12.1 |
Security Sector Reform
1461.
Maj Gen Shaw
also reflected on the Charge of the Knights in his evidence to
the
Inquiry:
“Charge of
the Knights actually was a great success, in terms of the
establishment
of … Iraqi
self‑rule, because, finally, it was a decisive blow by Maliki
declaring some
elements of
the Shia polity out of bounds.”1332
In April
2008, the Iraqi Navy grew and took on additional
responsibilities:
•
Around 500
Iraqi Army personnel were transferred to the Iraqi Marines to form
a
second
battalion.1333
One
battalion provided defence of the offshore oil
platforms
and the
second protected the port of Umm Qasr.
•
The Iraqi Navy
took responsibility for the point defence of the Khwar al
Amaya
Oil
terminal and perimeter security for the port and power station in
az‑Zubayr.
By that
stage the Navy personnel total had increased to over
1,800.
As the UK
had failed to negotiate an MOU covering the continued presence of
Royal
Navy
trainers, the 80 Royal Navy personnel temporarily departed Iraq
along with other UK
forces in
July 2009.1334
A UK‑Iraq
Training and Maritime Support Agreement was signed
in November
2009 and the trainers returned. They worked alongside around 50 US
Navy,
Marine and
Coastguard personnel.
The Royal
Navy team remained in Iraq until 22 May 2011 when the agreement
expired.1335
Between
2003 and 2011, the UK trained 1,800 Iraqi Navy personnel, providing
between
50 and 90
Royal Navy personnel for the task. Dr Liam Fox, the Defence
Secretary, stated:
“Royal Navy
personnel have used their formidable skills and expertise to
bring
about a
transformation in Iraq’s naval force. The Iraqi Navy has a key role
to play
in
protecting Iraq’s territorial waters and the oil infrastructure
that is so vital to Iraq’s
economy,
and I am proud of the role British forces have played in making it
capable
of doing
that job.”
The Naval
training mission continued until May 2011 when 81 Navy trainers and
three UK
personnel
in Baghdad withdrew and Op TELIC formally
ended.1336
1462.
On 1 April
2008, Prime Minister Maliki announced that he was going
to
supplement
the ISF with 10,000 Basra citizens as Sons of Iraq (as described
earlier
in this
Section).1337
Maj Gen White‑Spunner
reported:
1332
Public
hearing, 11 January 2010, page 20.
1333
Report to
Congress, 13 June 2008, Measuring
Stability and Security in Iraq.
1334
Report to
Congress, 29 January 2010, Measuring
Stability and Security in Iraq.
1335
Press
Release MOD, 18 May 2011, ‘Operations in Iraq Finish with the
Completion of Royal Navy
Training
Mission’.
1336
GOV.UK, 18
May 2011, Operations
in Iraq Finish with Completion of Royal Navy Training
Mission.
1337
Minute
White‑Spunner to CJO, 3 March [sic] 2008, ‘GOC MND(SE) Weekly
letter – 3 April 2008’.
393