HE Karim Sinjari – KRG Interior Minister

Greetings to any VIPs or special guests….Good morning (or afternoon). It is a great honor for me to be with you again here in Dubai, at this very timely summit on Iraqi Defense, Security and Communications. This conference is timely, because it is very important for us to hold and secure the gains that have been achieved in security over the last year. I want to offer a special thanks to Mr. John Glassey for the cooperation that the Iraq Development Program has shown with the Coalition partners and the government of Iraq in resourcefully seeking ways to move our federal, plural and democratic Iraq forward as a responsible member of the world community. We have had many ups and downs in Iraq, and we have certainly come a long way and have much to be proud of, but the legacy that the former dictatorial regime has left us over 35 years of neglect and sorrow, has also left us with much that we still must overcome. To this day and for some time to come, we are certainly in need of the help of responsible and resourceful partners to help us move forward in our process of development and growth, particularly within the security environment.

The Interior Ministry and the Ministry of State for the Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government have primary responsibility for internal security throughout the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This is a Constitutional authority and responsibility guaranteed to the federal region of Kurdistan by the Iraqi Constitution that was ratified in October 2005. That authority for internal security granted to the Kurdistan Region by the Iraqi Constitution, is a recognition of the fact that we have had responsibility for our own security ever since 1991, when the Ba’athist regime withdrew all of their apparatus of government administration from our region. And we have taken this responsibility very seriously ever since then.

We have been fortunate that since our liberation in 2003 by the Coalition Forces, that we have obtained some improvements for our security forces in terms of training and equipment from our friends in the Coalition. We have also been fortunate in that our own budgetary requirements have been more reliable and as such, we have been able to obtain some resources on our own.

But we have also been a victim of our own success in that time since our liberation. Some of our friends in the Coalition see the security we enjoy and they assume that we have no needs or shortcomings within our security apparatus. And those friends see the security difficulties that our colleagues in other parts of Iraq face, and they believe that all or most of the security resources coming from the Coalition must go to the other parts of Iraq. However, those friends in the Coalition do not realize that the security we enjoy within Kurdistan is a fragile balance between the competence of our security professionals, and the ability of those professionals to keep the threats against our security in check.

And make no mistake that we do have threats against our security within Kurdistan. We have been very fortunate, thanks to God that we have only had to bear a small number of terrorist attacks against our people. However, one attack is one attack too many. And because we are a plural and democratic society that has been very supportive of our friends in the Coalition, we find that the religious extremists feel obliged to bring their doctrine of hate and destruction to us. And we also have an international border that shares its vast expanse with three of our neighboring countries. This is in a part of the world where the vast and porous borders are sometimes used by those intent on causing instability, who’s only purpose is to upset the security of all of the neighbors. And because of all of these factors, our security needs are many.

It is very important to understand that most of what we have achieved within Kurdistan has been built upon a foundation of dedicated, resourceful and loyal service from the men and women of our security services. They show a dedication to protecting their fellow citizens, a loyalty to their nation, and resourcefulness in providing security without all of the benefits of equipment and technology that security professionals around the modern world enjoy.

It is also important to recognize why we have had to rely solely on the valuable human resources we possess within Kurdistan. During the time from 1991 – 2003, we were living under a situation of double sanctions. That is, those sanctions imposed directly upon us by Saddam Hussein, and those sanctions imposed upon us indirectly by the world community, as they monitored their sanctions against Saddam’s regime. And because of those sanctions, the United Nations’ Oil for Food Program could provide us nothing to help us to protect our internal security.

Within Kurdistan, our primary desires for our security forces over the next twelve months rest in the areas of training, equipment and facilities. We need to make advancements in all of these areas so that our dedicated professionals have some hope to make up the deficits that have been building for many years, and so that we do not slip any further behind against the constantly evolving security threats. It is also important to recognize that whenever we seek to procure equipment, in almost all cases, there is an attending need for training that goes with that need for equipment. This is because our security forces have been deprived in most cases of the most basic of security equipment.

