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Iraqi Kurdistan's Border with Turkey
Revenue Scandal
1.12.2011 |
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December 1, 2011
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Allegations that revenue
from Ibrahim Khalil, the lucrative border crossing
between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey, was funnelled to
a Kurdish leader instead of the government has set
off a firestorm in the region.
Every day, thousands of tons of items and hundreds
of small and large vehicles cross Ibrahim Khalil,
one of the most important revenue generators for the
region.
According to a 2011 budget report, the total customs
revenue of Iraqi Kurdistan is around US$350 million
and is mostly generated from the borders.
In an interview with the Kurdish satellite channel
Naliya last month, Sayid Akram, former director of
the Ibrahim Khalil security department from
2000-2006, claimed that none of the customs revenue
was given to the treasury of the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) but was instead taken to the office
of the then-regional Prime Minister Nechirvan
Barzani.
Barzani is currently the deputy of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) and is considered the
favorite to become the region’s prime minister next
year.
The Ibrahim Khalil trade center filed a lawsuit
against Akram after the allegations were made, and
Akram was sent to prison in the border town of Zakho.
He was released after activists campaigned for his
freedom.
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Ibrahim Khalil [Habur] the lucrative
border crossing between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey.
Nechirvan barzani (Photo), KDP leader and Former
Kurdistan PM. |
Following Akram’s interview, 50 members of the KRG’s
Parliament signed a petition demanding transparent
accounting of the revenue generated from Ibrahim
Khalil.
Dilshad Shahab, a KDP MP senior party official,
said, “Akram was a security official; he wasn’t in
finance. Even if what he said is true, why did he
keep quiet all those years? Covering up a crime is a
crime.”
“As a member of the KDP, I support the investigation
into the customs revenue at Ibrahim Khalil,” Shahab
said. “This should be done regularly on a directive
by Parliament, especially when discussing the
national budget.”
Samir Saleem, an MP from the opposition Kurdistan
Islamic Union, said Akram’s statements motivated
them to sign the petition.
“When an official from an apparatus as important as
security makes these claims about the revenues at
the border crossing, it leaves us no choice but to
investigate the matter. Therefore we have requested
that a committee follow up to investigate the
customs revenue.”
Bashir Khalil, a KDP MP in Parliament, signed the
petition. He said the revenue of all of Kurdistan’s
border points must also be investigated.
“It will raise some questions for us if the
investigation is only for Ibrahih Khalil customs,”
said Khalil.
Among the 50 MPs who signed the petition, 11 are
members of the Kurdistani Bloc, an alliance of the
KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“We are worried that some members of our bloc have
signed the petition. We could have first discussed
this step within our bloc,” Shahab said. “They did
not have to sign the petition, because we as the
majority can pass anything in the Parliament after
we agree on it.”
Goran Azad, another MP from the Kurdistani bloc,
said he signed the petition because he wanted the
truth about the claims of the former security chief
made public.
“It’s important for Parliament to find out the truth
about the claims of the former security official who
spent many years at that border gate,” Azad said.
“This requires an investigation and Parliament
should have a say in the matter if the claims are
true. If they are false, then we will announce to
the public that they were mere accusations. However,
if Parliament refuses to form this committee, we
will have a different position.”
Shahab believes that forming an investigative
committee based on allegations is wrong.
“Parliament can hold its own investigations in
certain cases, but it is unimaginable to see
Parliamentarians forming an investigative committee
based on an allegation made by an official who isn’t
a (financial) specialist. I can’t believe the
Kurdish Parliament would make such a mistake,” said
Shahab.
Rasheed Tahir, chief of staff of the KRG Ministry of
Finance, said, “Those who want to know what happens
to the customs revenue from the Ibrahim Khalil
border should visit the Customs Directorate of
Ibrahim Khalil and the Ministry of Finance. All of
the customs receipts are available and not a single
Iraqi dinar has been stolen. All of the revenue goes
to the KRG Treasury.”
Regarding the creation of a committee to investigate
the revenue, Tahir said, “A committee from the Iraqi
government’s Ministry of Finance in Baghdad has seen
our work. This committee came to investigate the
revenue at Ibrahim Khalil gate and other revenue
from the Kurdistan region. According to the report
of that committee,www.ekurd.net
the best-organized border crossing in Iraq is Ibahim
Khalil. Therefore, we are ready to lay all our
customs receipts out in front of any official
committee once it is formed.”
For decades, the KDP
of regional president Massoud Barzani and the
PUK of Iraq's President
Jalal Talabani have lorded over the region.
Massoud Barzani and his relatives control a
large number of commercial enterprises in
Kurdistan-Iraq, with a gross value of several
billion US dollars. The family is routinely accused
of corruption and nepotism by Kurdish media as well
as international observers.
Iraq's Kurdish regional government has near
total autonomy and is funded by a share of the
country's oil revenue. The two parties that share
power each command former guerrilla militias that
have been given the status of regional security
forces.
An example is
Korek company, owned by a nephew of Kurdistan president
Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP), was established in 2001 in the region
and has 3 million customers, while Kuwait's Zain
started operations in the zone last October.
All three firms secured $1.25 billion licenses each
to operate in Iraq in 2007.
Rudaw part reported by Hevidar Ahmed
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