WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT THE IRAQI EMBASSY IN BERLIN?*
PARIS, 23 Aug. (IPS) A "New York Sun" editorial claims that the
Iraqi embassy in Berlin was the centre of Iraqi Secret Police activity. What was
strange about the raid on the Embassy is A) the group was previously unknown, B)
that it gained access to a mission of a totalitarian state with just pepper
spray, C) it had very few material demands and D) the stand-off ended
peacefully.
The inquiring mind would say that A) and B) would suggest that this was a propaganda job. Done by Saddam to focus on the ruthlessness of the "opposition". This is why the Iraqi National Congress and the President condemned it so strongly. There is one problem with this theory -- part D. If this was Saddam's job and he wanted to draw attention, people would have died… Saddam would have had no problems killing his own people. But the standoff ended peacefully, with the "dissidents" in German custody. Also, if they were Iraqi agents, then there would be a probability of them talking to the Germans and spilling their beans about the plan. That would be a no-no. So, I don't think this was an Iraqi job.
That leaves us with an intriguing possibility -- that the raid was an intelligence-gathering mission. Let’s assume that the Iraqis were a group of dissidents trained by the CIA or the German Intelligence to infiltrate the embassy. That would also explain A) and B). I’m not sure of any other way that three men can infiltrate a mini-fortress staffed by professional killers.
That would also go a long way to explain C) – they did not need to make any demands, they just needed time. Finally, that would explain D) – the Germans were not storming the castle – they were ex-filtrating agents to make the mission look legit for the international cameras. That explains why no one was hurt and the group surrendered quietly.
Why would they do this? This is where the NY Sun editorial comes in – the embassy is the centre of the Iraqi Secret Police in Germany. All over the world, the spy agencies keep records – lists of agents, lists of pay-offs, etc. Perhaps this group of dissidents was looking for records. They made an obligatory list of demands and "negotiated" with the police, all the while they were looking for documents. Maybe they took photos of the documents or maybe they faxed them out.
But here comes the juicy part – what were they looking for that would be worth potentially creating an international incident? It is worth remembering that Mohamed Atta and his whole crew came from Germany. So if there were an Iraqi connection to September 11th then it would be filed away in the Embassy.
So that’s the theory – a group of Iraqis trained by friendly intelligence penetrate the enemy fortress, steal the required documents and prove conclusively that Iraq was involved in the attack. In a few weeks, the President will announce that the CIA has found these important documents (in Afghanistan?) or perhaps the leak will come from elsewhere. Congress and the world will have no other choice but to support an invasion of Iraq. It's something worth thinking about.
IPS adds: A Berlin court has ordered the arrest of the five Iraqis who stormed their embassy in Berlin on 20 August, judicial authorities in Germany said.
The five men, aged between 32 and 43, will face a prison sentence of between five and 15 years if convicted of hostage taking, Berlin justice ministry spokeswoman Ariane Faust said.
German commandos stormed the embassy in a western Berlin suburb after a five-hour standoff Tuesday, freeing Iraq's acting ambassador, Shamil Mohammed, and his designated successor, Muaead Hussain.
A statement from the Berlin justice ministry said that "the detainees have yet to talk about the issue — the background and motives are still being investigated"
The five suspects had been living at a hostel for asylum-seekers in the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin. Four of them applied for asylum in March, and one last year. ENDS IRAQ BERLIN EMBASSY 23802
Editor’s note: The CounterRevolutionary, quoted by Cursor, posted the article
Highlights are from IPS