From: VeteransAngel@aol.com

Reuters English News Service

Wednesday, March 27, 2002
IRAQ: Iraq insists offer on missing U.S. pilot serious.

BAGHDAD, March 27 (Reuters) - Iraq insisted on Wednesday its offer to receive a U.S. team to investigate the fate of an American pilot shot down during the 1991 Gulf War was serious, after Washington dismissed the move as propaganda.

An Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman urged the United States to accept Baghdad's offer to probe the fate of Lt. Commander Michael Speicher, shot down over Iraq on the first day of the war. U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday dismissed the offer as "propaganda".

But the Iraqi spokesman said: "Iraq's initiative to receive an American team to probe the fate of Speicher is serious and it does not make it for propaganda."

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry officially notified the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on March 26 of its "readiness to receive a U.S. team and to take all measures necessary to implement this initiative," the spokesman said.

"If the United States is serious in its quest to know the fate of the American pilot after dropping his file for long years, it should notify the ICRC its acceptance of the Iraqi offer," he said.

The case has resurfaced amid U.S. threats to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as part of its "war on terror" and United Nations attempts to broker a  return of arms inspectors to Iraq.

A U.S. military team searched for the pilot's remains in 1995 but their mission apparently ended inconclusively.

Rumsfeld said Iraq had made no offer to host a new U.S. delegation through formal channels and appeared to downplay recent reports that Speicher might be alive.

The Washington Times newspaper said earlier this month U.S. intelligence agencies had obtained new information indicating Speicher was in captivity in Iraq.

Washington listed Speicher as the war's first casualty but took the unusual step in January last year of reclassifying him as "missing in action" after evidence emerged he might have survived the crash. Iraq said then that he was dead.

Defence officials said U.S. spy satellites detected what they called a "man-made symbol" at the crash site more than three years after Speicher went missing. They said a flight suit that could have been Speicher's was found more recently on the surface of the desert.

The United States has labelled Iraq part of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and Iran and warned Baghdad it could become a target if it does not let U.N. weapons inspectors back into the country to verify it is not holding weapons of mass destruction. Iraq, which has barred inspectors since they left in December 1988, says it has destroyed all such weapons.

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The Washington Times
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
Iraqi radio carried U.S. pilot offer; May allow probe into whether he is alive after 11 years
Bill Gertz, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Iraq's offer to allow a U.S. team to investigate the fate of Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher was carried by the government radio - not just by Chinese and British wire services, as Bush administration officials asserted Monday.

Administration officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, discounted Iraq's offer Sunday because they said it was not made through official Iraqi channels.

The State Department has begun high-level internal discussions on how to respond, administration officials said.

Meanwhile, a lawyer who represents Cmdr. Speicher's family, said there is a good chance he survived by ejecting from the aircraft and was captured by the Iraqis.

Cmdr. Speicher's wife and two children are "very optimistic" he is alive, said Cindy Laquidara.

"I can tell you that I believe it's far more probable that he's alive than he's not," Mrs. Laquidara said in a telephone interview. "I would say there's a 75 to 80 percent chance he's alive and that's pretty good."

Mrs. Laquidara said the administration should view the Iraqi offer to allow an inspection team in as a good first step. "We should pursue every avenue," she said.

Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters Monday that "we're not aware of any offer by the Iraqi government." He said the only fact about the offer was that it was "printed," presumably in newspaper reports. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters that "we have reports that Iraqi officials told a Chinese news service" about Baghdad's offer to allow a U.S. team to discuss Cmdr. Speicher's case.

However, the official broadcast on Baghdad-based Republic of Iraq Radio Sunday night was translated from Arabic by the U.S. government within hours, U.S. officials said.

Quoting an unidentified Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman, the radio said the Bush administration has dealt with the case of Cmdr. Speicher "in a highly consistent manner."

The broadcast noted that in 1991 then-Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney told reporters on the night Cmdr. Speicher's F-18 was shot down that "the pilot died when his plane crashed."

The Iraqi radio broadcast also said the United States failed to investigate Cmdr. Speicher's fate from 1991 to 1995. "The U.S. authorities did not even ask for him as part of the POWs' lists in 1991, nor did they list his name as missing in action," the Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying.

"The Iraqi authorities have nothing to add to the conclusions drawn by the U.S. team during its visit to Iraq in 1995," the statement said.

A U.S. inspection team visited Cmdr. Speicher's wrecked aircraft in the Iraqi desert that year and concluded the pilot had probably ejected.

The Iraqi statement said that U.S. officials presented a "fact- finding file" on the Speicher case to Iraq through the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the ICRC would not accept the file because a 1996 deadline for such requests had expired.

Then on May 11, 2001, the U.S. government presented Iraq directly with a file of information on Cmdr. Speicher and in July the Iraqis responded by providing information about the case, the statement said.

