20 Iraqi Intelligence Units Abroad to be Shut Down

Iraqi intelligence abroad has not been contributing to the anti-terrorist efforts and therefore should be closed down, said Iraqi MP.

Twenty intelligence units abroad in the Arab countries have not been sending reports back to Iraq for the past five years, said Shakhawan Abdullah, a Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi Parliament who sits on the Security and Defense Committee told The New Arab.

"Twenty Iraqi intelligence stations in twenty countries have not sent any intelligence reports since five years ago,” said Abdullah, adding that "the benefit of the existence of these intelligence stations and the disbursement of large amounts of it without providing any information that contributes to the following-up on terrorist groups" is questionable.

The Iraqi authorities have been informed and are involved in the process of shutting down these “corrupt” units, said the MP.

"There was a response from the government and I was contacted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which vowed to do what is necessary to address the file of Iraqi intelligence stations outside the country."

"The security officials are currently reviewing the security file, including intelligence stations, in line with the security challenges in Iraq," he added.

A number of such units have already been ordered to close by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi , according to a statement by an official in the secretariat of the Iraqi Council of Ministers in Baghdad.


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