One of our cornerstone projects that is underway and progressing very nicely is the construction of a new, modern police training academy that we are jointly building with our friends in the Coalition. We feel this project is critical because training is the foundation upon which our security professionals will base a career of dedicated service to their nation.

Most of our other most important requirements are in the area of equipment and the attending training. We expect to work in full cooperation with our friends from the Coalition in developing a sensible procurement program for these items either with their help, the help of other investors, or on our own. I’d like to outline for you now, some of those needs.

Our police forensics experts are in great need of the full range of criminal evidence detection, collection and analysis equipment and training. This is an area of police work that has leapt generations ahead of us in the time that we were under multiple sanctions. And as you security professionals know, crime detection and prosecution is meaningless if the capability and resources are not present to effectively detect, collect and analyze the attending evidence. And our needs in this area truly are across the full spectrum to include: ballistics, DNA, fingerprint collection, explosives analysis, photography, and so on.

We have a great need for the procurement of a fully integrated emergency communications network which allows a modern communications center to receive calls for assistance and then to dispatch appropriate police or rescue services to the scene of the emergency. Related to this is a fundamental need for security forces to be able to communicate via radio anywhere within our Region. The importance of a reliable and somewhat secure communications network is very important, as the criminal and terror elements we are working to contain are ever cleverer in their methods of communicating and coordinating their evil plans.

We have a need for the latest technology and training in detecting and disposing of the complete array of potential explosives threats. This need is especially important for us, as the greatest threat we have faced and continue to face from terrorists is via the cowardly approach of the suicide bomber, or the remote controlled bomb.

As I have mentioned, our Region has an international border that is shared by three neighboring countries. And I can tell you that the physical geography in our border regions is a very remote and wild area, with the tallest mountains in Iraq, many streams and valleys, and vast expanses of uncharted land. This area also holds some of the oldest smuggling routes known to Man. If we are to be expected to play our part along with the Iraqi government in controlling our borders, we must obtain the latest in remote sensors and detection devices so that we may have some hope to monitor our vast border region. Otherwise, our only alternative will be to place tens of thousands of border security forces along the border to control it with their own naked eyes.

The needs that I have outlined for you here are our most critical needs. I do want to emphasize, however, that these needs are just the beginning of our requirements. I could go on in listing needs in every single facet of the various areas of security and public safety. As an example, we need still police cars, we still need handcuffs and flashlights, we need fireman’s protective gear and breathing apparatus, we need automation and information technology equipment, et cetera, et cetera. If you can imagine it as being used within security, we probably need it.

And in outlining our needs, it is important to understand that the environment within Iraqi Kurdistan is very different from what you see in the rest of Iraq, and has been that way ever since the liberation of 2003. Certainly there has been improvement in the south of Iraq, but we have enjoyed a head start in stability. People are optimistic as they see new development and construction going on around them every day. They see a government that is working to improve their services and their condition in life. And they see a future that does not hold any of the horrors they knew too well from their past of being kidnapped, tortured and slaughtered. Many investors and developers in the international business community also see these same reasons for optimism that our people have. And for this reason, many are looking to Kurdistan as their gateway to the rest of Iraq, as they can establish headquarters in Kurdistan, and factually say they are operating in Iraq. They will then be properly poised in a friendly and safe environment to take advantage of location as the security environment continues to improve further in the rest of Iraq. And so a prudent security investor should also be able to take advantage of this environment as well, by stepping in to become part of the solution in helping to fully solidify the good security environment we enjoy throughout Kurdistan today.

I want to thank you for the time you have given to me today to explain to you our situation within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. You should also know that you are all welcome throughout Kurdistan so you may see with your own eyes the progress we are enjoying, and so you also may know the needs that we have. I look forward to working with many of you so that we may cooperatively take the next step forward for security within the Kurdistan Region and within Iraq as a whole. Again, my many thanks to you all.