Baghdad – Italy in the forefront in training Iraqi police forces

Italy is in the forefront in training Iraqi police forces. The Italian Carabinieri’s Task Force in Baghdad, participating in the “Prima Parthica” mission, has recently concluded three training courses for 900 agents of Iraq’s Federal and Local Police forces. During the diploma awarding ceremony in Camp Dublin, Italian Ambassador in Baghdad, Massimo Carnelos, illustrated Italy’s multi-disciplinary approach in providing support to Iraq through different activities – military, humanitarian, stabilising and cultural – with a special focus on the courses on the protection of cultural heritage recently provided by the Carabinieri to experts of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior. In June 2015, Italy deployed in Baghdad a Carabinieri Task Force comprising 90 men, who trained 2,100 agents of local police forces. The diploma awarding ceremony was attended by Ambassador Brett McGurk, the special envoy of the United States President at the Global Coalition to counter ISIL, along with the top officials of the Coalition, the Deputy Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Lise Grande, the Iraqi Deputy Minister of the Interior, Gen. D. Mowafaq, and the representative of the EU delegation, Mr. Thierry Martin. Italy was represented by the Chief of Staff of the Carabinieri General Headquarters, Gen. C.A. Ilio Ciceri.