Baghdad investigating 'corrupt' intelligence stations abroad

Abdullah Shakhwan, a member of the Iraqi parliament's security and defence committee brought up what he described as the "corrupt" issue during a press conference in January, stating "twenty Iraqi intelligence stations in twenty countries have not sent any intelligence reports since five years ago."

The official went on to question "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."

Speaking to The New Arab, Shakhwan said: "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 said, without providing further details.

Meanwhile, an official in the secretariat of the Iraqi Council of Ministers in Baghdad said current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi already ordered the closure of a number of stations due to corruption and a lack of benefit to Iraq's internal security issue.

The majority of these stations, which were created during the time of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, exist in various Arab countries, including the Gulf states, a government source confirmed to The New Arab.

Since their establishment, intelligence stations have been hit with multiple issues, including allegations of corruption, as well as the staff's lack of experience.

Sources allege staff members were appointed on the basis of political affiliations, especially Nouri al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party.

"Unfortunately, the stations do not have Sunni, Christian or Kurdish staff members," a Kurdish official, Hama Amin told The New Arab, noting intelligence stations are tasked with collecting information on Iraqi politicians travelling for business or personal activities and "used later for political leeway or financial extortion in many cases."