Saddam's son fails to buy arms from Iran

WITH the United States intent on deposing him, Saddam Hussein has sent one of his sons to try to win support from his old enemy, Iran.
The Iraqi President was said to have dispatched his younger son and heir- apparent, Qusay, to seek the return of Iraqi aircraft that were sent to Iran for safekeeping during the 1991 Gulf War.

Qusay and his team, who travelled to the Iranian border ten days ago, also asked to buy weapons, including long-range Shahab-3 missiles, reformist Iranian websites reported. In return, Baghdad offered to hand over all the members of an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq.

While the Iraqi requests were apparently rejected, Iran again made clear at the weekend its opposition to US military action against Iraq. It was joined in calling for a political solution to the Iraqi affair by Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, whose Foreign Minister, Saud al-Faisal, held talks in Tehran with Iran’s moderate President Khatami.

“If aggression against one country becomes a habit, no government or country will be spared,” Mr Khatami said.

But he placed part of the responsibility for the regional tension on Iraq and called for “regional co-operation between Iraq’s neighbouring countries to encourage it to adhere to UN resolutions and international agreements”.

Qusay was said to have sought Iranian assistance during a secret meeting with General Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The talks took place at Ghasre Shirin, an Iranian town on the southern border with Iraq, one reformist source told The Times.

After consultations with the political authorities in Tehran, General Zolghadr rejected all Qusay’s requests for military assistance, the reports said. Baghdad was told that its aircraft would be of no use to Iraq because they were inoperable.