Volume 1 - Iraq Watch

• Another of Sattam’s brothers, Najib Al-Gaaod,was involved in the procurement of spare parts forRussian-made tanks as late as 2001. According tocaptured documents, Najib Al-Gaaod’s company,Al-Talh Office Co. provided an offer to the MIC for12 T-72 tank engines, dated 1 February 2000 for anet price of 900,000 Euros.• The same documents also included an offer dated 1February 2001 for spare parts of T-55 tanks.• The company letterhead stated that it had offices inMoscow, Yugoslavia, and Jordan.Although Sattam Hamid Farhan Al-Gaaod has admittedto an Iraqi who was interviewed by ISG that hewould smuggle oil out of Iraq and foodstuffs intoIraq in violation of the UN OFF agreement, he hasstated that he believed this to be legitimate business.According to the interviewee, it was unnecessary toalter the packaging of the goods to conceal the truenature of the contents, because it was only food. ISGjudges that Al-Gaaod’s statements have routinelybeen designed to overly downplay his role in theformer Regime.Sattam Al-Gaaod’s Relationship With the IIS.Al-Gaaod has denied being involved in the IIS, whileother sources have claimed that he was an activemember at least since 1993.• His brothers, Abd al-Salam Farhan Al-Gaaod, Abdal-Salam Farhan al-Gaaod, Abd al-Salam Farhanal-Gaaod, and Najib Hamid Farhan al-Gaaod wereall members of the IIS.• Sattam Hamid Farhan Al-Gaaod was able to use hisconnections with the IIS to import items prohibitedby the UN, including chemicals.The IIS frequently used businessmen with internationalconnections to import goods, includingnonmilitary goods, into Iraq. Al-Gaaod associatessuspected he had IIS links based on a number of factors.• A high-level government official observed that Al-Gaaod must have had government contacts to avoidRegime interference. He believed Al-Gaaod was inthe IIS because he was not a Ba’ath Party memberand was not in the government, yet he was a “powerfulman.”• The source asserted that, generally, IIS connectionsallowed Iraqi businesses to contact the best suppliersin other countries to obtain sanctioned items.Al-Handal General Trading CompanyClosely tied to Saddam’s family and to the IIS,the firm Al-Handal Trading received preferentialtreatment in the issuance of Iraqi procurementtenders. The head of the firm, Wadi al-Handal, hasestablished several subsidiary companies under thefirm to facilitate acquisition of sensitive goods forIraq. All of the Al-Handal connections are based inBaghdad.The Al-Handal General Trading Company wasestablished originally in Dubai to import car partsand accessories into Iraq, but in the wake of the Gulfwar, Wadi al-Handal quickly recognized that broadeninghis business line could make enormous profits.Wadi established several subsidiary companies underAl-Handal (see Figure 53). The company used twoprimary means to move proscribed equipment intoIraq. The first was using ships leaving Dubai, andsmaller items were carried on board in personal luggageand off-loaded in Basrah. Al-Handal had at leastone vessel berthed in Alhamriya Port, Dubai. Wadi’spreferred method was to use his brother in Amman,Sabah al-Handal, who owned a plastic pipe company.Equipment would be delivered to Sabah’s company,be labeled as plastic pipe or related equipment, andthen shipped onward into Iraq overland.• Al-Huda is the main holding company for Al-Handal General Trading.• Al-Huda is the mechanism Wadi used to establishand control other front companies, and much of thefirm’s acquisition business was conducted throughAl-Huda.There are at least three different front companies inIraq that use the name Al-Huda. Al-Huda ReligiousTourism Company is an unrelated, well-known IISfront that oversees and monitors tourists cominginto Baghdad to visit holy sites. Another Al-Hudacompany was owned by ‘Uday Saddam Husaynal-Tikriti. According to a cooperative source, thecompany, however, Al-Huda Industrial Holdings,owned by Wadi al-Handal, made use of the similar-90