Intelligence agents 'threatening Iraqi diplomats'

Men claiming to be US and British intelligence agents have harassed Iraqi diplomats in Bahrain, trying to frighten them into handing over information, an Iraqi diplomat has claimed.

The US Embassy refused to comment on the allegation, saying it did not discuss intelligence matters. British diplomats in Bahrain were not available for comment.

The alleged harassment comes amid a massive US and British build-up of forces in the Gulf region for a possible invasion of Iraq.

There have been numerous reports of countries, particularly the United States, trying to induce Iraqi diplomats to defect.

In Bucharest yesterday, the Iraqi ambassador to Romania, Majid Saad Hamid, accused a Romanian intelligence officer of asking him to collaborate during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry.

Iraq’s UN Ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, said last week that several members of his mission had been approached by US officials and asked to defect.

In Manama, the Iraqi diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said men identifying themselves as US intelligence agents accosted Iraqi diplomats outside their homes on March 5, demanding they co-operate with American efforts to invade Iraq.

The diplomat refused to say if he was one of the men approached. He would not provide further details of the approach.

He said that, on the same day, the Iraqi Embassy received several phone calls asking its diplomats to “co-operate ... or meet an unknown fate.”

On Monday, the embassy received similar threatening phone calls from men claiming to be British intelligence agents, the diplomat said. He refused to elaborate.

Bahrain is a close American ally and home to the US 5th Fleet.

After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Bahrain closed its embassy in Baghdad and Iraq lowered its representation in Manama to charge d’affaires. In 2000, Bahrain reopened its embassy in Baghdad, but at the level of charge d’affaires – a step beneath ambassador.