"This information is originally based on what the U.S. administration presented, which confirmed that Speicher was killed in that incident and specified the crash site," the statement said. The statement concluded by saying that Iraq is "ready to receive a U.S. team to visit Iraq and discuss this issue."

Iraqi Spokesman Comments on Cheney's Remarks About Iraqi Proposal on US Pilot Baghdad, 27 May (INA) -- In reaction to statements by US Vice President Dick Cheney in which he said that he does not know if the proposition made by the Government of the Republic of Iraq to receive a US team to discuss the issue of pilot Michael Speicher, whose plane was shot down over the Iraqi territories on 17 January 1991, was a serious proposition or not, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry made the following statement:

More than anyone else, the US Administration knows the fact that when Iraq says something it means it, and when Iraq proposed the initiative to receive an American delegation to discuss the fate of pilot Speicher, it did not do so for media purposes. As a matter of fact, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry has officially informed the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Baghdad on 26 March 2002 of its willingness to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that this initiative sees its way to implementation.

As for the desire expressed by the official spokesman for the US State Department in his statement on 25 March 2002 that the tripartite committee look into the issue of the US pilot, it should be noted that this committee, regardless of Iraq's opinion about its current structure, has refused to receive the file of the pilot when the US team submitted it in 1999, saying that the period for receiving investigation reports was over on 31 July 1996. The committee urged the United States to submit the report on the basis of a bilateral investigation conducted by the two states; namely, Iraq and the United States under the supervision of the International Committee for the Red Cross. The United States has still not sent the report.

The spokesman for the Foreign Ministry concluded by saying: If the United States is serious about investigating the fate of the US pilot, whose file it has neglected for so many years, then all it has to do is inform the International Red Cross Committee that it has agreed to the Iraqi proposition.

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[Description of Source: Baghdad INA (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic --Official news agency of the Iraqi Government;
Former Iraqi Intelligence Officer Says US Pilot Speicher Is in Baghdad
Hospital Baghdad Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service Arabic 1700 GMT 24 Mar 02 [Report by Abd-al-Latif al-Sa'dun from Baghdad, Hazim al-Amin from Beirut, and Randah Taqiy-al-Din from Monterey: "Baghdad Offers To Receive US Delegation To Investigate Fate of Pilot Speicher"]

For the first time since the international inspectors' departure from Iraq at the end of 1998, Baghdad yesterday offered a "goodwill" initiative toward the United States by declaring its willingness to receive a US delegation to investigate the fate of pilot Michael Speicher. The American pilot's aircraft crashed during the 1991 Gulf War and he was considered killed in action but Washington later said he was missing. [Passage omitted citing AFP report on Cheney's CNN interview]

Al-Hayah was the first to reveal that the pilot is still alive when it published on 4 May 2001 the tale of an Iraqi prisoner who met the pilot in prison in Baghdad, spoke to him, and asked him to take care of him during his illness. The US Defense Department opened an investigation into the matter after Al-Hayah published this report and US investigators came to the region and met the Iraqi prisoner.

An Iraqi intelligence officer who became a dissident few months ago yesterday contacted Al-Hayah and confirmed that the American pilot is still alive and was moved few months ago from his prison to the Ibn-Sina Hospital in Baghdad, which is used only by senior Iraqi officials, after becoming physically very weak because of his long stay in prison and the deteriorating conditions in his cell. The dissident officer described conditions in Iraqi prisons as "almost graveyards for the living." He also confirmed that there are Kuwaitis, Saudis, Bahrainis, Palestinians, and others from Western countries among the prisoners as well as Faysal al-Sani, a former member of Kuwait's National Assembly, that the dissident officer met in prison several times. He pointed out that he has a photograph of one
of the Kuwaiti prisoners but refused to give it to Al-Hayah. [Passage omitted citing President Bush's remarks on Iraq in Monterey]

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[Description of Source: London Al-Hayah in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; commentaries occasionally critical of US policy.]

Source-Date: 03/24/2002
Spokesman: Iraq 'Ready' To Receive US Team To Discuss Issue of Missing Pilot

In a press statement on 11 March, the US State Department spokesman said that his government raised the issue of pilot Michael Speicher with the Iraqi Government in January 2001 and that it considered him missing and not killed in action. The head of the US delegation to the Tripartite Committee also raised this issue during the latest meeting in Geneva on 8 March, and US President Bush mentioned it at a news conference on 13 March.

Commenting on this, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry has stated the following: The issue of US pilot Speicher dates back to the first day of the war which the United States launched against Iraq. His plane was downed in the western region on 17 January 1991. The US Administration has since then dealt in a highly inconsistent manner with Speicher's file. Dick Cheney, the then US defense secretary and currently the US vice president, told journalists on the night the accident occurred that the pilot died when his plane crashed. In May 1991, and in light of the lack of evidence that Speicher survived the crash, the US Navy endorsed his death report.

