Guardsmen Accused of Racketeering

Friday, 18 November, 2005

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Meethaq Marzook

Baghdad residents are accusing Iraqi National Guardsmen manning petrol stations of nepotism and corruption.

Residents say some guardsmen who are supposed to organise lines at the pumps and provide security are instead using their positions to allow friends and relatives to cut in the queues, or favouring those who pay them bribes.

“We like to have order and rules for getting fuel, but the National Guardsmen are the reason behind this chaos,” said Ismail Hameed, waiting in a queue.

Another customer, Iman Tahseen, said people queuing up felt powerless to stop the abuse of authority, “It angers us, but we can’t say anything about it.”

National Guardsman Hassan Hadi acknowledged that some of his colleagues were allowing friends and relatives to get petrol first without standing in line, but insisted the problem was not widespread.

“We try our best to organise the cars entering the fuel stations, yet some violations do happen,” he said. “However, these are very few compared with the huge numbers of guardsmen who are sticking to the law.”

Some Baghdad residents say they prefer to go to petrol stations that are organised and guarded by American soldiers, as they don’t allow anyone to push in. “In the presence of the Americans, nothing like that happens,” said Ehab al-Moozani, a taxi driver.” No one dares to jump the queue.”

Wisam Hikmat said he preferred to use US-manned pumps even though he’s against the occupation, “ It means I’ll get my share of fuel quicker than I would with the National Guardsmen.”

But another critic of the occupation Thamir Noori, also a taxi driver, said he would rather put up with long waits at guardsmen-run stations than have to deal with US soldiers. “I prefer to stay days in a queue than see the Americans organising [them],” he said.

Regardless of the corruption and nepotism claims, petrol shortage problems remain because security concerns have prevented tankers crossing from neighboring countries like Syria and Jordan into the country. The supply difficulties have improved however since an election-related curfew was lifted.

Oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said the government provides petrol stations with adequate quantities of fuel, but some owners were selling it onto the black market, where they could earn a bigger profit.

Hassan Ali, who sells petrol on the streets of Baghdad, admitted that he collaborated with some petrol station owners. He said he pays double the price that a regular customer at a fuel station would pay.

For taxi driver Ahmed Abdullah, fuel shortages and high prices on the black market mean he has to work extra hard to make ends meet. “This is cruel and unfair,” he said.

Meethaq Marzook and Noor al-Kattan are IWPR trainee journalists in Baghdad.