Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Disagreement in parliament over foreign security providers
Politics, Security
Last week, Reuters reported that the Iraqi Parliament Speaker, Mahmoud al Mashhadani had stated that a specialized security committee would reach a deal with a South African security company to protect the Iraqi President and members of the Iraqi parliament. The statement was met by criticism from parliament members, who preferred that government authorities should be entitled with "protecting the people's representatives".
Media figure and spokesperson for Mahmoud al Mashhadani, Mohannad Abdul Jabbar, told Asharq Al Awsat, "The Iraqi Parliament Speaker announced the new security measure following a failed assassination attempt on his life. There are some technical security aspects that are unrelated to the parliament speaker and are left to the security commission which includes; the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and Deputy Parliament Speaker Khalid al Attiyah." He pointed out that, "The parliament speaker and even members of parliament do not have detailed information on this subject."
Abdul Jabbar explained, "All that we know is that there are talks for an agreement with a foreign company from South Africa, exclusively to protect the parliamentary building. Concerned authorities are to be entitled with signing contracts and similar issues. "
Abdul Jabbar continued, "The protection of the Green Zone in general, which includes the parliament buildings, is the responsibility of security forces from various nationalities. Within the Green Zone, some areas are protected by Nepali, Indian, Romanian, or Ukrainian security companies." He pointed out that, "The entrances and exits of the building are currently protected by Nepalese forces; however protecting the building from inside is the responsibility of the Iraqi government."
Abdul Jabbar explained that the reason that foreign companies are assigned the task of protecting parliament is "to prevent any infiltration of terrorist elements or proponents of certain parties. The representatives of these companies deal with individuals equally in terms of the accuracy of inspections that are carried out and checking entry passes etc." He pointed out that, "If the task was assigned to an Iraqi body, it may be the case that representatives would be biased. Foreign companies are impartial and protect all parties."
Asharq Al Awsat spoke to the Commander of the Interior Ministry, Major General Mohammed Nema who said that, "The protection of state officials is the responsibility of the government. Either the state allocates a security team to protect every official or the official would choose the team himself. The state pays the salaries of these guards as long as the government is the sole decision-maker as to the number of guards assigned to each government official." He added, "The state allocates a number of individuals to protect any minister and the Ministry of Defense pays their salaries. If they wanted to appoint an additional number of guards, then it is the ministry's responsibility to provide funding. If a minister were to leave the ministry for any reason, the number allocated to protect him would be reduced."
Major General Nema elaborated, "Such matters are out of one’s control, especially with regard to the number of protection personnel. Concerning members of parliament, the government pays every member a monthly sum estimated at approximately 13 million Iraqi Dinars (US $9000). From this amount, the member of parliament is to allocate the monthly salary of his security team as well as the maintenance of cars allocated to him. He is free to give them the amount he decides as a monthly salary." He pointed out that there are some deputies or ministers who are financially supported by their parties, thus they appoint a larger security team for themselves. He adds, "I have a 12-member security team that accompanies me whenever I go out."
Media figure and spokesperson for Mahmoud al Mashhadani, Mohannad Abdul Jabbar, told Asharq Al Awsat, "The Iraqi Parliament Speaker announced the new security measure following a failed assassination attempt on his life. There are some technical security aspects that are unrelated to the parliament speaker and are left to the security commission which includes; the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and Deputy Parliament Speaker Khalid al Attiyah." He pointed out that, "The parliament speaker and even members of parliament do not have detailed information on this subject."
Abdul Jabbar explained, "All that we know is that there are talks for an agreement with a foreign company from South Africa, exclusively to protect the parliamentary building. Concerned authorities are to be entitled with signing contracts and similar issues. "
Abdul Jabbar continued, "The protection of the Green Zone in general, which includes the parliament buildings, is the responsibility of security forces from various nationalities. Within the Green Zone, some areas are protected by Nepali, Indian, Romanian, or Ukrainian security companies." He pointed out that, "The entrances and exits of the building are currently protected by Nepalese forces; however protecting the building from inside is the responsibility of the Iraqi government."
Abdul Jabbar explained that the reason that foreign companies are assigned the task of protecting parliament is "to prevent any infiltration of terrorist elements or proponents of certain parties. The representatives of these companies deal with individuals equally in terms of the accuracy of inspections that are carried out and checking entry passes etc." He pointed out that, "If the task was assigned to an Iraqi body, it may be the case that representatives would be biased. Foreign companies are impartial and protect all parties."
Asharq Al Awsat spoke to the Commander of the Interior Ministry, Major General Mohammed Nema who said that, "The protection of state officials is the responsibility of the government. Either the state allocates a security team to protect every official or the official would choose the team himself. The state pays the salaries of these guards as long as the government is the sole decision-maker as to the number of guards assigned to each government official." He added, "The state allocates a number of individuals to protect any minister and the Ministry of Defense pays their salaries. If they wanted to appoint an additional number of guards, then it is the ministry's responsibility to provide funding. If a minister were to leave the ministry for any reason, the number allocated to protect him would be reduced."
Major General Nema elaborated, "Such matters are out of one’s control, especially with regard to the number of protection personnel. Concerning members of parliament, the government pays every member a monthly sum estimated at approximately 13 million Iraqi Dinars (US $9000). From this amount, the member of parliament is to allocate the monthly salary of his security team as well as the maintenance of cars allocated to him. He is free to give them the amount he decides as a monthly salary." He pointed out that there are some deputies or ministers who are financially supported by their parties, thus they appoint a larger security team for themselves. He adds, "I have a 12-member security team that accompanies me whenever I go out."
