Papa Smurf
Sep 21, 2005, @ 09:52 AM
Insurgents have infiltrated Iraq's security services, National Security Adviser Muwafaq al-Rubaie has admitted.
Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight programme, he said he had no idea how far the services had been undermined, with problems "in many parts of Iraq".
It comes after the British Army said it was forced to take action to free two UK soldiers after learning Iraqi police had handed them to a militia group.
UK defence chief John Reid will meet Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday.
Mr Reid and Ibrahim Jaafari are expected to discuss the growing tension in the southern city of Basra between the British Army and local authorities.
The Pentagon warned in July that Iraq's police force was recruiting insurgents.
'Clean up police'
The Iraqi government has launched an inquiry into events surrounding the arrest of the British soldiers on Monday, both thought to be members of the SAS elite special forces.
Iraq's interior ministry ordered the police force in Basra to release the soldiers - but that order was ignored.
The British Army said the troops had been handed over by police to a Shia militia group.
The men were freed after British troops in armoured vehicles stormed a Basra prison and then a house to which the captives had been taken.
Mr Rubaie told Newsnight: "Our Iraqi security forces in general, and these in particular and in many parts of Iraq, I have to admit that they have been penetrated by some of the insurgents, some of the terrorists as well, so I can't deny this."
He said Iraq now had "a very scrupulous, very meticulous vetting procedure" to "clean our security forces, as well as stop any penetration in future from the insurgents or the terrorists".
He admitted he did not know to what extent the security forces were already infiltrated by insurgents.
Criminals in ranks
However, Mr Rubaie criticised the British military's use of force instead of negotiation in freeing its troops on Monday.
"They could have been freed in a much more peaceful, much more friendly and amicable way than that," he said.
Lessons would be learned so that similar incidents could be avoided in the future, he said.
Colonel Bill Dunham, the chief of staff for the multinational force in Basra, told BBC radio the infiltration of insurgents into Iraq's security forces was a problem.
"It is something that affects the Iraqi police across Iraq as a whole", he said.
"We are aware of rogue elements in the Iraqi police service. The trick that we have to pull off now with the Iraqi authorities is to identify those elements, to weed them out and to reinforce the good parts of the Iraqi police service."
A report released by the US defence department in July said Iraq's police force was recruiting insurgents and former criminals to its ranks.
It blamed poor vetting procedures and recommended that the quality of records at Iraq's interior ministry be checked.
Worrying to see this kind of situation arising, the questions that instantly jumped to mind was, how if even the Iraqi security forces are being infiltrated is the security situation ever going to improve enough for us to get our friends and families out of Iraq?
Speaking on the BBC's Newsnight programme, he said he had no idea how far the services had been undermined, with problems "in many parts of Iraq".
It comes after the British Army said it was forced to take action to free two UK soldiers after learning Iraqi police had handed them to a militia group.
UK defence chief John Reid will meet Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday.
Mr Reid and Ibrahim Jaafari are expected to discuss the growing tension in the southern city of Basra between the British Army and local authorities.
The Pentagon warned in July that Iraq's police force was recruiting insurgents.
'Clean up police'
The Iraqi government has launched an inquiry into events surrounding the arrest of the British soldiers on Monday, both thought to be members of the SAS elite special forces.
Iraq's interior ministry ordered the police force in Basra to release the soldiers - but that order was ignored.
The British Army said the troops had been handed over by police to a Shia militia group.
The men were freed after British troops in armoured vehicles stormed a Basra prison and then a house to which the captives had been taken.
Mr Rubaie told Newsnight: "Our Iraqi security forces in general, and these in particular and in many parts of Iraq, I have to admit that they have been penetrated by some of the insurgents, some of the terrorists as well, so I can't deny this."
He said Iraq now had "a very scrupulous, very meticulous vetting procedure" to "clean our security forces, as well as stop any penetration in future from the insurgents or the terrorists".
He admitted he did not know to what extent the security forces were already infiltrated by insurgents.
Criminals in ranks
However, Mr Rubaie criticised the British military's use of force instead of negotiation in freeing its troops on Monday.
"They could have been freed in a much more peaceful, much more friendly and amicable way than that," he said.
Lessons would be learned so that similar incidents could be avoided in the future, he said.
Colonel Bill Dunham, the chief of staff for the multinational force in Basra, told BBC radio the infiltration of insurgents into Iraq's security forces was a problem.
"It is something that affects the Iraqi police across Iraq as a whole", he said.
"We are aware of rogue elements in the Iraqi police service. The trick that we have to pull off now with the Iraqi authorities is to identify those elements, to weed them out and to reinforce the good parts of the Iraqi police service."
A report released by the US defence department in July said Iraq's police force was recruiting insurgents and former criminals to its ranks.
It blamed poor vetting procedures and recommended that the quality of records at Iraq's interior ministry be checked.
Worrying to see this kind of situation arising, the questions that instantly jumped to mind was, how if even the Iraqi security forces are being infiltrated is the security situation ever going to improve enough for us to get our friends and families out of Iraq?