LOC13:29
10:29 GMT
SADDAM HOLDS SECRET TALKS WITH ISRAELIS
LONDON-- ON AT LEAST THREE OCCASIONS OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, IRAQ AND
ISRAEL HAVE HELD SECRET TALKS, ALWAYS WHEN SADDAM HAS BEEN "UNDER PRESSURE",
THE
OBSERVER NEWSPAPER NOTED.
BUT, IT POINTED OUT THAT ISRAEL IS KEEN TO NEUTRALISE ANY POSSIBLE THREATS
FROM OTHER COUNTRIES.
IN THE MEANTIME, ISRAEL COULD MERELY BE USING SADDAM TO GAIN LEVERAGE
ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION, THE PAPER COMMENTED.
THE PUBLICATION ALSO QUOTED ONE FORMER AIDE OF THE "IRAQI DICTATOR", AS
SAYING: "HE WILL TALK TO ANYONE IF HE THINKS IT WILL HELP HIM... HE WILL
OFFER WHATEVER HE THINKS THEY WANT MOST."
THE OBSERVER ESTABLISHED THAT REPRESENTATIVES OF IRAQ AND ISRAEL HAVE MET AT
LEAST FOUR TIMES.
THE FIRST MEETING WAS AT THE FUNERAL OF KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN IN AMMAN IN
FEBRUARY LAST YEAR, WHEN A SENIOR ISRAELI POLITICIAN HAD TWO CONVERSATIONS
WITH TAHA MOHIEDDIN MAAROUF, THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE IRAQI REGIME.
LATER IN THE SPRING, A SECOND MEETING OCCURRED IN ATHENS BETWEEN AN AMERICAN
BUSINESSMAN WITH STRONG ISRAELI CONNECTIONS AND A DIPLOMAT FROM "A MIDDLE
EASTERN COUNTRY SUPPORTIVE OF IRAQ".
A NUMBER OF ISSUES WERE DISCUSSED, INCLUDING THE LIFTING OF SPECIFIED
SANCTIONS AND THE RELOCATION OF THE PALESTINIANS.
LATE LAST YEAR, NIZAR HAMDOUN, A FORMER IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO THE UN IN NEW
YORK, TRAVELLED TO AMERICA FOR FURTHER CONTACTS WITH JEWISH GROUPS AND
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IN NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON.
THE MOST RECENT MEETING KNOWN TO THE OBSERVER OCCURRED LAST FEBRUARY IN
AMMAN, THOUGH IT IS UNCLEAR WHO ATTENDED.
MEANWHILE, INTELLIGENCE SOURCES IN JERUSALEM CONFIRMED LAST WEEK THAT
DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN REPRESENTATIVES OF ISRAEL AND IRAQ WERE CONTINUING.
SADDAM'S FAVOURED SON, QUSAY, IS THOUGHT TO BE IN OVERALL CHARGE OF THE
TALKS.
THE IDEA OF MOVING THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON TO IRAQ HAS BEEN
RAISED BEFORE, THOUGH THIS IS THE FIRST TIME BAGHDAD HAS EVER TALKED
PRACTICALLY ABOUT HOW TO EXECUTE THE PLAN, THE OBSERVER SUGGESTED.(END)
HE.BZ.
KUNA 211329 May 00NNNN