<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — Iraqis deploy improved polygraph to weed out Al Qaida infiltrators

Iraqis deploy improved polygraph to weed out Al Qaida infiltrators

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 Free Headline Alerts

BAGHDAD — Iraq is using polygraph tests to detect Al Qaida agents seeking to infiltrate the nation's military and security services.

Officials said the U.S. military has been training Iraqis on methods to identify Al Qaida agents who infiltrate or seek to join the army and security forces. They said the methods include the use of an advanced polygraph in vetting applicants for security positions.

"It is vital that we ensure that our employees in key services are trustworthy," Iraqi police Gen. Mohammed Hamier said.

So far, eight representatives of the Iraqi Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry have been trained in the use of polygraphs. The representatives concluded a six-month course in Baghdad that employed an advanced polygraph designed in Canada.

"Until now we have made employees fill in questionnaires on paper, and then we questioned them," Hamier said. "It is very easy to lie. But now that will be much more difficult." In the past, U.S. interrogators have complained that Al Qaida-aligned suspects were able to overcome polygraphs. But officials said the Canadian model was more sensitive in detecting changes in interrogation subjects.

"These sensors are very sensitive; you can't beat them," U.S. instructor Daniel Sosnowski said. "If the interogee is trained to evade detection, we're trained also to look for his counter-measures." [On Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, 21 Al Qaida operatives were detained during operations in northern Iraq. Four of the detained operatives were deemed as fugitives.]

The Canadian-origin polygraph, reported to cost $5,500, contains six sensors attached to a laptop computer. The sensors measure breathing, heart beat and blood pressure of the subject under interrogation.

"With these polygraphs, they'll be able to be sure that people are who they say they are, that they don't give away information they are not supposed to," Steven Bond, the senior adviser at the U.S. Intelligence Transition Team, said.

Officials said Al Qaida was believed to have infiltrated hundreds of agents in the military, police as well as in the Interior Ministry and Defense Ministry. They said this has enabled Al Qaida to track and kill groups of military and security officers throughout Iraq.

"Al Qaida has proved that they are very good with sleeper cells, to infiltrate people in sensitive positions," Bond said.

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