Baghdad, January 24: The head of the Iraqi parliament’s defence and security committee on Sunday called for an investigation into a fraudulent British device used at Iraqi checkpoints to detect bombs but recently banned by Britain.
“We will start to gather evidence to find out how this piece of equipment was sold to Iraq,” Hadi Al-Ameri, chair of the committee said.
“If the (British) company was responsible we will seek compensation via the ministry of foreign affairs.”
Ameri was referring to the ADE651, a hand-held, pistol-shaped device which uses a series of interchangeable credit card size paper cards said to be able to detect explosives such as C4 and TNT, as well as weapons.
The device, known as “the magic wand,” uses a series of interchangeable credit card size paper cards said to be able to detect explosives.
It is manufactured by ATSC, a British-based company, was reputedly sold for between 16,500 and 60,000 dollars per unit, and has become ubiquitous in Iraq, having been bought in large numbers by local security forces.
Britain banned export of the device last week after tests showed it was not suitable for bomb detection. Police also arrested ATSC director Jim McCormick, 53, on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation. He was bailed pending further investigation.
The ADE651 was being used on Sunday in Baghdad, the restive northern city of Mosul and the sprawling southern city of Basra, media correspondents said.
Ammar Touma, an MP who sits on the defence and security committee, echoed Ameri’s concerns and called for a probe into why the ADE651 had been bought.
“I want an investigation into why this device was purchased,” he said. “I also want to know if corruption was involved.”
The defence and security committee investigation must be approved by parliament before it is formally allowed to come into force.
The British ban is limited to Iraq and Afghanistan, because the ADE651 is not classed as military technology. The new restrictions were based on the risk that sale of such goods “could cause harm to UK and other friendly forces.”
“Tests have shown that the technology used in the ADE651 and similar devices is not suitable for bomb detection,” the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said in a statement.
“As soon as it was brought to the attention of the Export Control Organisation and (business secretary) Lord (Peter) Mandelson we acted urgently to put in place export restrictions which will come into force next week,” it added.
While ATSC did not need an export licence because the ADE651 is not officially military technology, the department said “it is clearly of concern that it is being used as bomb detection equipment.”
—Agencies