View source for Iraqi National Intelligence Service

{{Short description|Government agency}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Iraqi National Intelligence Service
| nativename      = جهاز المخابرات الوطني العراقي
| nativename_a    = 
| logo            =
| logo_width      = 155px
| logo_caption    = Official agency emblem
| seal            =
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = 
| formed          = April 2004
| preceding1      = [[Iraqi Intelligence Service|Mukhabarat]]
| preceding2      = 
| dissolved       = 
| superseding     = 
| jurisdiction    = [[Prime Minister of Iraq|Prime Minister’s Office]]
| headquarters    = [[Green Zone]], [[Baghdad]]
| employees       = ''Classified''
| budget          = 
| minister1_name  = 
| minister1_pfo   = 
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = 
| chief1_name     = Hamid al-Shattri<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baghdadtoday.news/264198-السوداني-يكلف-الشطري-رئيساً-للمخابرات-والوائلي-لرئاسة-المنافذ.html|title=السوداني يكلف الشطري رئيساً للمخابرات والوائلي لرئاسة المنافذ|publisher=Baghdad Today|language=ar}}</ref>
| chief1_position = Director
| chief2_name     = 
| chief2_position = 
| parent_agency   = Independent
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| website         = [http://www.inis.gov.iq/ inis.gov.iq]
| footnotes       = 
}}
The '''Iraqi National Intelligence Service''' ('''INIS'''; {{langx|ar|جهاز المخابرات الوطني العراقي|Jihāz al-Mukhābarāt al-Waṭanī al-ʻIrāqī}}) is a civilian [[intelligence agency]] whose constitutional duty is to collect intelligence, assess threats to national security, and advise the Iraqi government. The INIS is subject to legislative oversight and reports directly to the [[Prime Minister of Iraq]].<ref>Constitution of Iraq, Article 9 and 84.</ref> 

It was created with the help of the [[CIA]] to replace the [[Iraqi Intelligence Service|Mukhabarat]], the main intelligence agency of the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/031212-iraq.htm |title=Phoenix Rising|publisher=[[The American Prospect]]|date=1 January 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011050807/https://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/031212-iraq.htm|archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ned |last=Parker |title=Iraq's spy chief accuses Badr militia of killing agents |url=https://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=11578 |date=14 October 2004 |access-date=24 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010091331/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=11578 |archive-date= 10 October 2017 |url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Dana |last=Priest |first2=Robin |last2=Wright|title=Iraq Spy Service Planned by U.S. To Stem Attacks: CIA Said to Be Enlisting Hussein Agents |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A54518-2003Dec10&notFound=true|publisher=[[Washington Post]] |date=11 December 2003|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180820121140/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A54518-2003Dec10&notFound=true |archive-date= 20 August 2018}}</ref> 

According to the constitution, a law that regulates the work and defines the duties and authorities of the agency must be passed by the [[Council of Representatives (Iraq)|Council of Representatives]], but as of 2024, this is yet to be implemented.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iq.parliament.iq/blog/الأمن-النيابية-تناقش-مشروع-قانون-جهاز-5/|title=الأمن النيابية تناقش مشروع قانون جهاز المخابرات الوطني|publisher=Parliament of Iraq|language=ar}}</ref>

==History==
After the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the head of the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] [[Paul Bremer|L. Paul Bremer]] disbanded [[Iraq]]'s military and security services per [[Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2|CPA Order Number 2]]. As the security situation within Iraq deteriorated and [[Iraqi resistance]] to the occupation became stronger and more violent, the need for a secret service became more pressing. In December 2003, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that [[Iyad Allawi]] and [[Nouri Badran]], members of both the [[Iraq Interim Governing Council]] and the [[Iraqi National Accord]] political party, flew to the U.S. to discuss details of setting up a new secret service with the help of the [[CIA]]. The agency was to be headed by Badran and recruit many agents of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s [[Iraqi Intelligence Service]]. The main objective of the new organisation was to counter the insurgency. The hiring process was aided by CIA [[polygraph]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Dana |last=Priest |author2=Wright, Robin |title=Iraq Spy Service Planned by U.S. To Stem Attacks: CIA Said to Be Enlisting Hussein Agents |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A54518-2003Dec10&notFound=true  |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2003-12-11}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In January 2004, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that the creation of the new agency was under way. It was to employ between 500 and 2,000 staff and be financed by the U.S. government. [[Ibrahim al-Janabi]] was said to be the main candidate for leading the agency. These efforts drew criticism from [[Ahmed Chalabi]], another formerly exiled Iraqi politician who had good connections with the CIA, who voiced worries that the new agency might be used for the restoration of the old [[Ba'athist]] security apparatus and follow the well-established pattern of government repression.

