>From: "Robert E. Nordlander" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [STOPNATO] Secret Israeli-Iraqi talks to "resettle" Palestinian >Refugees >STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM > > _______ ____ ______ > / |/ / /___/ / /_ // M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S > / /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East >/_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ PALESTINIANS IN LEBANON TO BE "RESETTLED" >http://www.MiddleEast.Org > > News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups, > and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know! > - - - - - - - - - - > To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > SECRET ISRAELI-IRAQI TALKS > > NO ONE ASKS THE PALESTINIANS! > > "We know that this is being talked about. > No agreement has been finalised but we > are pretty confident it is going to happen." > U.S. Dept of State > >THE OBSERVER - by Jason Burke, Paul Beaver and Ed Vulliamy, New York - 5/21: >Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, has made an astonishing bid for peace >with the >West after months of secret talks with the Israeli government. > >At a series of meetings held over the past 15 months, Saddam's >representatives have >repeatedly told the Israelis that, if Jerusalem works to end Iraq's >diplomatic isolation, >Baghdad will arrange for more than 300,000 Palestinian refugees living in >Lebanon >to be airlifted to new lives in Iraq and will tone down its hostile >rhetoric towards >the Jewish state. > >Lebanon's Palestinian population poses the most significant security threat >following >the Israelis' planned withdrawal from the south of the country later this >summer, >and moving them to Iraq would solve a significant problem for Jerusalem. It >would >also mark one of the most significant shifts in regional politics in decades. > >The secret discussions will embarrass the Foreign Office which supports the >Americans' >hardline policy aimed at isolating Iraq. > >Official sources in Washington, London, Amman and Jerusalem last week >confirmed >the contacts between the two nations and the Iraqi proposal. Senior US >State Department >sources told The Observer: "We know that this is being talked about. No >agreement >has been finalised but we are pretty confident it is going to happen." > >An airlift moving the refugees - which would cost more than $100 million >(�60m) >- would be funded by Israel and its supporters overseas, the State >Department source >said. > >On at least three occasions over the past 20 years Iraq and Israel have >held talks >- always when Saddam's regime has been under pressure. Israel is keen to >neutralise >any possible threats from other countries. However, it could merely be >humouring >Saddam to gain leverage elsewhere in the region. > >"Saddam is the consummate pragmatist. He will talk to anyone if he thinks >it will >help him... He will offer whatever he thinks they want most," said one >former aide >of the Iraqi dictator last week. > >The Observer has established that representatives of the two countries 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 Iraqi Vice-President. "It was just >protocol though, >nothing substantive," said one Iraqi opposition source in London. The >meeting in >Amman was confirmed by a Jordanian official. > >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 translocation of the Palestinians. Late last year Nizar Hamdoun, >the Iraqi >deputy Foreign Minister and former ambassador to the United Nations, >travelled to >America to further contacts with Jewish groups and representatives of the >Israeli >government in New York and Washington. > >At a series of meetings the question of the movement of the Palestinians to >Iraq >was raised though no commitments were made. Hamdoun is known as a smooth >diplomat >with a good reputation internationally. "He has kept himself distanced from >the >ugliness of the rest of the regime," said one Iraq expert. > >The most recent meeting known to The Observer occurred last February in >Amman though >it is unclear who attended. Intelligence sources in Jerusalem confirmed >last week >that discussions between representatives of Israel and Iraq are continuing. >Saddam's >favoured son Qusay - recently appointed head of the regime's security >operation >- 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 current sanctions regime imposed on Iraq by the United Nations - and >maintained >through strong pressure from London and Washington - has shattered Iraq's >economy >but done nothing to weaken Saddam's grip. The Iraqi dictator is >increasingly constrained >by the current situation. The contacts will cause serious concern in >Whitehall. >Britain has doggedly followed the Americans' hardline despite increasing >criticism. >The diplomacy pursued by Israel will be a significant embarrassment for the >Americans and the British who have repeatedly called for a united front. > >Experts say there are many reasons for the contacts between Baghdad and >Jerusalem. >"Both governments have significant amounts to gain," said Said Aburish, a >biographer >of both Saddam and Yasser Arafat and a former adviser to the Iraqi regime. > > > > > > > >. > MID-EAST REALITIES > http://www.MiddleEast.Org > Phone: 202 362-5266 Fax: 815 366-0800 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To receive MER regularly email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject >SUBSCRIBE >To stop receiving MER email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject UNSUBSCRIBE > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >______________________________________________________________________ >Advertisement: >15% off Ashford Collection jewelry for Mother's Day! 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