Diary of a Vengeance Foretold
Saddam offers peace deal to Tehran
Part 16 - JULY 18 1988
Today, in order to mark the 20th anniversary of the Baath Party’s rule, Saddam Hussein delivered a speech in which he proposed a Peace Treaty to Tehran.
The Iraqi president said that Iraq had inflicted ‘‘material and moral ruin on the Government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.’‘
‘‘Any Treaty with Iran must include the signing of a non-aggression accord between the two countries’ and a pledge of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,’’ Saddam Hussein added.
The Iraqi government also announced that their military would withdraw from the Iranian city of Dehloran. The withdrawal is part of a larger plan to refrain from holding any Iranian territory.
But Saddam Hussein also emphasized Iraq’s wish for full rights to the Shatt al-Arab waterway which divides the two countries. The Shatt al-Arab is Iraq’s only deep-water outlet to the Persian Gulf.
NB. This geographical handicap is not a result of History but the consequence of British intrigues. Speaking of Iraq borders, Churchill once wrote: We just drew some lines around the oil fields. For additional precaution, Kuwait, that had always been part of Iraq, was cut off to ensure that the Brits could control the outflow of oil.
Last week, Iranian troops withdrew from the Hajj Omran area of Iraq, which was occupied in 1982. It would thus appear that both countries are satisfied with a status quo.
Intelligence
On July 18 1988, the US embassy in Beirut issues a US multiple-entry Visa to Khalid Jaafar. At first, this seems to be a rather innocent fact. Upon closer inspection, it makes no sense whatsoever.
Khalid was born May 1st 1968 in Baalbek, part of the Beeka Valley in Lebanon. He moved to the US in 1983 where he stayed with his father in Dearborn, Michigan. He returned to Lebanon in 1987. Yet, Khalid became a US citizen on February 29 1988. His US passport was issued on June 24 1988.
This raises a rather obvious question. Why on earth would a US citizen, holding a valid US passport, apply for a US visa on his Lebanese passport?
Come to think of it, why would the US embassy in Beirut grant him such visa, considering that it is illegal for a US citizen to enter the United States on a foreign passport?
And it is no less intriguing that, in July 1988, the US embassy in Beirut was only issuing visas to government officials and their own employees.
Over the years, the question has been put repeatedly to the US Bureau of Consular Affairs. To my knowledge, the Bureau never had the basic courtesy to reply, let alone to answer the question.
Details of Khalid have been entered in the DEA EPIC computer. His file states that his US passport – 022807773 – was not among the items recovered at Lockerbie. Yet a witness is adamant that he used his US passport at Frankfurt airport to board on Pan Am 103 A.
Khalid’s Lebanese passport was recovered at Lockerbie. Several pages had been torn apart. And there is one more mystery. The passport had been issued on July 12 1983. It was valid for 3 years. Why on earth would the US embassy in Beirut grant a multiple-entry visa to someone who is holding an expired passport?
NOTES AND REFERENCES
Iraqis Say They Plan To Give Up All Land Captured Inside Iran - July 18, 1988
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