Heavy Hand of the Secret Police Impeding Reform in Arab World

Newspaper article

By: Neil MacFarquhar

Date: November 14, 2005

Source: Neil MacFarquhar. "Heavy Hand of the Secret Police Impeding Reform in Arab World." The New York Times (November 14, 2005): A-1. 〈http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/international/middleeast/14jordan.html?〉 (accessed March 10, 2006).

About the Author: Neil MacFarquhar is a veteran foreign correspondent currently writing for the New York Times and has operated as a correspondent in the Middle East for more than twelve years, including five years as the Cairo bureau chief. He studied at Stanford University and is fluent in Arabic and French. During the prelude to the Gulf War, MacFarquhar occupied a hotel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for seven months, and wrote the book The Sand Café about the experience.

INTRODUCTION

In 1916, the French and British entered into a secret agreement to divide the Ottoman Empire into French and British-administered areas. The understanding partitioned Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine into mandates ruled by the European powers. A year later, in 1917, the League of Nations agreed to the Balfour Declaration, which called for the creation of a Jewish state in the British-mandated region of Palestine. These two agreements put into motion the creation of the modern Arab world. France controlled mandates over Syria and Lebanon and Great Britain administered mandates over Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan (today known as Jordan). Britain placed into power the sons of the Sharif in Mecca in an effort to pacify the Arabs over the Jewish question. Many ethnic groups, such as the Kurds, sought the creation of their own nation-states. However, European interests did not allow for this and as a result led to several ethnically blended countries. At the close of World War II, France and Britain began to withdraw their influence over the Arab states. As a result, countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq would encounter ethnically motivated security issues in the decades that followed.

In the development of independent nation-states, many Arab countries chose to create a mukhabarat(meaning "intelligence") department as a branch of their government. In Egypt, the Mukhabarat al-Aama or Al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah operate to gather general intelligence and security services. In Jordan, the Dairat al Mukhabarat functions as the intelligence branch of the government. In Syria, Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Amma operates as the intelligence and security service.

Although many Arab states operate as republics, basic freedoms such as speech and assembly are not afforded to citizens and the utilization of respective mukhabarat services are often a result of the ethnic turmoil within the states and neighboring states. Lebanon, for example, has operated under the influence of Syria for decades following a bloody struggle between Christians and Muslims. As a result, the Syrian Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Amma has operated within Lebanon. A report by Human Rights Watch explains the "disappearance" of Lebanese men at the hands of the security service. Plain-clothed Syrian operatives seize individuals without providing detainees or their families with an official or written explanation or detention order.

In Iraq, before the U.S.-led coalition invasion, the mukhabarat functioned as the strongest element of the state security system. Operating under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the agency was tasked with overseeing the police networks and state institutions. The organization consisted of both internal security and external security. However, after the 1990 Gulf War, much of the agency's focus surrounded anti-regime activities.

Egypt's Nasser established the security service. Under Nasser, this service used intrusive tactics to deter public meetings perceived as unfriendly to the government. Under Anwar Sadat, however, the agencies loosened their tactics. However, this led to the surprise assassination of Sadat and unrest during the late 1980s led by radical Islamists. The size of the intelligence force is unknown. However, the group is known to monitor opposition politicians, political activists, foreign diplomats, subversives, and journalists.

PRIMARY SOURCE

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SIGNIFICANCE

As democracy begins to flourish in the Middle East, Western powers have begun to place pressure on Arab states to loosen the oppressive tactics used by security services on citizens. In May 2005, King Abdullah II removed Saad Kheir from his position as director-general of the General Intelligence Department (GID). Kheir held the position for over four years and Abdullah replaced him with career intelligence officer Lieutenant General Samih Asfoura, a U.S.-trained counterintelligence specialist. Sahmoud Kharabshed, an independent member of the Jordanian Parliament, stated after the change in leadership, "Security must not dictate politics … the GID has expanded their jurisdiction to politics beyond their security roles. They have interfered in appointments and the decisions of governments." The move was seen as a shift in government policies that would encourage privatizations and foreign investment.

Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, several of Lebanon's security chiefs resigned. The demise of these leaders, generally operating under Syrian influence, were seen as a weakening of Syrian control over the country and a victory for the pro-democracy movement in Lebanon.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Periodicals

Blanche, Ed. "Arab Intelligence Services in the Crosshairs." Middle East (June 2005).

Web sites

BBC. "The Sykes-Picot Agreement." 〈http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1681362.stm〉 (accessed March 10, 2006).

Federation of American Scientists (FAS). "Egypt: Intelligence Agencies." 〈http://www.fas.org/irp/world/egypt/index.html〉 (accessed March 10, 2006).

GlobalSecurity.org. "Iraqi Intelligence Services." 〈http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iraq/mukhabarat.htm〉 (accessed March 10, 2006).

Human Rights Watch. "The Methodology of Enforced Disappearances in Lebanon." 〈http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/syria/Syria-04.htm〉 (accessed March 10, 2006).