other-side-of-deception-victor-ostrovsky

248 / \'ICTOR OSTROVSKYToward the end of January, the British called and wanted to talkto me. They said it was urgent and asked if they could come the followingday. I agreed. I decided that I'd take advantage of the meetingto convey the information about Saddam I'd gotten from Uri, andrequest that they pass it on to the Americans.We met in the dining room of the Chateau Laurier Hotel in downtownOttawa. "What can I do for you?" I asked the man, whom I'dmet once before."I have only one question for you, and even though you mightthink it's off the wall, I was told to ask you.""Go ahead.""Do you believe or think or know if the Mossad may have hadany involvement in what happened to Flight 103 over Lockerbie?"I was dumbfounded. It took me several seconds to realize what theman had asked me. I responded almost automatically. "No way.""Why?""No reason. Just no way, that's all. Up to this point, every timeIsrael or the Mossad has been responsible for the downing of a plane,it's been an accident, and related directly to the so-called security ofthe state, like the shooting down of the Libyan plane over the Sinaiand the Italian plane (thought to carry uranium) in 1980, killingeighty-one people. There is no way that they'd do this.""Are you speaking out of knowledge or are you guessing?""Wait right here." I said, leaving the table. "I'll make a phone call,and we'll talk after that."I made a collect call from the lobby of the hotel, and after a fewminutes got Ephraim on the line. "Did we have anything to do withPan Am 103?""Why are you asking?""Just tell me. I have to know, because if we did, this will be theend of the Mossad.""No," he answered without hesitating. I knew he was telling methe truth. He wouldn't pass up such an opportunity to taint theMossad leadership."Thanks. I'll call you later."I got back to the table and told the man what Ephraim had told me."So you're still connected?" the Brit said, smiling."Which is probably why I'm still alive," I said, smiling back."Since we're here, there's something I think you should know about.It's called Operation Brush-Fire." I spent the next half-hour giving theman the rundown on what I knew, asking him to pass the informationon to the Americans too. He made no promises but said that he woulddo his best. That was enough for me.For several months after that, I was busy with the book; we were!getting closer and closer to the end. I was getting more tense since Iknew that the day was fast coming when I'd be hit by the spotlightand God knows what else.I met with Uri in downtown Ottawa. We sat in my car in front ofthe Ottawa library for several hours. He had a new story for the book,and he wanted me to have all the information.Uri is an extremely calm man, and he had never shown a sign offear for as long as I could remember him. From the stories I heardabout his military career, he was not one to whine. But now, sitting inmy car, he was extremely nervous, staring back and forth all the timelike an amateur cadet. He was reading from notes and then tearingthem into small bits and thrusting them into his attach6 case. I soonrealized why he was so nervous. This was explosive material.The previous August (1989) a contingent of the Matkal plus severalnaval commandos had headed up the Euphrates in a small boatpurchased by a Mossad combatant from a local merchant. Their targetwas an explosives factory located in the city of Al-Iskandariah. Thefactory was one of five sites the Mossad had fingered as a possiblechemical or nuclear facility. The others were farther north and harderto access, in Salman Pack Fallujah and Samarra. ~umbol informationthe Mossad had received from American intelligence revealed thatevery Thursday, a small convoy of trucks came to the complex to beloaded with explosives that were then transferred to Karbala for thepurpose of manufacturing cannon shells.The objective was to take position near the base on Wednesday,August 23, and wait until the next day when the trucks would beloaded. At that point, several sharpshooters with special silenced rifleswould fire one round each of an explosive bullet at a designated truck,causing it to explode. The plan was to fire at the trucks while theywere in the process of loading so that there would be a carry-on explosioninto the storage facility. The loading doors into the facility would1. Jumbo: Personal information beyond official intelligence gathered by Mossadliaison officers from foreign intelligence officers using friendship as a vehicle.