pizzaplace.
I followed up on your research, Al Shamikh is the name of one of three new warships of the Omani Royal Navy, it is not a type of ship. It is like HMS....etc.
http://www.baesystems.com/en/article/first-khareef-class-warship-al-shamikh-reaches-oman
The Omani Royal Navy could have called this ship after the old name of the region your pizzaman mentioned.