Iraq MP Wanted In Kuwait For Terrorist Blasts

Taken from the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, February 8, 2007
By James Glanz and Marc Santora (original article belongs to New York Times)

A MEMBER of Iraq's Parliament was convicted of planning attacks on the US and French embassies in Kuwait in 1983 that left five Americans dead, Iraqi and US officials have claimed.

The MP, Jamal Jafaar Mohammed ali Ebrahimi, was sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Kuwait for the attacks, the officials said on Tuesday.

Mr Jamal, as he is known, was elected to Parliament in 2005 as a part of the Shiite coalition that now governs Iraq.

"We are actively investigating these serious allegations and continue to be in contact with the Iraqi Government to pursue this case," said Lou Fintor, a spokesman at the US embassy in Iraq.

The bombings in Kuwait led to at least seven Americans being taken hostage in Lebanon, and several other terrorist acts aimed at freeing 17 prisoners sentenced to death for the bombings.

The hostage-takings also led to a scandal in the administration of the US president at the time, Ronald Reagan, as Washington sought the hostages' freedom with the offer of a secret arms deal to help Iran, which was then at war with Iraq.

Mr Jamal, who was in Iraq until a week ago, is now in Iran, according to two associates. The presence of a wanted terrorist in the Parliament of Iraq's US-backed Government is an embarrassment for the US, particularly given Iran's role in sheltering Mr Jamal.

The US has warned Iran against meddling in Iraq and US forces have detained a number of Iranians on charges of providing assistance to illicit armed groups.

Iran said on Tuesday that it held the US responsible for the safety of an Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq on Sunday. Although the diplomat, Jalal Sharafi, was abducted on a Baghdad street by men wearing Iraqi military uniforms, Iran has accused the US of directing the operation. US officials deny any involvement.

Mr Jamal's long-unnoticed presence in the Iraqi Government was a mystery that Iraqi officials could not explain.

He served as a security adviser to the former Iraqi prime minister, Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari, officials in Washington said. It was then that they first suspected that he was involved in the 1983 embassy attacks.

It was unclear when US officials first raised the issue with the present Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, but one official said there have been discussions for several months.

Mr Jamal was first identified as a wanted terrorist a month ago by Strategic Policy Consulting, an Iranian dissident group in Washington that gets much of its information from the People's Mujahideen, the largest and most militant group opposed to Tehran.

It was only on Tuesday, when CNN reported the allegations, that US officials acknowledged they were investigating.

Several Iraqi officials who know Mr Jamal said there was little doubt that he was involved in the bombing in Kuwait.

The story of how he came to power, his close association with many Iraqi officials, and his long association with Iran all underscore the complicated and intertwined nature of the relationship between the two nations.