The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
ACC Barton
and his staff officer) and two military officers operating from
Basra in
2007.1188
It was
thought that the PTT numbers would reduce further in April
and,
depending
on progress, might not be required at all.
1280.
The MOD and
the FCO produced separate papers on future plans for
Basra
for DOP(I)
on 7 December.1189
Both papers
envisaged military and civilian personnel
relocating
to Basra Air Station with an undefined “residual presence” possibly
remaining
at the
PJCC. The MOD stated that there would be a number of post‑handover
tasks
including:
•
continued
training and mentoring of the Iraqi Army, IPS and the Department
of
Border
Enforcement (DBE);
•
support to
other government departments’ efforts on Iraqi police
training,
including
co‑ordinating the disbandment of the Serious Crimes Unit (SCU);
and
•
retaining
the capacity to intervene if security were to deteriorate beyond
the
capabilities
of the ISF.
1281.
The FCO listed
a number of police training tasks for 2007 including:
•
clearing
out the SCU (dealing with 300‑400 staff and transferring detainees
out
of SCU
custody);
•
specialist
support to Basra Police Headquarters at the Warren site,
including
the
National Information and Investigation Agency (NIIA), the TIPS
hotline and
forensics
training;
•
mentoring
the Chief of Police; and
•
developing
leadership training.
1282.
DOP(I)
discussed and “took note” of both papers.1190
1283.
In his
evidence to the Inquiry, Lt Gen Shirreff described the
specialist police units,
in
particular the SCU, as “a serious problem that needed to be
resolved”.1191
He
said
that their
activities included “intimidating, murdering, kidnapping ordinary
Basrawis”.
He added
that for the people of Basra, the SCU was a “bastion of tyranny
right in
their midst”.
1188
Paper FCO
[junior official], 30 December 2006, ‘Shaping the CivPol Mission –
Iraq 2007’.
1189
Paper MOD
officials, 5 December 2006, ‘UK Military Plans for Southern Iraq in
2007, A Briefing Paper
for DOP‑I
by Officials’; Paper FCO officials, 1 December 2006, ‘Basra:
Objectives and Presence in 2007’.
1190
Minutes, 7
December 2006, DOP(I) meeting.
1191
Public
hearing, 11 January 2010, pages 27‑31.
352