IRAQ: Private security firms find that business are booming as the government seeks to clamp down on foreign security contractors

Record ID: 733880

  • Title: IRAQ: Private security firms find that business are booming as the government seeks to clamp down on foreign security contractors
  • Date: 1st May 2012
  • Summary: BASRA, IRAQ (RECENT) (REUTERS) SECURITY GUARDS EMPLOYED BY PRIVATE IRAQI COMPANY MANNING AREA IN BASRA CITY VARIOUS OF IRAQI COMPANY'S SECURITY PERSONNEL GUARDING AREA, STANDING NEXT TO SECURITY FIRM'S SECURITY VEHICLES CLOSE OF ASSAULT RIFFLE VARIOUS OF SECURITY GUARDS ON SITE MAHER JABBAR JASSIM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF 'SILVER CHAINS', A PRIVATE IRAQI SECURITY FIRM,
  • Embargoed: 16th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Industry,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAUVD7YAEURA6LY66F3MFBIKGE
  • Story Text: For years, private Iraqi security companies have complained that they have been barred from high-security zones where thousands of heavily armed foreign private security contractors -- from South Africans to Uganda, Nepal and Peru -- have flourished. The foreign companies provided help to guard U.S. facilities, foreign embassies and foreign-operated oil installations across Iraq, as well as convoy security.
    However, the withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2011, coupled with the Iraqi government's decision to impose tough restrictions on foreign private security companies to rein in what officials said amounted to a "giant army" threatening the country's stability, has allowed local Iraqi private security firms to flourish.
    The number of such local companies has risen, especially in the oil hub of Basra, company officials say.
    "(In the past) Iraqi companies were unable to reach foreign companies but via e-mail and internet as the foreign companies were limited and restricted to the U.S. camp. For instance inside Basra they were located inside Basra airport and as we know the area was manned by the MNF (Multi-National Force), U.S. troops and Iraqis were not allowed to enter the camp, so we were unable to contact investment companies. Only foreign companies were allowed to enter to the camp and open their headquarters there," said Maher Jabbar Jassim, Executive Director of 'Silver Chains,' a private Iraqi security firm stationed in Basra city.
    But in recent years business has been better, Jassim added, and his firm has been hired by a number of foreign oil companies operating in Basra.
    He said the local staff are not inferior to their foreign counterparts, as the job requires military experience and a clean criminal record. The company itself needs to meet required conditions set by the authorities and approved by the Interior Ministry, he added.
    Owner and Executive Director of the 'Fearless' private company for security services, Ali Hassan Abdullah, told Reuters his company has signed contracts and subcontracts with a number of global firms, including multi-national oil firms, operating in Iraq. He said the number of local private firms has been on the rise following the U.S. withdrawal.
    "Before the U.S. withdrawal, there were between 120-125 (Iraqi) firms (in operation) and following the withdrawal of the MNF, the number had risen to 144 or so," he told Reuters. His company also opened branches in Abu Dhabi, Libya and Turkey, he added.
    Abdullah says Iraqi security firms offer the same level of expertise as their foreign competition, but for a lower cost.
    "Foreign security firms operating in Iraq have been and continue to charge a large amount of money from foreign companies in Iraq and as a result when these firms make a bid to the Iraqi government in order to win a project, the cost is high. But the bids that have been submitted by Iraqi security firms to these companies, with the same level of expertise and I swear that they have the same level of expertise, were in lower prices, a price that is appropriate for both sides and therefore it will not increase the burden on the Iraqi government with additional project costs," he said.
    According to officials, the government decision to impose restrictions on foreign security companies has been submitted as a bill to parliament.
    Many foreign security contractors have already complained of difficulties such as long delays in obtaining visas, licenses and permits to operate in Iraq.
    OPEC member Iraq has signed a series of service contracts with foreign oil companies aimed at increasing production capacity to 12 million barrels per day by 2017 from roughly 3 million bpd currently, making the country the world's biggest source of new oil supplies over the next few years.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register