In a related development, US television networks quoted some sources in the US Navy as saying that the pilot of a plane that accompanied Speicher's saw the latter's plane explode in the air and crash into the ground, but did not see him eject out of the plane. Nor had Speicher made any appeals for help.

The spokesman said that the US Administration, from 1991 until February 1995, did not seek to determine the fate of its pilot and did not raise the issue with the ICRC. It also did not raise the issue during the meetings of the Tripartite Committee on MIA's.

When the US Administration asked in 1995 for cooperation in determining the fate of the pilot and for evidence confirming his death, Iraq, out of a purely humanitarian motive, agreed to receive a US delegation for this purpose.

An 11-member US technical team arrived in Iraq on 9 December 1995. After showing the team the crash site, they proved that the plane wreckage remained intact, expect for what [was lost] because of weather conditions or the acts of some shepherds passing in the region.

The spokesman noted that the missile inspection team, UNSCOM-124, which was affiliated with the Special Commission, had from 17 until 19 December 1991 inspected the western region of Iraq where the plane crashed, as it became clear to Iraq afterward.

Scott Ritter, the head of the above mentioned team, admitted that the US Administration asked him to look for the body of a US pilot. Based on the inspection he made, he arrived at the conclusion that the pilot was eaten by wolves.

In 1993, the UNSCOM-63 inspection team inspected the same region once again, using helicopters equipped with modern radar systems. They found nothing but the plane wreckage.

The spokesman went on to say: On 12 January 2001, former US President Bill Clinton raised the issue of pilot Speicher, whose status was reclassified from killed to missing in action.

The US authorities presented a fact-finding file on Speicher, which the ICRC refused to receive because the period during which fact-finding applications are submitted expired on 31 July 1996. The ICRC asked the United States to submit the application based on a two-way fact-finding task involving the two countries concerned under the supervision of the ICRC.

On 11 May 2001, Iraq received a two-way fact-finding file from the US Administration via the ICRC. The Foreign Ministry responded to the file by presenting the evidence and information it had, which it submitted to the ICRC on 23 July 2001. This information is originally based on what the US Administration presented, which confirmed that Speicher was killed in that incident and specified the crash site. The US authorities did not even ask for him as part of the POW's lists in 1991, nor did they list his name as missing in action. The Iraqi authorities have nothing to add to the conclusions drawn by the US team during its visit to Iraq in 1995.

In conclusion, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said: To prove our goodwill in this regard and refute the repeated US fabrications against Iraq, we announce that the concerned Iraqi sides are ready to receive a US team to visit Iraq and discuss this issue. This team can be accompanied by a US media team to cover and document the event under the supervision of the ICRC. Scott Ritter, who headed the UNSCOM-24 inspection team and located the crash site in 1991, can also participate.

While placing these facts and events before the world public opinion, Iraq is calling on the US Administration to stop the policy of shuffling cards and distortion, which it pursues every now and then against this or that party. Iraq stresses that such purely technical issues can be best settled through the relevant legal channels.

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[Description of Source: Baghdad Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service in Arabic -- Official radio station of the Iraqi Government]

11/11/2001 : "INC CONFIRMS KUWAITI PRISONERS HELD BY SADDAM"
At Least 80 Prisoners Seen at Iraqi Intelligence Camp

LONDON (12 November, 2001): The Iraqi National Congress announced it will reveal information confirming that at least 80 Kuwaiti prisoners of war continue to be held by Saddam's regime. The prisoners are being held at the Iraqi Intelligence camp at Salman Pak, about 30 km south of Baghdad on the Tigris River.

The INC has received information from two former officers of the Iraqi Intelligence Service (Mukhabarat) who have left Iraq. In a joint investigation with the New York Times, the INC has confirmed many of the details from other sources. Both intelligence officers report seeing 80 Kuwaiti men at the Salman Pak facility. The prisoners were known only by a serial number but the intelligence officers learned the real names of some of the men. These names were confirmed by Kuwaiti sources as being among those listed as missing by the Government of Kuwait after the liberation in 1991. The INC has decided not to release the names at this time.

The prisoners were reported to be in good condition. They receive three meals daily and are given medical care when required. They are held together in an underground cell with one large window near the ceiling. The prisoners have been held at Salman Pak since 1995. Both former intelligence officers report that other Kuwaiti prisoners may be held in other Mukhabarat facilities in Iraq.

Sharif Ali Bin AlHussein, member of the INC Leadership Council and INC spokesman said, "This is further proof that Saddam Hussein continues to break international law and all norms of civilised behaviour. The fact that he is holding these prisoners, together with mounting evidence of his involvement in international terrorism, confirm that his regime is in material breach of the UN cease-fire resolutions. We call on the international community to help us remove Saddam's regime to liberate the Iraqi people and allow the Kuwaiti prisoners to return home to their families."

