German Spies Offered Help To Saddam In Run-Up To War

[Seismic Anamoly]

"Straight From The Horse's Mouth"



London Sunday Telegraph

April 20, 2003



By David Harrison, Baghdad



Germany's intelligence services attempted to build closer links to

Saddam's secret service during the build-up to war last year, documents

from the bombed Iraqi intelligence HQ in Baghdad obtained by The Telegraph

reveal. They show that an agent named as Johannes William Hoffner,

described as a "new German representative in Iraq" who had

entered the

country under diplomatic cover, attended a meeting with Lt Gen Taher Jalil

Haboosh, the director of Iraq's intelligence service. During the meeting,

on January 29, 2002, Lt Gen Haboosh says that the Iraqis are keen to have

a relationship with Germany's intelligence agency "under diplomatic

cover", adding that he hopes to develop that relationship through Mr

Hoffner. The German replies: "My organisation wants to develop its

relationship with your organisation." In return, the Iraqis offered

to

give lucrative contracts to German companies if the Berlin government

helped prevent an American invasion of the country. The revelations come a

week after The Telegraph reported that Russia had spied for the Iraqis,

passing them intelligence about a meeting between Tony Blair and Silvio

Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister. Both the British and Italian

governments have launched investigations. The meeting between the Iraqi

and German agents took place some six months before Chancellor Schröder's

Social Democrat-led government began its policy of direct opposition to

the idea of an American/British-led war against Iraq. The policy was

adopted in the heat of last year's German general election campaign, at a

time when the Social Democrats were widely predicted to lose the contest.

Mr Schröder was re-elected as Chancellor last September, largely because

of the popularity of his government's outspoken opposition to the war

against Iraq. The apparently verbatim account of the meeting between Lt

Gen Haboosh and Mr Hoffner was among documents recovered by The Telegraph

in the rubble of the Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad, which was

heavily bombed. During the meeting, Lt Gen Haboosh tells the German agent

that Iraq has "big problems" with Britain and the United States.

"We have

problems with Britain because it occupied Iraq for 60 years and with

America because of its aggression for 11 years," he says. He adds,

however, that Iraq has no problems with Germany and suggests that Germany

will be rewarded with lucrative contracts if it offers international

support to Iraq. "When the American conspiracy is finished, we will

make a

calculation for each state that helps Iraq in its crisis." He also

urges

Mr Hoffner to lobby the German government to raise its diplomatic mission

in Baghdad to full ambassadorial level. Mr Hoffner says that it would be a

decision for the German foreign ministry, but Germany's diplomatic

presence in the Iraqi capital made it easier for him to enter Iraq because

he was able to use diplomatic cover. Last night, a spokesman for the

German government said it was "well known" that it had been

offered

lucrative contracts by Baghdad providing it maintained an anti-Iraq war

stance. "Iraq made these kinds of promises before the war and praised

Germany for its position," he said. Iraqi police handed Saddam

Hussein's

finance minister to American forces after capturing him in Baghdad,

raising hopes of tracing billions of dollars the ousted dictator may have

spirited away. Hikmat Ibrahim al-Azzawi, who was also a deputy prime

minister, is number 45 on America's list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis.

Edited by: Seismic Anamoly at: 4/24/03 2:36:55 pm