Iraqis caught buying firearms from the Mafia

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http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/iraqis-caught-buying-firearms-from-the-mafia/2007/08/13/1186857427665.html

THE loss of control by the US over the flood of weapons into Iraq has been highlighted again when it emerged that Italian anti-Mafia investigators had uncovered an alleged shipment of 105,000 rifles of which the US high command was unaware.

The Italian team, in an investigation codenamed Operation Parabellum, stopped the $US40 million ($47.2 million) sale and made four arrests.

The consignment appears to have been ordered by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. The US high command in Baghdad admitted on Sunday that it had no knowledge of any such order, even though the ministry is supposed to inform the Americans before making any arms purchases.

Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Williams, of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, which is responsible for training the Iraqi security army and policy, said: "Iraqi officials did not make MNSTC-I aware that they were making purchases."

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official insisted the weapons were mostly for police in Anbar province. But, given the close relationship between the Shiite-led government and Shiite militias and the irregular nature of the arms order, the disclosure prompted suspicion that the eventual destination could have been the militias, or police units close to them.