Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

ILTC subordinate company seems to have beenestablished to handle the increased transactionsresulting from the Syrian Trade Protocol.• The Iraqi-Jordanian Land Transportation Company,an OFF shipping company run by MoTC, had anoffice in Aqaba, Jordan, and performed a similarrole as the Syrian Land Transportation Company.ISG also suspects that the Iraqi-Jordanian LandTransportation Company was probably set up toaccommodate trade from the Jordan Protocol.Ministry of Higher Education and ScientificResearchThroughout the 1990s, Saddam Husayn usedthe Ministry of Higher Education and ScientificResearch (MHESR), through its universities andresearch programs to retain, preserve, and protectIraq’s indigenous scientific and WMD-relatedcapabilities, including its research projects andknowledge base. The MHESR had close working tieswith MIC, which supported the ministry by coordinating,directing, and implementing the Regime’s criticalresearch and development activities, according toformer MIC director Huwaysh. ISG also has uncoveredone case where Iraq used the cover of its studentexchange program to procure goods.University Collaboration With MICThe MIC maintained close working ties with theMHESR, links that entailed financial support foracademic research and the provision of academicexperts for MIC projects. These ties shaped MHESRacademic priorities, provided an opportunity forMIC to directly commission academic research, andfacilitated an exchange of personnel between the twoentities.The MHESR Research and Development Directorate,headed by Hasin Salih (and later by Al-Jabburi)developed a close working relationship with the MICResearch and Development Directorate (headed byDr. Hadi Tarish Zabun) and the MIC General Directorfor Teaching. Salih was responsible for all researchand development activities and would frequently meetwith the Research and Development Directors fromall the ministries to discuss work and research problems.The MIC’s interests were considered particularlyimportant in the selection of research projects atthe universities.• According to one source, prior to OIF, approximately700 to 800 academics were regularly sent towork at the MIC or its companies for a few hoursper week.• The MIC Director claimed that he increased thenumber of contracted university instructors workingwith the MIC from a handful in 1997 to 3,300 by2002.• Twenty professors assisted the Al-Samud factory.They worked to solve technical problems andprovide training for staff members at the factory.According to one source, however, many Iraqisconsidered the overall effort of limited value.• MIC missile experts also worked closely with theuniversities, in some cases supervising studentswith graduate research and in other cases teachingstudents at the universities.Huwaysh involved himself in each phase of MICsponsoredprojects with the MHESR, includingproject applications, planning, development, andimplementation. Huwaysh reviewed and approvedall project proposals submitted by university deans,department heads or faculty advisers within Iraq.After receiving Huwaysh’s approval, the companyand the university staff would discuss and agree to theparameters of the project. Then MIC opened the projectup to a normal bidding process, inviting differentinstitutions, including foreign nationals from Jordanand Syria, to tender bids for the project proposals.After scrutinizing incoming bids, university departmentheads conducted and then submitted a feasibilityassessment of the proposal to the MIC. The MICchose the final bidder; the contract price would bediscussed when the contract had been finalized.• MIC closely monitored its research projects. MICleadership biannually held “conferences” whereuniversity staff conducting MIC-sponsored researchbriefed the MIC leadership on the progress of theirwork. These conferences afforded the MIC opportunitiesto monitor progress on research projects,identify problems, and offer solutions to theresearchers.84