Two more names associated with al-Khazraji to watch: Wafiq Samerrai and Nizar al-Qaseer
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Associated Press Worldstream
April 08, 1996
By JAMAL HALABY
AMMAN, Jordan
The former chief of Iraq's military intelligence, Wafiq Samerrai, has arrived in Jordan and plans to stay at the Arab kingdom for an unspecified time.
Information Minister Marwan Mouasher told an informal press briefing Monday that Samerrai ''asked to come to Jordan and the government has accepted his request.''
''He did not ask for political asylum, but requested to come and reside for a while,'' Mouasher said. ''We are not sure how long that will be.''
Samerrai arrived in Jordan on Thursday from Saudi Arabia, where he performed the minor Muslim pilgrimage, or umra, to the holy shrines in Mecca and Medina.
Iraqi dissidents on Saturday reported the arrival of Samerrai, who has been living in Syria since his defection in 1994. They said he was in Jordan on a brief visit to coordinate policies with the Iraqi National Accord, an opposition group that opened offices in the Jordanian capital in February.
Samerrai is the second Iraqi general to be allowed to live in the kingdom, which is trying to rally Iraqi opposition groups to join hands in a unified anti-Saddam Hussein front.
In February, the government gave permission for residency to Lt. Gen. Nizar al-Khazraji, the Iraqi army's chief of staff until Baghdad's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Jordan has in recent months been trying to distance itself from Iraq, its one-time ally. It has publicly attacked the Iraqi leadership and granted asylum to senior Iraqi defectors.
Samerrai carries considerable weight among exiled Iraqi opposition groups. His stay in Jordan, if it becomes permanent, could deal a serious blow to efforts by Syria to forge a Damascus-based, anti-Saddam alliance to counter what is widely seen as Jordanian efforts to gain influence in Iraq.
Jordan has denied that it harbors any ambitions in neighboring Iraq. It says its primary concern is to help end the suffering of the Iraqi people, burdened by crippling U.N. Sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Jordan's relations with Syria, its northern neighbor, have been tense since the kingdom signed a peace treaty with Israel in October 1994, departing from promises not to break Arab ranks and cut a separate deal with the Jewish state.
Relations worsened when Jordan undertook an active role in Iraqi affairs, challenging Syria's own efforts to gain leverage among Iraqi dissidents.
Syria is Iraq's sworn Arab enemy. The two Middle Eastern neighbors have for decades been locked in ideological disputes arising from the fact that they are ruled by rival factions of the Baath party.
The Associated Press
July 29, 1996
Former Minister Defects From Saddam Hussein's Regime
CAIRO, Egypt
The engineer who supervised construction of a "super gun" for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's artillery has defected and is seeking asylum in Germany, Iraqi dissidents said Monday.
Nizar al-Qaseer, who also served as irrigation minister until he was sacked last year, slipped into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and sought the help of Kurdish rebels, the dissidents said.
They said al-Qaseer, who is accompanied by his family, wants to go to Germany, where he studied engineering.
The dissidents, who live in Jordan, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi opposition group claimed three of its members were killed Thursday when their plot to assassinate Saddam was uncovered.
Their plot was uncovered minutes before the men were to board a helicopter to the Habaniya resort, where they planned to attack Saddam, the National Democratic Trend said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.
The men, all members of the air force, were killed by Iraqi security, the statement said. It identified them as Maj. Fawzi Karim Al-Hamadani, Capt. Hussam Aldin Khalaf Al-Assadi and Abdellah Ghaidan, a non-commissioned officer.
The report could not be confirmed independently.
Both Iraqi opposition groups and Israeli media recently have reported the executions of dozens of army officers after what they said was a failed coup attempt in June. Several air force officers also were arrested, opposition groups said.
The latest defection follows the March departure from Iraq of Gen. Nizar al-Khazraji, a former chief of staff of the Iraqi army. Al-Khazraji directed the armed forces during the final three years of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and was one of the highest ranked officers ever to defect from Saddam's regime. He defected to Jordan.
Al-Qaseer was the top aide to Gen. Hussein Kamel Al-Majid, Saddam's son-in-law who was responsible for Iraq's military-industrial complex. Al-Majid and his brother defected to Jordan in August 1995, but returned to Baghdad in February and were killed.
After al-Majid's defection, al-Qaseer was relieved of his ministry job and moved to the ceremonial post of presidential adviser.
The dissidents said al-Qaseer had been in charge of Iraq's ambitious program to build a huge artillery piece known as the "super gun" before the scheme was uncovered in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War.