European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 04, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a a the stars and stripes monday february 4,1991war in the Gulf 1kuwaiti finds today s foes were yesterday s friends Butare Hamada the Detroit news a a a aboard the frigate Curts kuwaiti maj. Ibrahim finds himself in a Topsy Turvy world. Iraqi soldiers who were once his friends Are now his prisoners and the americans whom he did no to like Are now his allies. In the past week Ibrahim has come face to face with 86 iraqi soldiers members of the armed forces that seized his country six months ago. The 34-year-old major who refused to reveal his full name for fear of iraqi retaliation against his relatives in Kuwait works with an american officer to interrogate prisoners of  aboard the . Guided missile frigate Curts. His Long talks with the iraqi prisoners have Sadde Ned him. Ibrahim said. He said he believes them when they say that they were forced to help conquer a nation they never wanted to take. A a they re not criminals a said Ibrahm a Short immaculately groomed Man with thick Black hair. A we were Brothers. We look alike. We understand each others arabic. There a Little difference Between me and . A a a a. A a a a a.  a a a a a a a a a a a he s struck by How scared the pos Are of iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his repressive regime he said. A a a. A. A a a. A a. A. A a a a a. A a when i interview them some of them say a please done to write Down my name. If you Tell someone they will kill my  the men understand that Saddam is going against the whole world but they Are  one interview with a 27.ycar-old Captain touched him Ibrahim said. 1 he Captain a who was trying to flee to Iran when his vessel was attacked by . And British helicopters a lost the hearing in his left ear after he hit the ships rudder while fleeing the sinking vessel. A the was wlm fied about his father and Mother who arc old and yet sick a Ibrahim said. A the thinks they might get worse once they know he a  Ibrahimi a interrogation of iraqis follows years of cooperation Between the two countries. Kuwait for instance supported Saddam in his bloody eight year War against Iran. Ibrahim said he is embittered by Saddam a claims that Kuwait was threatening Iraq. Ibrahim also feels betrayed by the palestinians inside and outside of Kuwait who supported Saddam after the aug. 2 takeover. Ibrahim who fled Kuwait with his wife anti son on aug. 20, said he saw palestinians help iraqi troops crack Down on kuwaitis. A there Are some Good palestinians and some bad palestinians a he said. A i done to like Plo chairman Yasser Arafat and the Plo Palestine liberation organization. After All those years we helped them they help Saddam at the critical moment for  v al1lf nov americans Are helping Ibrahim to regain his Homeland he finds himself changing his mind about them. Before the invasion a the americans had never done anything to support Kuwait a said Ibrahim who added that he does no to like . Support of Israel. Now however he appreciates the efforts the americans Are making on his Peoples behalf he said. But in the end it will be the kuwaitis responsibility to create a stronger Mafe democratic nation he said. Once he and his government return to Kuwait he said a we will rebuild our army again. We will be much More careful than before. This cannot happen  Hamada is a Pentagon Pool reporter on the scene in the persian Gulf wiring bombs a amps. Ken Clauson a senior airman Andy Betancourt left and staff sgt. John Camburn fix fuse couplers for 500-Pound bombs to be used by the 4th tac fighter Wing provisional in the persian Gulf War. Betancourt 24, from Edinburg Texas and Camburn 28, from Homer mich., Are with the 4th equipment Maint so trom Seymour Johnson fab . They were working on the bomb fuses at an air base in saudi  believe Iraq s terrorists just biding time a. A a a amp. A. A. Nicosia Cyprus apr despite More than 70 attacks on Western targets in the last two. Weeks terrorism experts do not believe Saddam Hussein a professional killers have struck yet. Authorities think the May be waiting for the United states and its partners to drop their guard. A what we be seen so far have been rather amateurish affairs that were probably the work of local enthusiasts rather than trained terrorists a said Frank Brenchley director of London a research Institute for the study of conflict and terrorism. A a a a.  a a a a a a a we re surprised there Haven to been any attacks by palestinian organizations based in Baghdad a Brenchley said. A it takes four or five months to set up professional terrorist attack and they be had the time to do that a a tightened Security intensified by the. Rash of Low level Maverick attacks that have taken place since the Allied offensive against Iraq began Jan. 17, May account for the quiescence. The Large scale expulsion of iraqi diplomats from the United states Britain and other countries is also Likely to have impaired Saddam a use of his intelligence services for reprisal attacks. But Brenchley and other specialists believe that Saddam a pledge to unleash terrorist attacks is no Idle threat. A a they probably have Between them 100 or 200 people All trained terrorists a he said. A you done to need a Large number to carry out such  some officials put the number of cells in Europe As High As 40, with 10 in Germany alone. A a there a evidence that the dangerous groups. Who receive substantial sponsorship in terms of Money training and intelligence from Saddam Are in place ready to launch attacks when he gives the word a said professor Paul Wilkinson a terrorism expert at Scotland a St. Andrews University. \ he told a recent conference in London a i anticipate that when major hostilities tire ended. There will be terrorism Over a very Long period by embittered desperate groups which supported the Radical palestinian Arab  Saddam a intelligence services considered the most ruthless and effective in the Arab world have assassinated scores of his enemies abroad iraqi embassies have provided weapons and logistics for the assassins. But authorities Are most worried Over the buildup of experienced palestinian terrorists in Iraq including some who have been responsible for scores of atrocities Over the last 20 years. Brenchley said the notorious Abu Nidal whose real name is Sabri Al Banna returned to Baghdad August after a seven year split with Saddam. His organization is called Fatah revolutionary Council also known As Black june. It has been blamed for the december 1985 at tacks on Rome and Vienna in which 16 people were killed the september 1986 hijacking of a pan am jumbo Jet at Karachi Pakistan in which some 100 people were killed or wounded and an attack on an Istanbul synagogue the same month in which 22 jews were slain. Also reported in Baghdad is Abul Abbas whose real name is Mohammed Abbas. He leads the Palestine liberation front an element of the a Palestine liberation organization that was behind the october 1985 hijacking of the italian liner Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean. To Siciu of finals arc a 1 so concen urd about Ilic presence of the so called Hawaii group in Iraq. This unit known in the Plo As the special operations group is led by Abdallah Abd Hamid Labib. Several years ago it absorbed another faction called the May 15 movement named after the Date of israelis founding. May 15 has included some of the most imagine live bomb makers in the terrorist world including Hussein Mohammed Umari alias Abu Ibrahim. He pioneered the suitcase and cassette bombs used to blow up airliners in the 1980s