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Iran is behind the Badr Brigade in Iraq – report |
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Wednesday, 16 November 2005 |
Iran Focus
 London, Nov. 17 – The Badr Brigade who were accused this week of jailing and torturing their Iraqi opponents, along with their political front Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), are financed and run by neighbouring Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to a report on an Arab-language website, which said it had uncovered documentary evidence of financial ties between Tehran and the dangerous militia.
Iran pays the Badr Brigade, recently renamed to Badr Organisation, a monthly salary of approximately three million dollars, the Jordanian website al-Malaf Net reported.
Al-Malaf Net said Iran’s military as well as its notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) were involved in illegal activities in Iraq through their regional proxy, the Badr Brigade.
The report identified Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Badr militia and a member of Iraq’s parliament, as a key link between Tehran and Iraq’s Interior Ministry. It said that al-Ameri had a direct link to the IRGC’s elite Qods Force, which is tasked with exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution to Arab states. He is regularly received by Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani, it added.
Major posts in the Interior Ministry are held by former top Badr Brigade commanders and its police force are widely seen by Iraq experts as simply an outfit for the militia. Al-Malaf Net said that the militia are directed in their activities from Tehran, adding that one of the floors in the headquarters of Iraq’s Interior Ministry is under the control of the MOIS. It said that Sunni Muslim elements have been tortured and killed there.
The report went on to describe kidnapping and assassination operations by uniformed police and Interior Ministry officials against individuals against Tehran’s influence in Iraq, adding that fatwas, or religious edicts, for the assassination of Iraqi personalities are issued by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Documents show that Hadi al-Ameri receives a monthly wage of three million dollars from Tehran to pay his subordinates in the Badr militia. This sum excludes other expenditure, such as for rent, medical treatment, phone expenses and bonuses, which are paid separately.
Among the documents revealed in the report was an assassination request which included the name of Iraq’s former President Ayad Allawi on the target list.
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