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| Vol. 2 No. 5 | 1 June 2000 |
Iran releases 480 Iraqi prisoners
4 May 2000
Iran released 480 Iraqi prisoners of war today, many of whom had languished in POW camps for over 15 years, under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The release, consisting of Iraqi servicemen captured during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, followed the return of 1,999 Iraqi POWs last month, Since April 1998, Iran has released 8,991 Iraqi POWs in return for the repatriation of 3 Iranian POWs and 369 civilian detainees from Iraq. Iran.
Abu Nidal returns to Baghdad
12 May 2000
According to today's edition of al-Hayat, Sabri al-Banna (aka Abu-Nidal), the head of Fatah-Revolutionary Council, returned to Baghdad recently. Abu Nidal had been residing in Cairo for over a year, but left two months ago for Teheran, then visited a number of Gulf states before settling in the Iraqi capital, in the very same office that he occupied in 1983.
SCIRI claims attack on presidential palace in Baghdad
13 May 2000
According to the Kuna News Agency [Kuwait], the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) released a statement claiming responsibility for a Katyusha rocket attack on offices at the presidential palace in Baghdad. The statement said that nine medium-range Katyusha rockets were fired at dawn today, killing scores and injuring many others. The SCIRI representative in Damascus, Bayan Jabr, said that the attack was launched after the group received information that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was meeting there with his two sons, Uday and Qusay. The attack followed a meeting of several Iraqi opposition factions in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah.
Iraqi government executes imam
13 May 2000
Al-Hayat reported today that the Iraqi authorities recently executed Shaykh Ali al-Ka'bi, the Shi'ite imam of the Al-Muhsin Mosque in Al-Thawrah (Saddam) City. Ka'bi was arrested last year along with several other Shi'ite religious leaders in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi provinces for carrying out protests in response to the assassination of prominent Shi'ite cleric Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr and his two sons in Al-Najaf. Some of the detained clergymen were released, but the fate of the others is unknown.
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| Uday Hussein |
Al-Hayat reported today that Uday Hussein, the son of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, recently ousted Khalil Ibrahim, the deputy director of Iraq's intelligence service and the head of the counterintelligence department, accusing him of using the agency for smuggling operations. 30 other intelligence officers have also been ousted by Uday in the last two weeks. The purge is seen as bolstering Uday's influence on within the security establishment and confirmed his position as Number two in the regime, ahead of his younger brother Qusay.
Barak sends message to Assad
22 May 2000
According to a report today in the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak recently sent Assad a message through the Russian foreign minister saying that "Israel is seriously pursuing an accord with Syria. The opportunity is still there. A few hundred meters around the Kinneret [the waterline of the Sea of Galilee] shouldn't preclude an accord." The paper said that Barak has exchanged messages with Assad through Jordan's King Abdullah in recent months.
UAE purchases Russian anti-aircraft system
24 May 2000
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov announced a contract to supply the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft system to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The system is mounted on an eight-by-eight truck and its turret holds 12 modified SA-19 missiles with a range of 39,000 feet. The UAE, which recently purchased 80 F-16s from the United States, has vastly increased its military strength in recent years.
Iraq rejects request to resettle Palestinians from Lebanon
29 May 2000
Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported today that the Iraqi government has turned down a request from an unnamed Arab state for the resettlement of Palestinian refugees from Lebanon to Iraq. Earlier this month, Iraqi National Assembly Speaker Sa'dun Hammadi said that Baghdad was not willing to discuss such plans during the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Amman. Two mortar attacks against Palestinian neighborhoods in Baghdad have taken place since the beginning of the year amid rumors that Iraq is negotiating the lifting of economic sanctions in return for the resettlement of Palestinian refugees within its borders.
Iran set to test domestically-built passenger aircraft
30 May 2000
Iran's defense minister said on television today that the Defense Ministry's Aviation Industries will be conducting test flights of an Iranian-manufactured passenger aircraft, the Iran-140, in the next week. "We present this [gift] to the combatants of Islam and the brave nation of Iran," he said. The Iran-140 will have the capacity to carry 52 passengers or six tons of cargo.
� 2000 Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. All rights reserved.