Ziyad Cattan

Ziyad Cattan is a dual citizen of Poland and Iraq.^[1] He earned a PhD in economics.^[2] During the twenty years he lived in Poland Cattan ooperated both a used car lot and a pizza outlet.

According to an article published in The Independent, on September 19, 2005, Hazim al-Shaalan, Defense Minister of Iyad Allawi's interim administration, appointed Ziyad Cattan, as the Defence Ministry's procurement chief.^[1] The Los Angeles Times, on the other hand, reported the Cattan had been appointed by Iraq's American occupiers.^[2]

The Independent article describes massive fraud in the Defense Ministry's procurement, which it describes as "the greatest theft in history", which occurred under Cattan's watch.^[1] Of expenditures of between $1 and $2 billion the article estimates only $200 million worth of usable equipment was purchased.

In September 2005 The Independent reported that Cattan and his former boss al-Shaalan, are both living in Jordan, and refusing comment.^[1] By November 2005 he had returned to Poland, and did agree to be interviewed by the Los Angeles Times.^[2]

In August 2007 The Guardian reported that Amnesty International and British Members of Parliament were pressing the UK Government for an explanation over Cattan's involvement with a British arms-dealing firm.^[3] The UK firm had a license to import 40,000 surplus AK-47s from Yugoslavia, but had sent Yugoslavian weapons to Cattan, for Iraq. International regulations, to control the distribution of weapons, requires certification to confirm buyers were the end-users, and would not resell the weapons they received. The Guardian reported that the lack of compliant documentation meant that weapons sold to Cattan were now untraceable, and thus a breach of international arms agreements.

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