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SERIAL:    (U) IIR 2 212 5064 91. 

 

 

/*********** THIS IS A COMBINED MESSAGE ************/ 



COUNTRY:   (U) IRAQ (IZ); FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY 

(GE). 

 

SUBJECT:  IIR 2 212 5064 91/GE MAGAZINE CLAIMS SOME GE 

HOSTAGES IN IZ VOLUNTARILY STAYED BEHIND TO AID IZ 

INDUSTRY - DESERT SHIELD (U).

 





WARNING:   (U) THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT 

FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE. 



 

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                  DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

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DOI:       (U)  901129. 

 

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SOURCE:    (U) WEEKLY MAGAZINE (SPIEGEL), 26 NOV 90, IN 

GERMAN. 

 

SUMMARY:   (U) IN SPITE OF THE WELL PUBLICIZED HOSTAGE 

SITUATION IN IZ, GE COMPANIES CONTINUE THEIR EFFORTS TO 

AID IZ IN BUILDING AND RUNNING DEFENSE RELATED ARMAMENT 

AND POISON GAS FACILITIES. GE BUSINESSMEN SEEM TO COME 

AND GO TO IZ WITH IMPUNITY IN SPITE OF EMBARGOES. 

 

TEXT:  (UNCLASS IN ITS ENTIRETY) 

THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSLATION OF AN ARTICLE FROM THE 26 

NOV 90 (PP 29-31) ISSUE OF THE SPIEGEL MAGAZINE. 

1. TITLE - WHIRRING NOISES IN THE AFTERNOON 

2. CAPTION - THE BOYCOTT AGAINST SADDAM ISN'T WORKING. 

FOREIGN EXPERTS ARE STILL HELPING IRAQ IN ITS PRODUCTION 

OF ARMAMENTS. 

3. ARTICLE. 

THE SMELL ((OF CHEMICALS)) STILL LINGERS  IN MANFRED 

((RITSCHEL))S NOSE EVEN AFTER HIS HAVING BEEN FREED FROM 

BEING A HOSTAGE IN IRAQ. RITSCHEL, A BUSINESSMAN FROM 

WATTENSCHEID ((GE)) RECALLS SMELLING A TOXIC ODOR 

WHENEVER HE AND HIS FELLOW HOSTAGES WERE LED TO THE FOOD 

BARRELS VIA THE OUTSIDE COMPOUND ((WHERE THEY WERE 

INTERNED)). 

RITSCHEL'S FELLOW HOSTAGE PETER ((BOESHANS)) HAD SIMILAR 

EXPERIENCES; ((THEY WERE MAKING SOMETHING; THERE WERE 

WORKSHOP NOISES AND THIS STENCH.)) YET ANOTHER HOSTAGE 

REMEMBERS HEARING ((LOUD WHISTLING AND WHIRRING 

NOISES)), MOSTLY DURING THE AFTERNOON. 

THE HOSTAGES COULD ONLY GUESS AT WHAT THEY HAD BEEN 

HEARING AND SMELLING. THEIR CELL WAS A WORKSHOP WHICH IS 

PART OF THE SAMARRA POISON GAS FACTORY (PROTECTED BY 

ANTI AIRCRAFT MISSILES), 120 KM FROM BAGHDAD. AFTER HIS 

RETURN HOME, ONE HOSTAGE REPORTED ((NO ONE COULD SEE 

WHAT THEY WERE DOING OUTSIDE OUR CELL. THE DOOR OF THE 

HALL WHERE THE HOSTAGES WERE KEPT WAS WELDED SHUT.)) 

THINGS WERE A BIT MORE LOOSE AT THE TADJI DEFENSE 

COMPLEX NORTHWEST OF BAGHDAD, WHERE THE ESSEN BASED 

FERROSTAAL CONCERN IS THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR AN 

ARTILLERY FACTORY DISGUISED AS A GENERAL IRON WORKS. 

