Prime Minister Al-Maliki’s Zastava CZ-99 Gift Hand Guns

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Today, examples of the Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki’s presentation 9 × 19 mm Zastava CZ 99 self-loading pistols can be seen infrequently on the open and online gun markets of Iraq. The pistols date back almost a decade when the CZ 99s entered Iraq as part of a purchase from Zastava in Serbia in 2008. The Iraqi presentation CZ 99s are not unique in their own right, as Zastava has several offerings of presentation-grade handguns that have been seen in open sources.

The CZ 99 is a Zastava-produced clone of the Sig Sauer P226 handgun, but has an ambidextrous decocker on the right side of the frame. The name apparently comes from a mistake in engraving that occurred in 1989 where the handgun should have been a CZ 89, but was instead CZ 99. In regards to the handgun variants themselves, the nomenclature of “CZ” bears only a coincidental relationship to Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod of the Czech Republic, also abbreviated as CZ in model numbers.

A 2008 news article from b92, a Serbian news outlet, noted that a contract for 18,000 pistols was agreed worth 5 million USD, with the first shipment worth 600,000 USD. The article also noted that “A part of the shipment will be standard CZ 99 model, while the rest will be luxury packages with engravings which the prime minister and president of Iraqi will present to foreign statesmen and guests.”

According to Military.wiki, out of the 18,000 handguns, 3,000 of them were the presentation/gift handguns that make up the subject of this article. The remaining 15,000 handguns appear to have been intended for issue to officers as personal sidearms. A point of debate here is that local Iraqi sources mention a number of approximately 13,000 handguns as opposed to 18,000 handguns. Because this number of 18,000 represents the total shipped to Jordan, there is a possibility that Jordan received 5,000 standard CZ 99s and Iraq 10,000 handguns.

Figure 1.1 This chart shows the export information from Serbia to Jordan where the following end-user countries were listed: Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Jordan also reportedly received CZ 99 handguns as well. (Source: Serbian Ministry of Economy and Region Development 2008 Annual Report on the Transfer of Controlled Goods)

We have at least one example online of a U.S. advisor who distinctly recalls issuing the handguns out to Iraqi Army soldiers in 2009, mentioning in a forum posts that “I fielded a set of them to the 10th Iraqi Army division in 2009. They bought them with their very own money, unlike the P99s, Rugers, and Glocks all over the place that we all paid for.”

Below are some examples of the presentation Iraqi CZ 99 pistols. There were at least two variants of the engravings that can be seen here. A so-called Prime Minister version and a presidential version. The Presidential Version had the following inscription

هدیة رئیس جمهوریة العراق

Gift of the President of the Republic of Iraq

Hadiyya raʾīs Jumhūriyya al-ʿIrāq

هدية رئيس وزراء العراق

Gift of the Prime Minister of Iraq

Hadiyya raʾīs wuzarāʾ al-ʿIrāq

Transliteration courtesy of MENA Symbolism.

Figure 1.2  Prime Minister gift version. (Source: Social media sales photo via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.3  The Arabic lettering reads هدية رئيس وزراء العراق / ‘Gift of the Prime Minister of Iraq’. The script itself is ofa Kufic style. Note the decorative leaf patterns on the right portion of the slide, which is duplicated on the left. (Source: Social media sales photo via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.4 Prime Minister (Source: Social media sales photo via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.5 Prime Minister gift version. (Source: Social media via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.6 Notice the serial number of 2239, possibly placing this handgun within the 3,000 presentation lot. (Source: Social media via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.7   Interior of presentation case, with a red lining. Prime Minister version (Source: Social media via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.8   This presentation version features a blue case instead of a red case, presidential gift version. (Source: via ARES CONMAT Database)
Figure 1.9  Front portion of the wooden gift case with the crest of Iraq on the front, جُمهورية العِراق/ Republic of Iraq on the bottom. (Source: Social media sales photo via ARES CONMAT Database)

 

Figure 1.10 Prime Minister gift version. (Source: Social media sales photo via ARES CONMAT Database)
Presentation Case. (Source- https://www.facebook.com/groups/339616629555258/permalink/1400622093454701/)
Presidential Gift version. (Source- https://www.facebook.com/groups/339616629555258/permalink/1400622093454701/)

Scandals and Hints of Corruption

The CZ 99 gift pistols have come under public political scrutiny, with some Iraqi politicians noting its special purpose as a gift to be used by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to show favour. There doesn’t appear to be any media coverage of the Prime Minister actually handing out the pistols in person or presenting them. The only example we have of this procedure is a testimonial letter signed in 2012, that alleges that 113 tribal leaders were gifted a handgun in addition to monthly compensation. This letter can be seen below. A member of the Iraqi parliament, Sabah Alsaide, actually appeared on Iraqi television with one of the gift handguns in 2010 and alleged that the Prime Minister spent state funds to further his own agenda by purchasing these handguns under the guise of an official government armament procurement.

Figure 2.1  A friend of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Nameer Alokabe, is alleged to have helped to arrange the handgun purchase. In this case it appears that he might actually have a CZ 99 in his right hand. (Source: Iraqi Ishtar Investigation <http://ishtar-enana.blogspot.com/2011/05/1.html>)
Figure 2.2 This letter states that Prime Minister al-Maliki gave 113 tribal leaders a presentation handgun and 750,000 Iraqi Dinars as a monthly gift. The signed date at bottom reads 8/8/2012. (Source: via ARES CONMAT Database)

Iraqi MP, Sabah Alsaide, appears on Iraqi television to condemn Prime Minister’s political use of the CZ 99 gift guns:

Sources

2008 Annual Report on the Transfer of Controlled Goods, Republic of Serbia Ministry of Economy and Region Development, <https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/research/armaments/transfers/transparency/national_reports/serbia/SER_08.pdf>

First arms shipment bound for Iraq, b92, 2008, <https://www.b92.net/eng/news/business.php?yyyy=2008&mm=06&dd=02&nav_id=50737>

Forum Discusion of CZ 99, 2012,<https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/my-new-zastava-cz99.1449618/>

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