Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

• Ties flourished after the death of IIS Director Rafi’Dahham al-Tikriti in October 1999 and the subsequentappointment of Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikritias IIS Director. A Joint MIC—IIS nominationgroup initially directed the joint effort.Dr. Hadi Tarish Zabun, the head of the MIC Researchand Development Office, led the MIC end of thissecond procurement channel. Senior MIC officialshave described Dr. Zabun as very capable and powerful.Dr. Zabun is clearly one of the key figures inthe Iraqi clandestine procurement story.• Dr. Zabun’s office handled all of the secret, specialcontracts with Russia, Belarus, Yugoslavia,Ukraine, and Bulgaria.• Dr. Zabun attended all meetings related to thesecontracts, and managing these contracts became ahuge task for the Special Office.According to an Iraqi official, the IIS’s procurementactivities operated through the IIS Scientific andTechnical Information Office, designated M4/4/5. .The Research and Development Office cooperatedclosely with M4/4/5 to find sellers of the sensitivematerials and equipment sought by the MIC.• Dr. Zabun coordinated MIC—IIS business dealings,with much of the coordination occurring directlybetween the Director of M4/4/5 and Dr. Zabun.• M4/4/5 desk officers worked closely with IIS officersin overseas stations to find the suppliers. Deskofficers had specific country responsibilities.• Directives and other communications with the IISstations in embassies abroad were transported viadiplomatic pouch.An Iraqi official described the coordination process(see Figure 42).• MIC requirements—for information, materials,technology, or technical assistance—were sentupward from MIC manufacturing establishments toHuwaysh.Dr. Hadi Tarish Zabun: The MIC’s ProcurementExpertMIC Director Huwaysh considered Dr. Hadi TarishZabun as his right-hand man for conducting foreignprocurement deals. Dr. Zabun was the acting DirectorGeneral of the Al Milad Company (MIC’s largestdomestic research and development company) priorto taking over the MIC Directorate of Research andDevelopment and the MIC Special Offi ce. He alsoserved as Huwaysh’s expert on the missile industry.• Huwaysh then sent an official “Secret, Confidential,and Immediate” communication through Zabun toIIS Director al-Tikriti. Dr. Zabun strictly controlledall communications on MIC-IIS dealings. A specialIIS courier element actually carried the correspondenceback and forth.• The request then descended through the IIS M4Directorate chain-of-command to the director, whosent it to the appropriate desk officer for action.• The desk officer then made arrangements with thefield stations, issued tenders, and so on.When the field officer located potential sellers orreceived bids, the Director of M4/4/5 would workwith Dr. Zabun to broker a meeting between principlesin MIC and the desk officer and others involvedin the procurement effort.• Typical participants in these meeting included Dr.Zabun, the M4/4/5 director, their deputies, the M4/4/5 desk officer who was involved in setting up thetransaction, personnel from the MIC establishmentseeking the procurement, the heads of the MICCommercial and Finance Directorates, and oftenMunir Mamduh Awad al-Qubaysi, head of the MICprocurement company Al-Basha’ir.• This group probably considered the terms of theproposed deal and discussed methods of transportand payment for the goods.• Huwaysh probably made the final decision on mostmajor procurement actions.70