HOSTAGES TAKEN THERE TO ACT AS HUMAN SHIELDS WERE 

ALLOWED TO WATCH WORKERS IN ACTION WHO WERE NO DOUBT 

GERMAN SPECIALISTS. 

REPORTS BY THE FIRST HOSTAGES TO RETURN HOME FROM IRAQ 

HAVE ALARMED BOTH US AND GE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES; 

APPARENTLY, PRODUCTION IS RUNNING AT NORMAL LEVELS USING 

FOREIGN AID AT PRACTICALLY ALL THE IMPORTANT ARMAMENT 

FACTORIES BELONGING TO SADDAM HUSSEIN WHO FACES A 

WORLD-WIDE BOYCOTT FOR HIS OCCUPATION OF KUWAIT. 

ACCORDING TO INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS, POISON GAS AND 

ARTILLERY PIECES TO BE USED AGAINST THE REST OF THE 

WORLD WERE BEING PRODUCED IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF 

THE HOSTAGE PRISON SITES, SOME WITH HELP FROM GERMANS 

WHO WERE NOT IN IRAQ AS HOSTAGES, BUT AS BUSINESS 

FRIENDS OF THE DESERT DICTATOR. 

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS HAVE PIECED TOGETHER FACTS FROM 

RETURNED HOSTAGE REPORTS AND FROM OTHER SOURCES THAT - 

AT LEAST SINCE THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER ((1990)) - ONE 

SHIFT PER DAY WORKED FOR APPROX. FIVE DAYS PER WEEK AT 

SAMARRA. APPROX. 400 KILOGRAMS OF ((TABUN)) AND ((LOST)) 

AND POSSIBLY ALSO SARIN ARE PRODUCED THERE DAILY. 

WESTERN EXPERTS OPINE THAT THESE POISON GAS FACTORIES 

CAN ONLY BE RUN BY HAND PICKED EXPERTS WHICH, AT LEAST 

PRIOR TO THE EMBARGO, WERE VERY SCARCE AMONG THE IRAQIS. 

THE INTERNATIONAL HOSTAGES HAVE LONG SPOKEN OF GERMAN 

EFFICIENCY. AS AN EXAMPLE, AS RITSCHEL ARRIVED AT A 

FACILITY OF THE ((IRAQ ATOM, ENERGY COMPANY)) WITH OTHER 

HOSTAGES FROM SAMARRA AT THE END OF OCTOBER, AN AMERICAN 

SPOKE TO HIM AND SAID ((WE'RE HERE FROM TADJI, YOU COULD 

HAVE SPOKEN TO YOUR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN THERE AT THE 

CONSTRUCTION SITE.)) 

ANOTHER HOSTAGE'S MEMORIES OF HOME WERE OFTEN AWAKENED 

FURTHER NORTH IN MOSUL, WHERE THE BIELEFELD COMPANY, 

PROJECTA GMBH, AS THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR AND 40 OTHER 

OTHER GE COMPANIES AS SUBCONTRACTORS, HAVE CONSTRUCTED 

THE MOST MODERN MILITARY RESEARCH CENTER IN THE MIDDLE 

EAST; ACCORDING TO HIS REPORT WHICH HE GAVE TO GERMAN 

SOCIAL PARTY EUROPE REPRESENTATIVE AND TRAVELLER TO 

IRAQ, DIETER ((SCHINZEL)), HE SAW A GREAT DEAL OF 

EQUIPMENT ((MADE IN GERMANY)) AND ALSO SAW GERMAN 

EXPERTS WHO WERE BUSILY WORKING THERE. 

THERE IS MUCH EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE SUPPOSITION THAT 

WESTERN EXPERTS ARE BEING FORCED TO CONTINUE WORKING IN 

IRAQ. BUT, THERE IS ALSO A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION 

POINTING TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE VOLUNTEERS THERE 

FROM GERMANY AND OTHER NATIONS DUE TO THE LOW EXCHANGE 

RATE INTO GOLD. 

