Iraqi Intelligence Service

Iraqi Intelligence Service
جهاز المخابرات العراقي
Jihaz Al-Mukhabarat Al-Eiraqii
IIS logo
Agency overview
Formed1973
Preceding agency
  • Jihaz al Khas (Special Apparatus)
Dissolved23 May 2003
JurisdictionGovernment of Iraq
HeadquartersAl-Harthiya Garrison, Baghdad 33°18′35″N 44°21′33″E / 33.309651°N 44.359075°E / 33.309651; 44.359075
Agency executive
Parent agencyIndependent

The Iraqi Intelligence Service (Arabic: جهاز المخابرات العامة العراقية, romanizedJihaz Al-Mukhabarat Al-Eiraqii, lit.'General Intelligence Directorate of Iraq') also known as the Mukhabarat, General Intelligence Directorate, or Party Intelligence, was an 8,000-man agency and the main state intelligence organization in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. The IIS was primarily concerned with international intelligence collection and analysis but also performed many activities inside Iraq in conjunction with the Directorate of General Security as a secret police organization.

The most important section of the IIS was Directorate 4: the Secret Service. One of the well known Directors was Rafi Daham al-Tikriti (Arabic: رافع دحام مجول التكريتي) the former Iraqi Ambassador to Turkey and the last Chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. The Secret Service was tasked with infiltrating both foreign and domestic governments, unions, embassies, and opposition groups. IIS often worked closely with the Iraqi General Security Directorate (the Iraqi equivalent of the FBI) when conducting domestic activities.

IIS is alleged to be responsible for a number of assassinations and attempted assassinations abroad. These include the assassinations of former Iraqi prime minister Abdul Razzaq an-Naif in London (July 1978), Salih Mahdi Ammash in Helsinki (January 1985), Sheikh Talib al-Suhail al-Tamimi in Beirut (April 1994), Ayatollah Mehdi al-Hakim in Sudan (January 1988) and Ayad Habashi in Rome (October 1986),[citation needed] as well as the attempted assassinations of President George H. W. Bush, the Emir of Kuwait[1] and the former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.[citation needed]