Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

Regime Financeand ProcurementFigure 35. Iraq and surrounding countries.technologies for the Regime. To supplement thisprocurement activity, the MIC and MoD used theirown methods to procure communications systems,ammunition, security equipment, and computers. Abdal-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, Director of the MIC,however, stated that the MIC was able to import theraw materials it needed and did not need to use anyother ministry’s funds to purchase goods and servicesabroad.Nevertheless, the importance of the MoT in illicitprocurement should not be dismissed. The MoT’strade deals with willing countries and foreign companiesprovided Iraqi military and security entities,such as the MoD, SRG, IIS, and the Diwan, with theaccess and connections needed to ultimately procuredual-use and sanctioned goods and services. In contraventionof UN sanctions and resolutions, the MoTprovided “cover” contracts for ammunition, communicationsystems, and other military materiel for theMoD, SRG, IIS, and the Diwan.MoT’s Role in ProcurementFor the most part, the MoT procured legitimatecivilian goods both legally under UN OFF, as wellas illicitly through bilateral trade protocols and otherunregulated trade agreements. The MoT played oneof its most important roles in the execution of the UNOFF Program, including:• Coordinating other ministries’ import requirementsinto a “Distribution Plan.” After UN approval, thisconsolidated plan served as the basic import schedulefor goods and services imported under each sixmonth UN OFF phase.• A few non-ministerial organizations, including theMIC and Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC),were not permitted to purchase items under UNOFF. These Ministries or departments relied on theMoT to procure common goods for them via UNOFF.57