Saturday 23 January 2016

JABIRI - THE WORLD'S GREATEST EXPERT ON BOMB DETECTION

Those of you that have followed the sagas of the fake explosives detectors will recall our old friend, Major General Jabiri. The pivotal figure in the Iraqi purchases of that renowned explosives detector, the ADE651. 

Well, some time back he was convicted on charges of corruption, and it seems it has taken until now for his conviction to be confirmed. Of course we still wonder what has happened to all those others who shared in the kickbacks that Jim McCormick paid out. What about the Interior Minister at the time who would undoubtedly have been looked after? What about al Malaki, the Prime Minister at the time? Does anyone seriously think that the Interior Minister didn't have to pay upwards?

Ah well. Thanks to Joel Wing at Musings on Iraq blog we have some details on the news on Jabiri. You can find his blog here:

http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/iraq-general-gets-4-yrs-in-prison-for.html?m=1

I hope he will be o.k. with me reproducing his post here. If not let me know and I'll just leave the link.

Thursday, January 21, 2016


Iraq General Gets 4 Yrs In Prison For Buying Fake Bomb Detectors


Iraq’s purchase of several thousand fake bomb detectors has been an infamous case of
corruption within the country. The ADE 651 devices were used despite objections from 
the United States and British, and when they were proven to not work, and the manufacturer 
was imprisoned for selling the bogus detectors the Iraqi government still refused to admit 
that it was wrong. The Interior Ministry general who bought the ADEs and got a hefty sum 
in kickbacks in the process was finally convicted and his sentence recently approved.

On January 19, 2016 Iraq’s main anti-corruption agency the Integrity Commission ratified
the imprisonment of the general responsible for purchasing the ADE 651s. In June 2012, 
General Jihad al-Jabiri the former head of the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Explosives Department 
was sentenced on misdemeanor corruption charges. In January the Integrity Commission 
okayed his four years imprisonment. The Ministry’s inspector general discovered that up to 
75% of the money spent on purchasing the detectors actually went to kickbacks to 15 Iraqi officials
That was supported in the trial of the devices’ manufacturer Jim McCormick in England in 2013 
where he revealed that he paid  millions in bribes to Iraqis to finish the deal. Jabiri was arrested 
in February 2011 for buying the ADEs. That was after years of the Interior Ministry denying any 
wrong doing and protecting the general from investigations.

The ADEs were controversial from the day Iraq bought them. McCormick sold 7,000 of them
to the Interior Ministry in 2007 for $2,500-30,000 each even though they only took $50 to build. 
The devices had no working parts in them and no power source. Users were told to walk in circles 
to generate static electricity that would power them. In November 2008 a British official warned 
that the devices did not work. In 2009 the British and American forces in Iraq investigated the 651s 
and both reported that they did not operate. The next year England banned the exportation of the 
detectors. Despite all this the Iraqi government said there was no wrongdoing in their purchase and 
insisted that they were good for anti-bomb duties. That happened even after Jabiri was arrested and 
McCormick was convicted. Former Minister Nouri al-Maliki for example, said that most of the 651s 
were effective right after McCormick was found guilty. The next Premier Haidar Abadi then ordered
all of the devices removed from service, but some were still seen being used in the streets of Baghdad.

The approval of General Jabiri’s sentence might be the last note heard from Iraq on the ADE 651s.
Despite taking millions in bribes not to mention costing the lives of hundreds of people who were
killed by bombs not discovered by the detectors he only got a misdemeanor charge. This was yet 
another example of how the Iraqi government is not serious about fighting corruption. High officials 
are routinely let go for stealing and graft. Those that are found guilty are usually out of the country or
given slaps on the wrists like Jabiri. Corruption is too important to the ruling parties who use it to
maintain power via their patronage networks. That’s the reason why it continues to fester within the
country.

SOURCES

Sotaliraq, “Integrity Commission approves the imprisonment of the anti-explosives director for four
years,” 1/19/16

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