: The Iraqi Intelligence Service () also known as the Mukhabarat, General Intelligence Directorate, or Party Intelligence, was an 8,000-man agency and the main state intelligence organization in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

. The IIS was primarily concerned with international intelligence collection and analysis but also performed many activities inside Iraq in conjunction with the Directorate of General Security as a

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

organization. The most important section of the IIS was Directorate 4: the Secret Service. One of the well known Directors was Rafi Daham al-Tikriti () the former Iraqi Ambassador to Turkey and the last Chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. The Secret Service was tasked with infiltrating both foreign and domestic governments, unions, embassies, and opposition groups. IIS often worked closely with the Iraqi General Security Directorate (the Iraqi equivalent of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

) when conducting domestic activities. IIS is alleged to be responsible for a number of

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s and attempted assassinations abroad. These include the assassinations of former Iraqi prime minister Abdul Razzaq an-Naif in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(July 1978), Salih Mahdi Ammash in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

(January 1985),

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

Talib al-Suhail al-Tamimi in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

(April 1994),

Ayatollah Ayatollah (, ; ; ) is an Title of honor, honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy. It came into widespread usage in the 20th century. Originally used as a title bestowed by popular/clerical acclaim for a small number of the most di ...

Mehdi al-Hakim in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

(January 1988) and Ayad Habashi in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(October 1986), as well as the attempted assassinations of President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

, the Emir of Kuwait

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (29 June 1926 – 15 January 2006) (), also known as Jaber III, was Emir of Kuwait from 31 December 1977 until his death in 2006. The third monarch to rule Kuwait since its independence from Britain, Ja ...

and the former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi.

Structure

IIS was organized as a number of Bureaus which oversaw the individual directorates. The following list gives the directorates divided by bureau, and a brief description of the directorate:

Political Bureau

*Directorate 4 – Secret Service :Located inside the

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the IIS, Directorate 4's activities took place in both Iraq and abroad, with agents infiltrated within Iraqi

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

departments, the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

, associations, unions and

organizations An organization or organisation ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution (formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a par ...

, Iraqi

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...

and opposition parties. In addition, the Secret Service received information from the Al Hadi Project. The directorate included a number of

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

s responsible for the collection of information about a specific country or region. These offices included areas for

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(North and South),

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Arab states The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

. Directorate 4 worked in

coordination Coordination may refer to: * Coordination (linguistics), a compound grammatical construction * Coordination complex, consisting of a central atom or ion and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions ** A chemical reaction to form a coordinati ...

with Directorates 3, 5, 9, 12, 14 and 18. The last director of Directorate 4 was BG Mohammed Yasin Al Shammari from

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

. *Directorate 8 – Technical Affairs :Located in the headquarters of the ISS, Directorate 8 was responsible for the

fingerprinting A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

of all IIS employees and the development of materials needed for

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

offensive operations. These included

weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

and

poisons A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. Directorate 8 also assembled

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

equipment and employed many

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

and

scientists A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

with advanced degrees. The last director of Directorate 8 was Mohammed al-Masri, who was of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian origin. *Directorate 9 – Secret Operations :One of the most important directorates within the IIS. Directorate 9's work was mostly outside Iraq in

with Directorates 5, 12, 14 and 18, focusing on operations of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

and assassination. The last director of Directorate 9 was MG Abdul Hameed Khalaf al-Bayati, with BG Hussain Abdul Khaliq ad-Douri, from Dour as his Assistant Director. *Directorate 12 – Electronic Surveillance :Responsible for the planting, monitoring, and analyzing

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

and

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

devices within the IIS. Also partially responsible for the

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

. *Directorate 17 – National Security Institute :Responsible for the

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

of IIS officers. Located in the Jihad district (possibly at Abu Ghraib in the western

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

), it contained full living quarters and a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

. High-school graduates undertook a three-year course, and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

graduates an 18-month course prior to entering the

intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of info ...

junior officer Junior officer, company officer or company grade officer refers to the lowest operational commissioned officer category of ranks in a military or paramilitary organization, ranking above non-commissioned officers and below senior officers. D ...

s. *Planning Office :Responsible for collecting and analyzing

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

from around the world, including open sources such as

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

satellite TV Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

, and

newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

. *Propaganda Office :Responsible for conducting

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), has been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations ( MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

operations, including the dissemination of false information.