The INC will unveil information about the Kuwaiti prisoners and terrorist training camps in Iraq at a press conference on Monday 12 November at 10.30 am.

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Fox On the Record with Greta Van Susteren
Monday, March 18, 2002
Interview With Sen. Bob Smith
Greta Van Susteren

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We ought to make every effort, as we have in the past, to ascertain what happened to Commander Speicher. There is questions, of course. The Iraqis did give back all the other prisoners they held. Why would they hold one? But there is evidence -- enough evidence to bring this whole situation into question, and it has to be a very high priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN SUSTEREN: Why are we now learning that an American pilot originally listed as killed in action during the Gulf War might actually still be alive and a prisoner of Saddam Hussein? Senator Bob Smith is spearheading an investigation into the fate of Michael Speicher, whose plane crashed in the Iraqi desert in 1991. I asked him whether he thinks Speicher is dead or alive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BOB SMITH (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Greta, the only way I can answer that is to say to you there is no evidence that he's dead and a lot of evidence that he survived the crash and very well may be a captive. We just -- I just can't say with certainty that he's alive. That would be irresponsible for me to say that. The evidence...

VAN SUSTEREN: Before I...

SMITH: There's a lot of evidence...

VAN SUSTEREN: ... get to the evidence...

SMITH: There's a lot -- go ahead.

VAN SUSTEREN: Before I get to the evidence of why is he alive, let's assume for a second that he is. I know that you have been spearheading this for a long time. You and I even have spoken before about it. But why has the United States government seemed to sort of ignore the issue for the last 10 years of whether he's dead or alive?

SMITH: Well, they really haven't ignored it the last 10 years. As you know, in '91 when the crash occurred, when the shoot-down occurred, he was pronounced dead on national television by the secretary of defense, largely due to the information that he was provided, and I think -- so, you know, for the next two or three years, nothing happened.

He was killed in action. No remains returned. So nobody thought much of it. But then we began to hear that there was other information coming to the surface that remains were repatriated were not his, although the Iraqis told us they were. There was a crash site investigation which concluded that he had initiated the getting out of the aircraft, and they found a canopy, they found a flight suit. All these things began to come out, and then, finally, you know, I pushed hard to change this classification. You had a young Navy wife who took that information that her husband was killed in action and, you know, planned her life again, remarried, and this is a very difficult situation.

VAN SUSTEREN: Senator, you know, you say it's so tough for her, and, indeed, I imagine it -- it's the worst. It's the unthinkable, especially in light of the fact she has remarried, started a new life, and I know that you have put a lot -- you and I have spoken, as I said -- have put a lot of work into getting the status changed from KIA to MIA. But the problem is, you know, it's hard not to have a little outrage that the government has not moved a little faster and firmer, especially after they got the remains from Iraq that they knew were not his.

SMITH: Well, I think that's true, Greta. In the early part of this, from say 1991 -- or '93 when we began to get this additional information -- but '91 through about '97, '98 -- I agree with you. It is troubling, and, frankly, it makes me angry because I know what I went through. The only reason why I'm here today talking about this, the only reason why I think we were able to move this along is because I had a source -- God bless him. I even identified his gender. I shouldn't have done that -- who was in the intelligence community who kept telling me, "Senator, there's information here. You've got to keep digging. They're not telling you the truth," and so, you know, I -- that's troubling, but, look, we...

VAN SUSTEREN: So what is the information...

SMITH: We're beyond that now. I mean, it's important to understand now that they're working with us now and they're trying everything under the sun to find Speicher, and I think that's where we really need to be doing right now.

VAN SUSTEREN: Without identifying your source, Senator, what is your source telling you about whether or not Commander Speicher is alive? What's the evidence?

SMITH: The evidence -- you know, I could only say to you -- and I have an unclassified version of the report from the intelligence community, and it's a simple paragraph. It says, "We assess that Iraq can account for Speicher but that Baghdad is concealing information about his fate. Speicher probably survived the loss of his aircraft and, if he survived, almost certainly was captured by the Iraqis," and -- and -- I mean, that sums it up, and I -- and that's -- I think there is -- there's a lot of information and evidence that supports that conclusion, obviously, or the intelligence community would not put it out.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Senator Smith, thank you very much for joining us this evening, and I hope you have a lot of fortune in terms of resolving this because I know you've been pushing for it.

SMITH: Yeah. It's a very difficult case but one that we have to pursue and we should leave no soldier behind, no one behind. We should move forward on this, and that's what I intend to do.

VAN SUSTEREN: I agree with you. All right, Senator. Thank you very much.

SMITH: Thank you, Greta.