'Spy confessions' may affect West Asia

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN) JUNE 6. The confessions of an alleged spy could affect how the history of West Asia is perceived and how its future unfolds. If information from a single source can have such an effect, it only goes to show how far mystery and intrigue are inherent to the West Asian situation. But the air of intrigue in this particular case are so profound that the first questions that come to mind are whether the person is who he claims to be and whether he is telling the truth or playing a game.

Two revelations made by the supposed spy could place certain West Asian developments in an entirely different context and thereby change the way countries of the outside world deal with specific countries in the region. One of these revelations is supposed to be that Iran had masterminded the bombing of a U.S. Air Force residential complex in Al Khobar (Saudi Arabia) in 1996. The Saudis have said that they have thoroughly investigated the case but have refused to confirm U.S. allegations that Iranians were involved.

The second ``revelation'' is that Iran's intelligence units had provided the plans, finances and supplies for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland. This bombing was said to have been carried out in revenge for the downing of an Iranian passenger plane by the U.S. warship Vincennes. Two Libyans are currently standing trial in connection with the Lockerbie case.

The person in question is reported to be one Mr. Ahmed Beladi Behbahani, reportedly a former Iranian Deputy Minister for Counter-Intelligence. Mr. Behbahani is currently in Turkey in circumstances that are unclear. According to the U.S. TV network CBS News, which broke the story, Mr. Behbahani was living in a refugee camp in Turkey and was interviewed at this location. Officials of Turkey's intelligence service, the National Intelligence Organisation, had subsequently issued a statement that they had interviewed Mr. Behbahani. But before the story broke, Iranian dissident groups in exile issued warnings that Mr. Behbahani was on the run and that he should be caught and interrogated.

It now appears that Mr. Behbahani was in Teheran's Ervin prison till March 7 on charges of spying for another country while employed by Iran's intelligence services. He had escaped from prison on that date and the next that was heard of him was when CBS interviewed him over the weekend. But in between the Iranian dissident group in exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, had circulated a newsletter stating that Mr. Behbahani had entered Turkey and it urged Turkish authorities to arrest him. But another dissident group, led by the former President, Mr. Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, has claimed that the Turks had ``hidden'' Mr. Behbahani. Nevertheless, the Bani-Sadr group claims that it had interviewed Mr. Behbahani sometime in between.

According to the Bani-Sadr group, the Turkish authorities had also ``hidden'' another former Iranian intelligence man, Mr. Akbari, who was identified as a top aide to the former Intelligence Minister, Mr. Ali Fallahian. Mr. Fallahian is a feared figure and he might just about represent the first piece to click into place in a jigsaw puzzle that will probably take months to solve.

Intelligence officials close to Mr. Fallahian were tried for their involvement in the murders of Iranian intellectuals in the early 1998 and a close aide, Saeed Emami, was reported to have ``committed suicide'' while in custody. Iran's reform groups had charged that the intelligence officials who were tried were the proverbial sacrificial lambs and that the murder of the intellectuals had been ordered by others.

The public outrage against the murder of the intellectuals provided the Government of the President, Mr. Mohammed Khatami, with the opportunity to clean up the intelligence services which were then wholly under the control of the conservatives. Just about a month or so ago, Mr. Khatami had claimed that one of the major achievements of his Government was that it had been able to clean the intelligence services and make it more efficient. Intriguingly, this statement appears to have been made in roughly the same time-frame in which Mr. Behbahani escaped and made his way abroad.

But a fall-out within Iran's intelligence community is not about the only angle that has been opened up. For a few weeks now, Turkey has been strident about Iranian involvement with terrorist activity within its territory. It is unclear whether Turkish authorities had anything to do with CBS's access to Mr. Behbahani but his ``revelations'' are very convenient for them.

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Section  : International
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