ACCORDING TO OBSERVATIONS MADE BY THE GE FEDERAL 

INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (BND), AND TO INFORMATION GAINED 

FROM WESTERN EXPERTS AND FROM FORMER HOSTAGES FROM IRAQ, 

BUSINESS TRAFFIC BETWEEN BAGHDAD AND EUROPE IS STILL IN 

FULL SWING. EVEN WEST GERMAN CONTRACTING FIRMS ARE STILL 

AS DISCRETELY AS EVER CLOSING CONTRACTS WITH WAR HUNGRY 

HUSSEIN. 

ACCORDING TO IRAQ EXPERT SCHINZEL, THE PROFESSIONALS 

TRAVEL VIA AMMAN. THE CAPITAL OF JORDAN IS STILL EASY TO 

FLY IN TO. IRAQI AIRWAYS HAS DAILY FLIGHTS TO SADDAM 

HUSSEIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. 

THE RITUAL FOLLOWS THE OLD RULES. THOSE IN FAVOR OF 

HUSSEIN ARE LED PAST THE PASSPORT CHECKERS WITH NO 

INCONVENIENT PASSPORT OR CUSTOMS CONTROLS. 

THIS USED TO BE A COURTESY; NOW IT'S CAMOUFLAGE. 

ACCORDING TO THE COMMON MARKET REGULATION OF 29 OCTOBER, 

VARIOUS SERVICES FOR THE IRAQI ECONOMY - WITH THE 

EXCEPTION OF BANK TRANSACTIONS - ARE FORBIDDEN. THE 

AMOUNTS FOR TRUCKING IN ILLEGAL SANCTIONS ARE BEING 

DISCUSSED IN THE EUROPEAN CAPITALS. 

NO MEANS IS TOO GREAT TO BREAK THE EMBARGO. 

CONSPICUOUSLY TOO MANY GERMANS TRAVEL TO AMMAN AND DO 

NOT RETURN RIGHT AWAY TO THEIR HOMELAND, BUT RETURN VIA 

LONDON OR AMSTERDAM FIRST. 

WHILE CHECKING PASSPORTS, WEST GERMAN BORDER CONTROL 

OFFICERS ROUTINELY NOTE THE TRAVEL ROUTE OF MANY 

TRAVELLERS RETURNING FROM THE MIDEAST. USING THIS 

METHOD, OFFICIALS WERE ABLE TO NOTE THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, 

MANFRED SCHWENDER, FROM IBBENBUEREN IN WESTPHALIA, 

RETURNED FROM IRAQ ABOUT A MONTH AGO - NOT ABOARD A 

PLANE FULL OF NEWLY FREED HOSTAGES, BUT PRIVATELY. 

SCHWENDER AND HIS FATHER, EWALD, ARE NO NEWCOMERS TO 

BUSINESS DEALINGS WITH IRAQ. THEY RUN A WHOLESALE 

BUSINESS WITH MACHINES AND CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY 

((PRIMARY ACTIVITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST)) AND BECAME KNOWN 

TO AUTHORITIES A FEW YEARS BACK WHEN THEY BUILT AN 

ASSEMBLY LINE WHICH IS NOW USED AT SAMARRA. 

APPARENTLY, HARMLESS CONTAINERS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE 

ASSEMBLED AT THE FACILITY. IN REALITY, HOWEVER, THEY'RE 

MAKING BOMBER AIRCRAFT WHICH SADDAM IS HAVING FILLED 

WITH NERVE AGENT WEAPONS. 

THE SCHWENDERS WOULD HAVE AUTHORITIES BELIEVE THAT THEY 

WERE DUPED AND HAD NO IDEA OF THE PURPOSE FOR THE 

ASSEMBLY LINE. BOTH FATHER AND SON WILL FACE A LAWSUIT, 

AND INVESTIGATORS WANT TO KNOW WHAT SCHWENDER IS 

CURRENTLY DOING IN IRAQ. 

