Free Republic

The dangers in Saddam's 'black files'By Ian Urbina When it comes to file-keeping, the Baathists of Iraq were often referred to as the "Prussians of the Middle East". Saddam Hussein's officials kept impeccable and detailed records on virtually all realms of government and society. But as looting grips Baghdad and throngs of civilians rush government buildings to exact retribution in whatever small way they can, the fate of these records is an open question. In post-war Iraq, these documents will prove to be of inestimable value for determining guilt and meting out justice. But it will all depend on whether...

Arms secrets revealed in spies' files Patrick Graham in Baghdad Sunday April 13, 2003 The Observer Iraqi intelligence agents were ordered to take files and computers with information about weapons of mass destruction home from their offices before United Nations weapons inspectors arrived late last year, say documents found at a security headquarters in Baghdad. The handwritten notes from a meeting between a departmental director and operatives on 23 September last year were in a red notebook I found lying on a desk at the surveillance centre of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, the Mukhabarat. Agents at a meeting on 18...

THEY were only a few documents lying in the ransacked offices of a Baghdad mansion, but they exploded this week with the force of a cruise missile. The papers, it was reported, are proof of intelligence links between Moscow and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The most serious allegations concern certificates, bearing the Russian twin-headed eagle, showing that five Iraqis had graduated in spy training from a Moscow organisation called the Special Training Centre. Checks this week show there is no private company by that name - increasing speculation that Iraqi agents attended an official Russian spy school. More documents from the...