Iraqi probe determines British bomb detection device works, will not be pulled from service

Bomb-detecting wands to be kept in service in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Iraq will not pull a scandal-ridden bomb detection device from service, saying an investigation has determined that most of the wand-like instruments work, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

Exports of the British-made instruments to Iraq and Afghanistan were banned by Britain last month after a television report challenged their ability to detect explosives following a series of suicide bombing attacks in central Baghdad that killed hundreds. The U.S. also has repeatedly urged Baghdad to stop using the devices because they don’t work.

But Iraq said an investigation ordered by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki found the devices — used primarily at Iraqi checkpoints — generally work, though some were fake or ineffective. Those would be withdrawn from service and replaced with new versions, according to a statement by government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

Iraq is still investigating individuals involved in the procurement and import of the devices and plans to sue the manufacturer over those that did not work, he said.

The statement did not say exactly how many of the wands would be withdrawn from service, but al-Dabbagh later told The Associated Press that only 50 percent of the gadgets were operational. However, he added, measures were being taken to expand the use of trained dogs at checkpoints to detect explosives.

Britain halted the export of the ADE651 last month after a BBC report found the device uses technology similar to anti-shoplifting tags that cannot uncover explosives. Police later arrested the company’s director on suspicion of fraud. He has since been released, though an investigation continues.

There was no immediate comment from the device’s manufacturer, ATSC Ltd., although the company’s managing director Jim McCormick has in the past defended his equipment.

A number for the company, based in a rural area of southwestern England, rang unanswered. A message posted to the company’s Internet site said the Web page was “under repair.”

Last month, the Iraqis promised to halt the use of the gadgets and seek an alternative if the investigation determined they were flawed. But al-Dabbagh’s statement said only that individual devices had problems while supporting the use of the gadgets overall.

As early as June 2009, the U.S. military told Iraq the device did not work. It distributed a study, which used laboratory testing and X-ray analysis that found the ADE651 ineffective.

The New York Times reported in November that the Iraqi government purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, at a cost of between $16,500 and $60,000 each.

The British government said it is not aware of the ADE651 being used in Afghanistan but it included that country in the ban because British and allied forces are fighting there.

Thailand’s army also is using a similar device in the insurgency-wracked south of the country, although the Thai government has concluded it is ineffective.

Fourth Army Region Commander Lt. Gen. Pichet Wisaijorn said last week that his officers will continue to use the British-made GT200 devices until they are supplied with something better.

Human rights groups and other critics have charged that the devices have failed to detect bombs, leading to loss of life, and give “false positives” leading to the detention of innocent people.

In an example of the types of blasts that the wands were designed to protect against, a bomb exploded near a book market in Baghdad, killing one bystander and wounding four others, said a Baghdad police officer. And in the northern city of Mosul, gunmen broke into the house of a Christian man, and killed him along with his two sons, said a Mosul police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The attack in Mosul comes as the New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the government to do more to protect Christians in the northern city after five were killed since Feb. 14 — not counting the latest attack.

The group called for increased security around Christian neighborhoods in the run-up to elections, citing the damage done to the community by a spate of killings in 2008.

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Associated Press reporter Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.