WP: Iraqi oil gets own police force

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From Sunday's Washington Post. No link yet

Iraqi Oil Gets Its Own Police Force
By Jackie Spinner
(c) 2004, The Washington Post


BAGHDAD, Iraq--Until a few weeks ago, the only line of defense at a water-pumping station on an oil pipeline near the northern city of Kirkuk was a burly man named Mohammad, who kept his semi-automatic rifle in a metal safe near the cot where he slept. He had no telephone or radio, and when strangers came by he would shout in Arabic: ``Shoo, shoo, go away. Go to Kirkuk.''

Dozens of guards now patrol the grounds there, and the shack where Mohammad had been isolated is equipped with the latest communications gear. The security upgrade is part of the new Iraqi Force Protection Service, specifically charged with safeguarding the pipelines and refineries that are the circulatory system of the country's financial lifeblood.

... ``The vast pipeline network was a vulnerable target,'' said U.S. Army Col. Tom O'Donnell, who is in charge of setting up the oil police. Nearly 10,000 members of the new police force have been deputized since October, and an additional 4,500 are expected to be in place by the middle of next month.

... O'Donnell also recruits men from the tribes for the police force. The guards go through a one-week training course before being sent out to the field in dark blue uniforms, hand sewn by factory workers here. The force is trained and managed by South African-based Erinys, a private firm founded by former members of the British special forces. The coalition government awarded Erinys a $39.2 million contract in August to set up the force under the direction of the U.S. military. Fifteen firms competed for the contract, which is being paid with Iraqi funds, oil revenue and assets seized from Saddam hideouts. O'Donnell said Erinys ``had the best proposal, and, in my opinion, has delivered to date.''

To help the security effort, the coalition government also has signed a two-year, $10 million lease with Florida-based AirScan Inc. to provide night air surveillance of the pipeline and oil infrastructure, using low-light television cameras to try to spot and head off saboteurs trying to use the cover of darkness. Under terms of the lease, O'Donnell said, the Iraqi government has the right to buy the equipment after two years and will then use Iraqi pilots.

more to come

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