HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Iraq rearming for war, say
defectors
Baghdad buying up east European weapons Julian Borger
Weapons from eastern Europe are
being smuggled through Syria into Iraq, as Saddam Hussein builds up his defences
in anticipation of a US-led assault, according to Iraqi officers who have
recently fled to Europe.
The defectors, all members of the dissident Iraqi Officers' Movement (IOM),
described an atmosphere of high tension and paranoia bordering on panic within
the Baghdad regime.
While putting its forces on high alert and establishing new bunkers, it has
stepped up executions of officers and civil ians suspected of disloyalty.
But the crackdown has only contributed to a downward spiral in military
morale, even in the elite units that the defectors are drawn from. Poor and
irregular pay, fear of bombing and concern over potential purges have rapidly
pushed up the rate of desertions, despite the danger of reprisals, to the extent
that well over a quarter of the 400,000-strong army are now missing from their
posts.
The three defectors, who spoke to the Guardian at the weekend, left Iraq
during the past six months. They served in different capacities under Qusay
Hussein, the president's son who is responsible for the inner ring of the
dictatorship's defences. They were accompanied by a senior IOM official, General
Nawaf al-Malki, who defected in 1989.
The interviews took place in a European capital, which the officers asked not
to be named, for fear of being tracked down. They provided their real names, but
asked for pseudonyms to be printed in an effort to protect their families and
friends.
According to their accounts, together with research done by the IOM - which
works undercover inside the regime to recruit defectors and gather information
from members still working for President Saddam - the first of three arms
consignments bound for Iraq arrived in the Syrian port of Latakia on February
23.
"We know that two more shipments are on the way, but we don't know if they
have already arrived," General al-Malki said.
The first consignment included anti-aircraft missiles, rockets and guidance
systems for Iraq's long-range variants of the old Soviet Scud missile, all
illegal under the UN embargo. The shipment, which cost Baghdad $800,000
(£550,000), originated from the Czech Republic under export licences for Syria
and Yemen. Its unloading at Latakia was overseen by an Iraqi intelligence
officer, Lt Col Khaled al-Adhani, who also oversaw its diversion from its
official destination by road to Iraq. One of the recent defectors, Colonel
Khaled Ayad al-Dilemi, from the 12,000-strong elite Special Republican Guard,
said that one of his fellow officers had also been dispatched to Latakia to
provide protection for the shipment.
The smuggling operation is just one element in Iraq's build-up, said the
defectors, who were all adamant that President Saddam had stepped up his
development of nuclear, chemical and biological arms since the departure of UN
weapons inspectors in 1998. However, they conceded that their evidence for any
such build-up was anecdotal and indirect.
According to a document provided by the defectors, the regime is attempting
to develop a radar system capable of detecting US stealth aircraft. The focus of
the work is being carried out at the Salahaddin Enterprise, which makes
electronics near the town of al-Daur, about 130km north-west of the capital.
According to the document, the military-run enterprise claimed to have
achieved a breakthrough on March 25, and had been ordered by President Saddam in
person to produce 150 of the prototype radars.
The New York Times reported yesterday that the US administration was fine-tun
ing plans for an air and ground assault against Iraq involving up to 250,000
troops, although it said the campaign, originally contemplated for this autumn,
was likely to postponed until early next year.
According to the defectors, the Iraqi regime is already braced for an attack
"at any time". In March, the nation's defences were arranged into five zones,
centring on Baghdad, and the military commanders were reshuffled.
The growth in military preparations has been accompanied by a surge in
brutality, marked by mass executions.
Before fleeing less than a month ago, the third defector, Mohamed Daham
al-Tikriti, was a lieutenant colonel in al-Emen al-Am (general security), Iraq's
secret police. Part of his unit's function was to help conceal the mass graves
of the regime's victims.
Lt Col al-Tikriti, a member of the president's clan, said: "In February,
between 150 and 200 civilians were killed because Saddam felt they were
dangerous, but as far as I could see it was largely random. They were shot and
buried in a mass grave in the desert near Saddam's palace in al-Radhwaniyah", a
few kilometres west of Baghdad.
He estimated that the rate of executions had nearly doubled since last year,
and that 1,500 civilians had been killed in the first two months of the year. Lt
Col al-Samarrai reported a similar increase in the executions of suspect
officers. He and Col al-Dilemi both escaped because they were tipped off by
friends in general security.
The campaign of terror has served only to accelerate the rate of desertions.
Lt Col al-Tikriti said that about 40% of the general security rank and file were
missing from their posts at the time he fled.
He said senior officials were "trying to get money to turn it into dollars
and euros, to get forged papers under other names so that they can run away when
the moment arrives. They will all leave. Since December, they have been moving
around staying in different places, on special farms, even in their cars, in
fear of an attack."
Military desertions have also accelerated as fears grow of a devastating US
air campaign. "I would say 15% of the army had left already. Then 10% more in
the three months before I left and then probably many more in the past few
weeks," Lt Col al-Samarrai said.
Col al-Dilemi said the collapse in morale also affected the once loyal
special republican guard, because the intense scrutiny they are under make
sudden death a constantly increasing likelihood.
"If anybody has a question mark over them, they will be taken away and the
next day they shoot him," he said.
"Officers came to me and said, we'll pay you as much as you need. Just say
I'm a bad officer, so they'll discharge me. He added: "Some try to break their
own arms to get themselves discharged."
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