APPARENTLY NEITHER AN EMBARGO NOR THE THREAT OF AN 

IMPENDING WAR CAN STOP STRONG NERVED GERMAN BUSINESSMEN. 

FOR YEARS, GERMAN ARMAMENT INDUSTRIAL AND CHEMISTRY 

ENTREPRENEURS HAVE INVESTED IN SADDAM'S PREPARATION FOR 

WAR. IT WASN'T UNTIL THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS THAT IT 

BECAME APPARENT JUST HOW UNSCRUPULOUS THEY WERE. 

(SPIEGEL 32/1990) WHEELER DEALERS FROM THE WEST DO NOT 

WANT TO SIMPLY WRITE OFF INVESTMENTS MADE IN THE MIDDLE 

EAST. 

IT IS A DIFFICULT TASK FOR INVESTIGATORS TO PROPERLY 

ANALYZE EACH MISSION IN IRAQ. DURING THE PAST SEVERAL 

WEEKS, SOME BUSINESS HEADS HAVE ATTEMPTED ON THEIR OWN 

TO GET EMPLOYEES HELD AS PRISONERS OUT OF IRAQ WHILE 

OTHERS APPARENTLY WANTED TO FINISH THEIR CONTRACT SO AS 

NOT TO LOSE THEIR DEPOSITED FRONT MONEY TO THE IRAQIS. 

SOME ARE AFRAID OF BEING PLACED ON A PERMANENT BLACK 

LIST AND TO LOSE POTENTIALLY LUCRATIVE BUSINESS DEALS. 

MORE AND MORE TIPS ABOUT COMPANIES BREAKING THE EMBARGO 

THROUGH ALL KINDS OF SHIPMENTS ARE RECEIVED AT THE 

FEDERAL CRIMINAL AGENCY AND THE GERMAN INTELLIGENCE 

SERVICE. THE FORBIDDEN CARGO TRAVELS VIA THE 1450 

KILOMETER LONG BORDER TO IRAN OR VIA THE MOUNTAIN BORDER 

IN NORTHERN IRAQ TO TURKEY 

IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL THE MYRIAD OF 

HIDEOUTS AND HIDDEN PATHS. ONE THING IS FOR SURE; 

SUPPLIES ARE COMING IN STEADILY. IT IS NOT UNLIKELY THAT 

THE SUPPLY CONTAINED GOODS FOR SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE 

CONSIDERED TO BE HOSTAGES. 

THE RESULT OF THE REPORTS LEADS THOSE WORKING IN THE 

INTELLIGENCE FIELD TO BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE INDEED 

NUANCES BETWEEN THE SITUATION OF FOREIGNERS WHO ARE 

HOSTAGES, AND FOREIGNERS WHO ARE BUSINESSMEN IN IRAQ. 

IT APPEARS THAT PRISONERS FROM KUWAIT ARE WORST OFF. 

THEY WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO BE DRAGGED AWAY TO 

STRATEGIC LOCATIONS IN LARGE NUMBERS AND, IN SOME CASES, 

TO BE MISTREATED. 

THOSE HOWEVER, WHO ENTERED THE COUNTRY AFTER THE AUGUST 

SECOND INVASION IN KUWAIT NEED NOT BE AFRAID OF BEING 

GRABBED BY SADDAM'S BLOODHOUNDS. THOSE FOREIGNERS WHO 

WERE IN IRAQ BEFORE 2 AUGUST, WERE USUALLY TREATED A 

LITTLE BETTER, ALTHOUGH SADDAM'S DESCRIPTION "GUESTS" 

DOES NOT SEEM TO APPLY. 

THOSE AIDING IN THE ARMAMENT SECTOR, ARE BEST OFF. THEY 

CAN MOVE ABOUT FREELY AND SOME HAVE EXPERIENCED FIRST 

CLASS TREATMENT; THE PROJECT LEADER FOR THE MISSILE 

PROGRAM, SABA ((MODHER)), ISSUED LARGE NUMBERS OF BLANK 

EXIT CERTIFICATES. THE IRAQI INDUSTRIAL MINISTER, FOR 

EXAMPLE, CLAIMED A CONTINGENT OF PLACES FOR HIS OWN USE 

DURING THE WILLY ((BRANDT)) MISSION . 

