Part 97 – OCTOBER 7 1988
''I wish they would all just butt out and let us handle this thing as we think is right.'' - Secretary of State George P. Shultz
Hafez Dalkamoni [1] and Ahmed Abassi travel to Berlin. Ahmed speaks fluently Arabic, English and German. Ahmed helps Dalkamoni with translations. Dalkamoni is using the alias of Hafez Hussein. Their behavior is certainly suspicious but they do not commit any illegal act.
Intelligence
According to State Department officials, there is no indication that any American hostages might be released soon. Nine of the 21 foreigners being held hostage in Beirut are US citizens.
''You want to be encouraged and say everybody is coming out, but we really don't know,'' a State Department official said today.
Today, Secretary of State George P. Shultz accused unnamed private American citizens to misrepresent themselves as official spokesmen for the United States Government in trying to arrange hostage deals with Iran.
''There are always individuals who nominate themselves to get involved. To the extent that anyone represents himself or herself as speaking for the U.S. Government, they are misrepresenting themselves. There is only one channel that is authoritative, and that channel starts with the President and comes to me,'' Shultz said.
Back to the Present
According to UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband, the release of the secret document(s) covered by the PII certicate would do lasting damage to the interest and-or National Security of his country.
Yet, following a visit to Scotland, Pr Hans Kochler claims that the comment of Milliband is absolutely false. An official who has seen the material told Pr Hans Kochler that the documents pose no risk to National Security whatsoever.
Come to think of it, one finds it difficult to believe that a document, at least 12 years old, regarding an event that occurred 20 years ago could harm in any way the National Security of the UK.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Haffez Kassem Dalkamoni and the Cyprus ConnectionU.S. Sees No Sign of New Hostage Release - October 7, 1988
U.S. Says 'Butt Out' To Those Tampering with Hostage Talks - October 7, 1988
