Directorate of General Military Intelligence

The Iraqi Directorate of General Military Intelligence (DGMI) (Arabic: Mudiriyyat al-Istikhabarat al-'Askariyya al-'Amma‎) was the military intelligence service of Iraq from 1932[1] to 2003.

Directorate of General Military Intelligence
Mudiriyyat al-Istikhabarat al-'Askariyya al-'Amma
DGMI logo
Agency overview
Formed1932
Dissolved2003
JurisdictionGovernment of Iraq
HeadquartersBaghdad, Iraq
Agency executive
Parent agencyIndependent

Its responsibilities included: "1) tactical and strategic reconnaissance of regimes hostile to Iraq; 2) assessing threats of a military nature to Iraq; 3) monitoring the Iraqi military and ensuring the loyalty of the officer corps; 4) maintaining a network of informants in Iraq and abroad, including foreign personnel, and military human intelligence; and 5) protection of military and military-industrial facilities.[2] Al-Istikhbarat is divided into a Special, Political and Administrative Bureau.[3]"

It employed embassy personnel, especially the military attaché and his office within the embassy. It had duties inside the army, but it is unknown what these duties were. In 1979 a document called the Strategic Work Plan, by Khalil al-Azzawi, who was head of operations for the Estikhbarat, was leaked. The plan set goals of the overseas branches of the agency, e.g. the military attaché's office in London was told to provide reports of nuclear, chemical and bacteriological installations. Also photos of naval bases and their specifications were required.

In a separate section Ba'ath agents were expected to uncover the structure of NATO forces such as its land, air and sea bases around the world, especially in the Mediterranean Sea.

Several opposition leaders were found dead in Beirut and Paris. Their involvement in the assassinations of Palestinian leaders in 1980 is also likely.

See also

Notes
  1. Dilip Hiro, Neighbors, Not Friends, Iraq and Iran After the Gulf Wars (London and New York: Routledge, 2001), p.56, via Ibrahim Al-Marashi, 'Iraqi intelligence operations and objectives in Turkey Archived February 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Alternatives, Vol. 2, No.1, Spring 2003
  2. Kanan Makiya, Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998), p.14, via Al-Marashi, 2003
  3. Copley, p.714, via Al-Marashi, 2003

References
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