THE HELPERS WERE ASTONISHED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN 

BAGHDAD BEFORE THE GERMAN HOSTAGES WERE TO BE FLOWN HOME 

TWO WEEKS AGO; ACCORDING TO ((SCHINZEL)), WHO 

ACCOMPANIED ((BRANDT)), SOME OF THE HOSTAGES ABSOLUTELY 

DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE, OTHERS HAD BEEN IN POSSESSION OF 

EXIT VISAS FOR SOME TIME, AND OTHERS ARRIVED IN LONDON 

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER.  ONE PERSON NAMED THREE DIFFERENT 

COMPANIES AS HIS EMPLOYER, AND NONE WAS RIGHT, ACCORDING 

TO ((SCHINZEL)). 

SEVERAL THINGS POINT TO PRIVATE AGREEMENTS WITH SADDAM'S 

REGIME, TO INCLUDE THE FACT THAT APPROX TWO DOZEN 

TRAVELERS SUDDENLY APPEARED ABOARD THE AIRPLANE 

CONTAINING KUWAIT HOSTAGES WHO HAD NOT BEEN SIGHTED 

DURING THE LONG DAYS OF WAITING AND WHO ARRIVED AT THE 

VERY LAST MOMENT. WHEN THE RTL TELEVISION TEAM FILMED 

DURING THE FLIGHT BACK, THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE PERSON 

WHO WOULD HIDE HIS FACE BEHIND A NEWSPAPER. 

AT PRESENT, IT SOMETIMES APPEARS DIFFICULT TO 

DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORS IN IRAQ. 

THE WAY IN WHICH ALLIED TROOPS IN THE GULF FEEL EXPOSED 

TO THEIR OWN WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY, IS THE WAY SOME 

IMPRISONED MECHANICS HAVE BECOME VICTIMS OF THEIR 

COMPANY'S ACTIVITIES. 

MANY KNOWN COMPANIES APPEAR IN THE LISTS OF THOSE HAVING 

RETURNED HOME, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO STAYED BEHIND; THIS 

INCLUDES "HEBERGER BAU" WHICH WAS INVOLVED IN THE 

BUSINESS DEAL WITH THE POISON GAS FACILITY AT SAMARRA. 

((GILDEMEISTER))'S PEOPLE, THE PLANNER OF THE MOSUL 

ARMAMENT CENTER, ARE INCLUDED IN THIS, AS ARE THE TWO 

MOSUL INSTRUCTORS HAHN & KOLB AND FORTUNA WERKE IN 

STUTTGART. OF COURSE, EMPLOYEES OF ARMAMENT GIANT 

MESSERSCHMITT-BOELKOW-BLOHM ARE THERE AS WELL. 

SEVERAL OF THE PASSENGERS IN BRANDT'S HOSTAGE JET DID 

NOT REQUIRE HUMANITARIAN AID; ONE OF THEM WAS AN 

EMPLOYEE OF AL FAO ESTABLISHMENT, A BAGHDAD ARMAMENT 

COMPANY INVOLVED IN LARGE SCALE MISSILE PROJECTS. 

ANOTHER WORKED FOR THE TECHNICAL CORPS FOR SPECIAL 

PROJECTS, A DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSE MINISTRY.  THEIR 

BOSS IS HUSSEIN KARMINAL, SON-IN-LAW OF HOSTAGE TAKER 

SADDAM HUSSEIN. 

COMMENTS:      ARTICLE TAKEN FROM WEEKLY MAGAZINE TO 

SHOW DISPARITY BETWEEN STATEMENTS MADE PUBLICLY BY 

PRIVATE FIRMS AND WHAT MIGHT BE THE REAL FACTS. 

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