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wrbones
03-28-03, 06:47 PM
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/28/iraq/main546599.shtml


WASHINGTON, March 28, 2003



(AP / CBS)



(CBS) The State Department said on Friday it had information that Iraqi intelligence officers planned terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in two foreign countries.

In both cases, the operatives were arrested, terrorist material was confiscated and attacks were not carried out, spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"The U.S. government has recorded information regarding widespread terrorist planning against U.S. interests involving Iraqi intelligence officers," said Boucher.

The spokesman said this was the reason for expelling suspected intelligence officers from various overseas countries. However, he declined to identify the two countries in the alleged terror plots.

But CBS State Department Reporter Charles Wolfson reports, other administration officials said the countries were in the Middle East.

"Officers in the Iraqi intelligence service remain threat because of their history of support for terrorism. The U.S. will continue to monitor the situation and work with our partners and allies to ensure the safety of American citizens at facilities overseas," Boucher said.

"We do this for a living. We took action and this is the kind of result we expect to achieve," one senior official told Wolfson.

Last week, the State Department announced the three Iraqi diplomats remaining in Washington had been ordered to leave. The government called on countries with diplomatic ties to Iraq to expel Iraq's senior envoys as well.

No precise information on the terror-plan allegations was made available to reporters who were assembled at the department for the announcement. The basic information announced Friday has been made known to other countries, officials said.

There are indications that U.S. facilities were targeted, one senior official said.

Some 17 countries have expelled Iraqi intelligence officers, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. A like number of countries expelled Iraqi agents during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the official said.

He said he did not know if the agents alleged to have been involved in plots were operating out of embassies.

Last month, Philippine officials expelled an Iraqi consul, Husham Husain, over suspicion of links with Filipino Muslim extremists.

The Philippines, one of Washington's staunchest Asian allies in the global war on terrorism, has increasingly been sensitive to possible security threats, especially after it joined last week the coalition of countries backing Washington's military action against Iraq.

And this week, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the expulsion of an Iraqi diplomat and another Iraqi Embassy staffer in accord with the U.S. request.

She said there was "some evidence of espionage" against the two.


© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.