Special Bureau

*Directorate 5 – Counter-Intelligence :Responsible for the detection and neutralization of foreign intelligence agents, with a particular focus on

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n infiltrators. Directorate 5 works in conjunction with Directorates 3, 4, 14 and 18. Undated sources name BG Sadoon Ali al-Tikriti, from Auja as director of Directorate 5, and LTC Ahmed Lahij ad-Dulaimi as Assistant Director. *Directorate 6 – Mukhabarat Security :Responsible for the conduct of officers and other members of the IIS. Directorate 6 was responsible for the issuing of papers,

passports A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

, and

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

sanctions for all ISS employees. The last director of Directorate 6 was MG Abdul Hameed Yasin al-Ghurairi, with COL Ibrahim al-`Aani as his Assistant. *Directorate 7 – Al Haakimiya :The primary

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

center of the ISS was Al Haakimiya, located opposite the Passport Office on 52nd Street. *Directorate 19 – Personnel Supervision :Responsible for surveillance of IIS employees. *Directorate 22 – Protection :Responsible for personal protection of senior IIS officials and visiting dignitaries. *Office 16 :Uncertain designation. Conducted training of agents for the Clandestine operations abroad. * Brigade of Mukhabarat :Rapid intervention force of the IIS, armed with light and semi-heavy weapons.

History

Following an unsuccessful assassination attempt by the

on Iraq's ruler Abdul Karim Qasim in October 1959,

was placed in charge of ''Jihaz al Khas'' (Special Apparatus), sometime between 1964 and 1966. Codenamed ''Jihaz al-Haneen'' (Instrument of Yearning), the organisation concentrated on security and intelligence work. After the

seized power on 17 July 1968, Saddam expanded the Special Apparatus and took control of the ''Amn'' ( State Internal Security Department). Following the failed coup attempt led by Director of Internal Security Nadhim Kzar in 1973, ''Jihaz'' was transformed into ''Da'irat al Mukhabarat al Amah'' (The General Intelligence Department or the GID). In 1983, under the leadership of

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti (; 17 February 1951 – 15 January 2007), also known as Barzan Hassan, was an Iraqi politician, diplomat and intelligence officer. He was one of three Sibling#half, half-brothers of Saddam Hussein and served as th ...

, the GID organized the massacres of the villagers of Dujail and Jezan Al Chol, the disappearance of the Barzanis from the Qushtapa camp, and the assassination of 18 members of

Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim's family. As a result of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

(1991), the department dealing with external affairs was reduced to less than half of its pre-1990 size, while the department dealing with internal affairs was enlarged to deal with increasing anti-Saddam activities within Iraq. On 13 April 1993, the IIS planned and executed an assassination attempt against former US President

and the

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

through the use of a large

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

driven by two Iraqis. However the plan was foiled and Kuwaiti officials arrested 16 persons suspected of carrying out the plot after a car bomb was found. Two Iraqi nationals, during the FBI interviews in Kuwait, admitted to attempting to carry out an attack under direction of the IIS. On 26 June of that year, in response to an attempted assassination by IIS on former US President George H. W. Bush, US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

ordered two U.S. warships, namely

USS Peterson USS ''Peterson'' may refer to the following ships of the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most po ...

and USS Chancellorsville, to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles on the IIS principal command and control complex in Baghdad. 16 of the 23 missiles hit their target; three struck a residential area, killing nine civilians and wounding 12. Four of the missiles were unaccounted for. In June 1995, Saddam Hussein dismissed his stepbrother Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti from his role as head of the IIS, due to his failure to increase domestic security within Iraq. Brigadier General Ali Hasan al-Majid was named as his successor. The IIS was officially dissolved on 23 May 2003 by the Administrator of the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, per CPA Order Number 2.

Directors

* Sadun Shakir Mahmud al-Tikriti (1973–1977) * Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti (1977–1983) * Hussein Kamel Hassan al-Majid (1983–1984) * Fadhil al-Barraq Hussein al-Tikriti (1984–1989)Kanan Makiya, Samīr al-Halīl.
Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq
, Updated Edition, (1998), p. 16. * Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti (1989–1995) * Tahir Jalil Habbush (1995–2003)

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Iraqi Intelligence Service

Jihaz al-Mukhabarat al-Amma

US Army Foreign Military Studies Office Document

* ttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1019-05.htm ''So, Did Saddam Hussein Try to Kill Bush's Dad?''
Declassified Department of Defense document on U.S action against Iraq
Defunct Iraqi intelligence agencies Government agencies disestablished in 2003 Organizations of the 1991 Iraqi uprisings Secret police Organizations based in Baghdad 2003 disestablishments in Iraq