===Establishment===
In April 2004, CPA head L. Paul Bremer signed Authority Order Number 69, which laid out a charter for the INIS and authorized the [[Iraqi Governing Council]] to create such an agency. Its first director is [[Mohammed Abdullah al-Shahwani]] and it has been funded from secret funds set aside within the Iraq appropriation approved by the U.S. Congress. These secret funds, totalling $3 billion over three years, are said to be destined for covert CIA operations within Iraq (as well as, to a small extent, [[Afghanistan]]).<ref name=GlobalSecurity>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/031212-iraq.htm Phoenix Rising], ''[[The American Prospect]]'', January 1, 2004</ref> Al-Shehwani was in the Iraqi military from 1955 until 1984, fled to the UK in 1990 and lost his three sons in the [[1996 Iraqi coup d'état attempt|1996 failed coup]] organized by INA (Iraqi National Accord) and the CIA.

===Assassinations===
In mid-2004, 18 INIS agents were killed—ten by the [[Badr Organization]] and eight by [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]]'s [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]] according to al-Shahwani. He also accused the Iranian embassy in Baghdad of organizing the Badr assassinations.<ref>{{cite news|last=Parker|first=Ned|date=2004-10-14|title=Iraq's spy chief accuses Badr militia of killing agents|url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=11578|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010091331/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=11578|archive-date=2017-10-10|accessdate=2008-01-24}}</ref>

In 2021, a number of members of the agency were subjected to assassination, such as: the assassination of the assistant director of monitoring in the intelligence service, Colonel Nibras Abu Ali, and the assassination of an intelligence officer in the Mansour area, west of Baghdad.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-07|title=اغتيال ضابط كبير شرق بغداد.. والكاظمي يأمر بالتحقيق|url=https://www.alarabiya.net/arab-and-world/iraq/2021/06/07/%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B7-%D9%83%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF|access-date=2021-10-31|website=العربية|language=ar}}</ref>

According to Iraqi sources, the assassinations come as a "reaction" from the [[Popular Mobilization Forces|militias]] towards the restrictions imposed on them by the [[Mustafa Al-Kadhimi|Al-Kadhimi]] [[Council of Ministers (Iraq)|government]] in several areas, including changing military and security leaders, removing members affiliated with [[Popular Mobilization Forces|Iran-backed militas]] from sensitive areas such as [[Karrada]] area near the [[Green Zone]] and the airport, and arresting leaders and people affiliated with them such as Hussam Al-Azerjawi, Qassem Musleh and the leader of the assassination squad in Basra during the [[2019–2021 Iraqi protests|2019-21 protests]].<ref>{{Cite web|title="ردة فعل" وتهديد لحكومة الكاظمي.. تفاصيل عن اغتيال ضابط المخابرات العراقي {{!}} الحرة|url=https://www.alhurra.com/iraq/2021/06/07/%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%81%D8%B9%D9%84-%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B8%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%8A|access-date=2021-10-31|website=www.alhurra.com|language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=البرلمان يتحرك بشأن ضباط المخابرات المنقولين للمنافذ الحدودية|url=https://shafaq.com/ar/سیاسة/البرلمان-يتحرك-بش-ن-ضباط-المخابرات-المنقولين-للمنافذ-الحدودية|access-date=2021-10-31|website=البرلمان يتحرك بشأن ضباط المخابرات المنقولين للمنافذ الحدودية}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=rima.khalil|title=شهر على التحقيق مع عناصر "فرقة الموت" في البصرة: تكتم على النتائج|url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/politics/%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%82-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1-%22%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AA%22-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AC|access-date=2021-10-31|website=www.alaraby.co.uk/|language=ar}}</ref>

==Mission==
According to CPA Order 69, which established the INIS, it is tasked to collect intelligence and perform intelligence activities with regard to:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040401_CPAORD69_Delegation_of_Authority_to_Establish_the_Iraqi_National_Intelligence_Service_with_Annex.pdf |title=Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 69: Delegation of Authority to Establish the Iraqi National Intelligence Service |access-date=2008-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040701202620/http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040401_CPAORD69_Delegation_of_Authority_to_Establish_the_Iraqi_National_Intelligence_Service_with_Annex.pdf |archive-date=2004-07-01 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> 

*Threats to the national security of Iraq. 
*Terrorism and Insurgency.
*Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, [[narcotic]]s production and [[Smuggling|trafficking]], and serious organized crime.
*Espionage and other acts threatening to Iraqi democracy.

Article 9 of the [[constitution of Iraq]] defines the basic duties of the agency.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.inis.gov.iq/ Official site]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040701202620/http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040401_CPAORD69_Delegation_of_Authority_to_Establish_the_Iraqi_National_Intelligence_Service_with_Annex.pdf Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 69: Delegation of Authority to Establish the Iraqi National Intelligence Service]}}

{{Iraqi security forces}}
{{External national intelligence agencies}}

[[Category:Iraqi intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 2004]]
[[Category:2004 establishments in Iraq]]