Following the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 2341 (2017), UNODC/TPB organized a national training for Iraq on good practices to address terrorist-related threats to critical oil infrastructure in Beirut from 24 to 27 April 2017. The event was generously funded by the Government of Japan.
The training gathered 20 Iraqi officials from the National Security Advisory, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Interior, the Air Defence Force and the Oil Facilities Protection Department. In addition to INTERPOL, experts from the private sector and those representing relevant departments in Egypt, Spain and Lebanon attended the event.
The three-day training focused on effective strategies to protect different kinds of critical infrastructure targeted by terrorist groups - in particular in the energy and transportation sectors, as well as different modus operandi of terrorist groups, including the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. The CTED Trends Report, published in March 2017, shed light on the discussion of gaps and vulnerabilities in the protection of critical infrastructure as well as for the relevant requirements of international legal instruments and international efforts.
The training addressed different components of critical infrastructure protection policies, including prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery. In this regard, participants had the opportunity to discuss relevant good practices with the experts. In addition, UNODC/TPB organized a visit to Beirut International Airport (BIA), where Iraqi participants had the opportunity to benefit from the experience of the Lebanese airport security-training centre (CERSA), which is one of two ICAO certified training centres in the region. Lebanese officials presented challenges and good practices to protect critical infrastructure located in proximity of densely populated areas such as BIA, and welcomed any relevant training to Iraqi law enforcement in the premises of the CERSA training centre.
.