Minister or spy?

The United States has revealed the name of a person close to Saddam Hussein who provided their intelligence services with information about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. The mole, according to the American television company NBC, citing former high-ranking CIA officials, turned out to be 58-year-old Naji Sabri. He served as Minister of State for International Affairs in the Iraqi government from April 2001 until the overthrow of Saddam in March 2003. In fact, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

For the first time, then-CIA Director George Tenet reported about leaks in the Iraqi leadership in 2004, but Sabri’s name was not mentioned then. Sabri did not communicate directly with American agents. But it is alleged that in the fall of 2002 he allegedly had contact with their intermediaries at meetings organized by the French intelligence services. They learned from the US minister that “Iraq does not have nuclear weapons, but it is persistently and secretly seeking to obtain them” and that Hussein is “flirting” with biological weapons, but “he has no real programs” to create them. By the way, after the invasion, the Americans did not find any prohibited weapons in Iraq. It is believed that Sabri had no idea that he was working for the United States. He also did not know that he received money for cooperation (more than 100 thousand dollars) from the CIA.

It is possible that the information about a valuable agent disclosed by the Americans is aimed at hiding the true source, and the former minister is simply discredited. Naji Sabri has not commented on the allegations. He now lives in one of the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, where he teaches political science at one of the institutes.

Albert GALEEV