Directorate of General Security
Encyclopedia
- For the current Iraqi domestic intelligence agency, see General Security Directorate (Iraq).
The Directorate of General Security (DGS) also called Internal State Security, secret police or some variation thereof was a domestic Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i intelligence agency
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
.
History
The DGS was founded in 1921 during the Iraqi monarchy, and it operated under the Ministry of the Interior until 1968. Its police and army officers were charged with the "general security of the state and its property", which included the use of torture and monitoring of dissent.Kzar coup
Nadhim Kzar was named director by Saddam Hussein in 1969 after DGS had deteriorated under 10 years (1958–1968) of army rule. Kzar was known for his sadism, and during his term the DGS tortured and killed thousands. Much of this violence was directed against the Iraqi Communist PartyIraqi Communist Party
Since its foundation in 1934, the Iraqi Communist Party has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a fundamental role in shaping the political history of Iraq between its foundation and the 1970s. The Party was involved in many of the most important national uprisings and demonstrations...
and Iraqi Kurds
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
; in fact, Kzar twice attempted to assassinate Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani
Mustafa Barzani
Mustafa Barzani also known as Mullah Mustafa was a Kurdish nationalist leader, and the most prominent political figure in the modern Kurdish politics. In 1946 he was chosen as the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to lead the Kurdish revolution against Iraqi regimes...
.
Kzar was a Shia Muslim and was angered by the Sunni hold on power in Iraq. Motivated by this he led an ultimately unsuccessful coup in 1973 against President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr , was the fourth President of Iraq from 1968 to 1979.-Military career:...
, including taking hostage both the Minister of the Interior Sa'adiun Gheidan and the Army Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense General Hamid Shehab. Bakr was supposed to be assassinated when his plane landed in Baghdad, but a flight delay caused Kzar to abort the assassination and flee. As his convoy attempted to escape to Iran, Iraqi helicopter gunships attacked, leading to his capture and the death and wounding of General Shehab and Minister Gheidan respectively. Kzar was found guilty on July 7 by the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
The Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council was established after the military coup in 1968, and was the ultimate decision making body in Iraq before the 2003 American-led invasion. It exercised both executive and legislative authority in the country, with the Chairman and Vice Chairman chosen by a...
under Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri and executed that same month for his actions.
Reorganization
As a result of this internal uprising Saddam Hussein sought a secret agreement with KGBKGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
head Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
late that same year, which led to a close relationship that included intelligence exchange, Iraqi training in KGB and GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
schools, a thorough DGS reorganization under the advice of the KGB, equipment for surveillance and interrogation, and Iraqi embassy
Diplomatic missions of Iraq
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Iraq. Iraq maintains a network of diplomatic missions abroad. While the country has re-opened its missions in Washington, London, Tehran and the capitals of other states it was previously hostile to, Iraq does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.-...
support of Soviet agents in countries without Soviet relations
Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
At its founding, the Soviet Union was considered a pariah by most governments because of its communism, and as such was denied diplomatic recognition by most states...
.
Hussein era
The DGS was set up as an independent entity reporting directly to the presidentPresident of Iraq
The President of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution." The President is elected by the Council of...
in the late 1970s or 1989. In 1980 Hussein decided to expand Baathist ideology
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...
within the ranks by appointing as director his first cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti , , was a Ba'athist Iraqi Defense Minister, Interior Minister, military commander and chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service...
. Majid led the DGS throughout the Iran–Iraq War, transforming it into a political force notorious for "torture, kidnapping, murder, and rape".
During the 1991 uprisings in Iraq
1991 uprisings in Iraq
The 1991 uprisings in Iraq were a series of anti-governmental rebellions in southern and northern Iraq during the aftermath of the Gulf War. The revolt was fueled by the perception that the power of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was vulnerable at the time; as well as by heavily fueled anger at...
the DGS was targeted by insurgents, including a battle at the headquarters in Suleymaniye. Tons of documents were seized by Kurdish guerrillas and civilians, and while much was shipped to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, some were kept by Kurdish parties and individuals. The uprising led Saddam Hussein to create the Emergency Forces (Qawat al-Tawaria) to be a new paramilitary branch of the agency. The DGS also began to solicit greater information on foreigners in Iraq, with reports coming in from taxi drivers like those around the Al-Rashid Hotel and from the Ministry of Culture and Information guides and translators, who were a journalist's only option when visiting Iraq.
In 2002 Jane's Intelligence Review
Jane's Intelligence Review
Jane's Intelligence Review is a monthly journal on military intelligence published by Jane's Information Group . Its coverage includes international security issues, ongoing conflicts, organized crime, and weapons proliferation....
reported that the GSD had 10,000 personnel, mainly Baath party members.
In April 2002 a defector who was a lieutenant colonel in the DGS stated that 40% of the rank and file DGS personnel were not showing up for work, but were instead preparing forged papers and exchanging for dollars and euros. The last director of DGS before the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, Rafi Abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti, was the Jack of Hearts
Jack of Hearts
Jack of Hearts is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:Jack of Hearts first appeared in the black & white magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22 , and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and illustrator Keith Giffen...
in the U.S. military's
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
In the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition, the U.S. military developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ranking Baath Party members or members of the Revolutionary Command Council...
. He remains at large, and according to the Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
, was a leader in the insurgency against American forces as of May 2004. DGS was officially dissolved on May 23, 2003 per Order Number 2
Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2
Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2: Dissolution of Entities signed by CPA civil administrator L. Paul Bremer on May 23, 2003, disbanded the Iraqi military, security, and intelligence infrastructure of President Saddam Hussein...
of the Coalition Provisional Authority
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
under Paul Bremer.
Known directors
- Nadhim Kzar (1969–1973)
- Ali Hassan al-MajidAli Hassan al-MajidAli Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti , , was a Ba'athist Iraqi Defense Minister, Interior Minister, military commander and chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service...
(1980–1987) - Abdul Rahman al-Duri (1987–1991)
- Sabawi Ibrahim al-TikritiSabawi Ibrahim al-TikritiSabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti , half brother of Saddam Hussein, was the leader of the Iraqi secret service, the Mukhabarat, at the time of the 1991 Gulf War...
(1991–1996) - Taha Abbas al-Ahbabi (1996–)
- Tahir Jalil al-Habbush (1997–1999)
- Rafi abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti (1997–2003)
See also
- Law enforcement in IraqLaw enforcement in IraqDuring the regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s law enforcement system was marked by corruption and inhumane practices . After the previous police force was completely disbanded, in 2003 a new Iraqi Police Service was established to act as a municipal law enforcement agency under the authority of the...
- Iraqi Intelligence ServiceIraqi Intelligence ServiceThe Iraqi Intelligence Service , also known as the Mukhabarat, General Directorate of Intelligence, or Party Intelligence, was the main state intelligence organization in Iraq under Saddam Hussein...
- Former external Iraqi security agency - Iraqi Special Security OrganizationIraqi Special Security OrganizationThe Iraqi Special Security Organization was the most powerful Iraqi security agency under President Saddam Hussein and was responsible for personal security of high-ranking government officials and presidential facilities. Its director, Hani Abd Al-Latif Tilfah Al-Tikriti was the seventh most...
- Former security agency responsible for security of VIP's