Iraqis split over importing police dogs to detect explosives

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqis are divided over a recent interior ministry decision to import police dogs trained to detect explosives in the aftermath of an exposé about an allegedly fraud explosives detectors imported by Iraq from Britain. Emad al-Sharaa, a journalist, welcomed the decision in principle. “I support the decision provided that police dogs are optimally used in this regard. We know that part of the recently-imported ADE 651 devices to detect explosives was about their misuse,” Sharaa told IraqiNews.com news agency. The ADE 651, produced by ATSC (UK), is advertised as a hand-held “remote portable substance detector” that is claimed to be able to detect from a distance the presence and location of various explosives, drugs, and other substances. The Iraqi government is said to have spent £52m ($85m) on the devices. However, investigations by the BBC and other organizations have reported that the device is little more than a “glorified dowsing rod” with no ability to perform its claimed functions. The export of the device to Iraq and Afghanistan has been banned by the British government, and the managing director of the company which manufactures it, 53-year-old Jim McCormick, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud. “These dogs need special care and professional trainers, but the most important thing is that these dogs must be really trained to detect explosives and that there would be no administrative corruption involved in their import like the case with the ADE 651 devices,” Sharaa added. The Iraqi interior minister said it has signed contracts with the U.S. side to import 25 police dogs trained to detect explosives. The 25 dogs are the first batch of a total 125, to be distributed all over Iraq. Hanaa Edward, however, is doubtful about the interior ministry’s announcement, not welcoming the idea of police dogs on the streets of Iraq. “These dogs would cause crowdedness on checkpoints. Besides, how many police dogs would the large city of Baghdad need?” she wondered. AmR (S) 2