Intelligence examines cargo flight from Baghdad to Belarus (Saddam's SAFE HAVEN?)

The World Tribune ^ | 25 April, 2003

[Happy2BMe]

Intelligence examines cargo flight from Baghdad to Belarus

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COMFriday, April 25, 2003

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has obtained safe haven in Belarus, several intelligence agencies believe.

Western intelligence sources said several intelligence agencies in the Middle East and Europe base this assessment on new information about a March 29 flight from Baghdad to Minsk. They said the flight of a chartered cargo plane could have transported Saddam, his sons and much of his family to Belarus.

"There's no proof that Saddam was on the plane but we have proof that a plane left on that day from Baghdad airport and arrived in Minsk," a senior intelligence source said. "If you can think of anybody else who could obtain permission to fly out of Baghdad in the middle of a war, then please tell me."

U.S. officials and Iraqi opposition sources said Saddam and his sons appear to have escaped two assassination attempts during the war. But they did not confirm the registration of a cargo flight from Baghdad to Minsk on March 29, Middle East Newsline reported.

The sources said the cargo aircraft took off from an unspecified Baghdad-area airport and entered Iranian air space on the flight toward Minsk. They said Iran did not attempt to interfere with the Iraqi flight.

About two weeks later, a registration of the cargo flight was found by the U.S. military in wake of the capture of the airport and the rest of the Baghdad area. Baghdad International Airport was captured on April 4.

U.S. officials said Saddam had been exploring the prospect of fleeing to Belarus over the last year. They said the Iraqi ruler was in close contact with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and that Minsk became a major military supplier to Baghdad.

Within hours after the departure of the cargo flight to Minsk on March 29, the Saddam regime was awash with rumors that the president had escaped. Intelligence sources said the rumors spread rapidly throughout the military command and among field officers.

"There was a significant decline in Iraqi combat strength starting from around March 31," an intelligence source said. "In interviews with coalition interrogators, Iraqi commanders have attributed the decline in combat to the feeling that Saddam had fled."

In Washington, Sen. Bob Graham, former chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, said on Thursday that a senior Saddam aide had been captured in Syria over the previous 24 hours. Graham did not identify the aide, but said he held one of the most sensitive positions in the regime.

The aide was believed to be Izzat Eddin Ibrahim Al Douri, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Council and the man who spent the longest amount of time with Saddam in power.

On Wednesday, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said Saddam was believed to be alive and hiding somewhere in Iraq. "In the end we don't know, but it is still our best judgment that he is [in Iraq]," Hoon said.

"As each day goes by, as we continue to search those places he may be hiding, we have to keep an open mind, but it is still my best judgment."

On Thursday, U.S. officials reported that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, regarded as the Western face of the Saddam regime, surrendered to U.S. military authorities. They said Aziz, who last month had vowed to die rather than be detained, held negotiations with the United States on the terms of his surrender.

[Happy2BMe]

It will be quite interesting to see what Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz has to say about this.

[sarasota]

Not buying it. Saddam is having a dirt nap.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Belarus will be getting a visit from several non-descript, ordinary but extremely fit looking, tourists in the near future, if they are not already there on vacation or business.

[Happy2BMe]

" They said the Iraqi ruler was in close contact with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and that Minsk became a major military supplier to Baghdad."

How close in relations is Belarus with Moscow?

At least we can see some weapons trails here.

[nevergore]

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko is more a old Soviet style dictator than President... he resurrected an old style KGB type "Security Force" and rules that country with an iron fist....

While all the old Soviet Republics implement reforms he continues a backwards path to hardline communist dictatorship.....Political opponents disapear or are intimidated, dissent is squashed....

I have several Belarussins working for me and they are thankful to be in the US and vow never to return to Belarus....

NeverGore

[epluribus_2]

sticky, charred, dirt-nap.

[KeyWest]

Wasn't that was the day the bomb hit the bunker? Doubt if any planes got off. This is bogus.

[Psalm 73]

Yeah, I think with our air superiority and Intelligence - there is no way we let any flight out of Iraq that we didn't know exactly what was on it.

[Happy2BMe]

[ewing]

Hmm..Debka was on to something after all

[Grut]

Whether Saddam is crispy, jellied or in rude good health, it doesn't matter. If he's dead he's dead; if he's alive, eventually his character will force him to make himself known and he can be made dead by whoever's interested.

What he no longer is, and never again can be, is a player.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

I saw Saddam with my own two eyes yesterday…at RibaSmith Supermarket here in Panama City (R of P)...Believe me...I am only telling you the facts...I am just reporting what anyone will tell you has to be obvious...And that's the truth.

[mitchbert]

- there is no way we let any flight out of Iraq that we didn't know exactly what was on it.

Correct. That being said, it doesn't negate the possibility that the story is true. Personally, I think he's dead, but the geopolitical world works in strange ways sometimes.

[Happy2BMe]

"I saw Saddam with my own two eyes yesterday…at RibaSmith Supermarket here in Panama City (R of P)...Believe me...I am only telling you the facts...I am just reporting what anyone will tell you has to be obvious...And that's the truth."

Come On!. .. . That's a BOLDFACED LIE!

Everyone knows he was in San Francisco broadcasting to one of his support groups . . .

The mayor of San Francisco speaks - Demands Rioting - Calls For Massive Idiot Uprising . .

Saddam Hussein, on San Francisco television, in a message broadcast after the missiles and bombs hit, calls on all IDIOTS, TRAITORS, and FRIENDS OF THE ENEMY to support their local Terrorist Cells in the city . .  (Photo: IRAQI TV)

[headsonpikes]

Note of caution to Saddam...'The road from Potatsk to Pinsk goes through Minsk'-- Old and obscure Belarussian proverb.

;^)

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

WELLLLL (my arms in akimbo position)....SOMEBODY is lying and it is not I. I may give deliberate false statements, but I am not a liar..

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

oh yes...I forgot to add at the end: And that's the truth!

[Happy2BMe]

"I may give deliberate false statements, but I am not a liar.."

It's a done deal, he is in Oz (under a house).

The Look On Bob's Face. . After He Spoke With Ambassador Dorothy . .

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Okay. I'll settle he's on Oz.

[Sender]

While Belarus may resemble the rigid dictatorship of Iraq in many ways, somehow I cannot see Saddam living there. What would Lukashenko do with him...put him up in a dacha somewhere with a fleet of bodyguards? Saddam would be like a fish out of water in Belarus. No, I think he would have to go to some Arabic-speaking paradise for his retirement, that is if he is not already permanently retired.