The Ericsson List project, led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its 30 partners, including the Cellule investigation de Radio France, revealed the existence of a vast system of corruption set up by the telephony giant Ericsson, as well as the payment of bribes to members of the Islamic State (IS) between 2014 and 2017.
But on the sidelines of this damning report for the Swedish group, the name of the French group Orange appears. He had in fact invested in one of the main operators in northern Iraq, the telephone company Korek, founded in 2000 by Sirwan Barzani, the nephew of the former president of Iraqi Kurdistan. The individual has several hats. He is one of the most powerful businessmen in the country. He was also the commander of a unit of Kurdish peshmerga forces (literally “those who face death”), very active in the liberation of Mosul. We see it in particular in the film directed by Bernard-Henri Levy, devoted to the battle of Mosul, presented in the official selection of the Cannes festival in 2016.
Although Sirwan Barzani is a fierce opponent of the Islamic State, the role played by his operator Korek during the occupation of Mosul raises questions. Ericsson’s leaked internal investigation report documents abusive dealings involving members of this family. Among them: Sirwan and Rasech Barzani, a consultant who allegedly received $1.2 million for offering “business intelligence and facilitation to the President of Korek”. According to the report, Korek failed to pay taxes and duties valued at $375 million. The operator, one can read, threatened to “demolish the antennas of rival companies in Kurdish territory”. Neither Rasech Barzani nor Sirwan Barzani, however, answered our questions about the favors granted by Ericsson to Korek.
But there is also the question of a possible double game played by the operator. According to the testimony of an Iraqi intelligence officer collected by the ICIJ and two of its media partners, the NDR and Daraj, several good connoisseurs of the telecommunications sector in Iraq explained that it was common knowledge that the companies pay the members of IS in exchange for protection, to prevent attacks on their antennas and allow employees to continue their activity.
Moreover, when ISIS controlled Mosul, Korek refused to provide any information to the intelligence services on the members of the Islamic State who used his services. However, according to this source, 60% of them used SIM cards from the operator Korek. Did the latter also finance the terrorist group to continue its activity? Today, the Iraqi operator denies it. He insists that Sirwan Barzani joined the peshmerga in 2014, before playing a decisive role in the fall of Daesh. A stature of opponent and combatant which would be incompatible, we were told, with any compromise with the enemy.
In the background of this case appears the name of the French operator Orange. When Mosul fell, he owned 44% of Korek’s capital. He had invested in 2011 by joining forces with a Kuwaiti company, Agility Public Warehousing. In total, these two partners invested nearly $810 million in Korek, which they believed was to be their Trojan horse to penetrate a rapidly expanding Iraqi market. At the time, the stakes were enormous.
Until 2014, everything is fine. The number of Iraqi subscribers continues to grow. But as IS extends its hold on the north of the country, the Iraqi communications and media commission puts an end to the hopes of the French. Arguing a lack of investment on the part of Orange and Agility – which Orange denies – the Iraqi regulator decides to seize the shares of the French and the Kuwaiti, and redistribute them to several Iraqi businessmen, including Korek boss Sirwan Barzani.
In March 2019, the Iraqi justice confirms the expropriation of Orange. In October 2020, the French group requests commercial arbitration against Korek and the Iraqi state. He has since demanded the payment of 400 million dollars in compensation. Irony of the case: in August 2021, during a trip to Iraq by the President of the French Republic, Sirwan Barzani, the owner of Korek who therefore recovered part of the shares of Orange, and whose company is in conflict with the French operator, offered Emmanuel Macron an IS flag, seized during the operation to reconquer the north of the country.
We presented an original seized ISIS flag to @EmmanuelMacron. France has been a great friend to us and our nation and they helped quite a lot during the fight against terrorism. The presented flag was captured by #Peshmerga during the first counteroffensive against #ISIS. pic.twitter.com/kwlXPm96mY
— Sirwan Barzani (@SirwanBarzani_) August 30, 2021
Asked by the ICIJ and its partners about its commitment to an Iraqi operator whose role during the occupation of Mosul raises questions, the French operator replied: “Orange has never been alerted to the fact that Daesh was using the Korek network, or that Korek had any links with IS. On the other hand, the majority shareholder of Korek has always publicly claimed to be himself in charge of the military struggle against Daesh.” On this point too, Sirwan Barzani did not answer us.