Honour Among Thieves

confidential meeting at the palace this morning - date this memo today. Barazan Al-Tikriti, our trusted Ambassador in Geneva, contacted the President during the night to warn him that, after weeks of diligent surveillance, he has uncovered a plot by a group of Zionists to steal a safe from Sweden and use it as a means of illegally entering Iraq. The safe was due for delivery to Baghdad following the lifting of an embargo under UN Security Council Resolution 661. The President has ordered that General Hamil be given the responsibility for dealing with the terrorists' - Hannah thought she saw the Deputy Foreign Minister shudder - 'while the Foreign Ministry has been asked to look into the role played in this particular conspiracy by one of its own staff, Hamid Al Obaydi. 'Our Ambassador in Geneva has discovered that Al Obaydi visited the engineering firm of Svenhalte AC in Kalmar, Sweden, on Monday June 28th, without being directed to do so by any of his superiors. During that visit he was informed of the theft of the safe and the fact that it was being transported to Baghdad. Following his trip to Kalmar, Al Obaydi stayed overnight at our Interest Section in Paris, when he would have had every opportunity to inform Geneva or Baghdad of the Zionist plot, but he made no attempt to do so. 'Al Obaydi left Paris the following morning and, although we know he boarded a flight to Jordan, he has not yet shown up at the border. The President has ordered that if Al Obaydi crosses any of our national frontiers, he should be arrested and taken directly to General Hamil at the headquarters of the Revolutionary Command Council.' Hannah's pencil flew across the pages of her shorthand notebook as she tried to keep up with the Minister. 'The safe,' continued the Deputy Foreign Minister, 'is currently being transported aboard an old army truck, and is expected to arrive at the border with Jordan some time during the next forty-eight hours. 'All customs officers have received a directive to the effect that the safe is the personal property of the President, and therefore when it reaches the border it must be given priority to continue its journey on to Baghdad. 'Our Ambassador in Geneva, having had a long conversation with a Mr -' the Minister checked his notes '- Pedersson, is convinced that the group accompanying the safe are agents of the CIA, Mossad, or possibly even the British SAS. Like the President, the Ambassador feels the infiltrators' sole interest is in recovering the Declaration of Independence.

The President has given orders that the document should not be moved from its place on the wall of the Council Chamber, as this could alert any internal agent to warn the terrorist group not to enter the country. 'Twenty of the President's special guards are already on their way to the border with Jordan,' continued the Minister. 'They will be responsible for monitoring the progress of the safe, and will report directly to General Hamil. 'Once the agents of the West have been apprehended and thrown in jail, the world's press will be informed that their purpose was to assassinate the President. The President will immediately appear in public and on television, and will make a speech denouncing the American and Zionist warmongers. Sayedi believes that neither the Americans nor the Israelis will ever admit to the real purpose of their raid, but that they will be unable to deny the President's claim. Sayedi feels this whole episode can be turned into a public relations triumph, because if the assassination attempt is announced on the same day that the President publicly burns the Declaration of Independence, it will make it even harder for the Americans to retaliate. 'Starting tomorrow, the President requires a situation update every morning at nine and every evening at six. Both the Foreign Minister and myself are to report to him direct. If Al Obaydi is picked up, the President is to be informed immediately, whatever the time, night or day.' Hannah's pencil hadn't stopped scribbling across her note pad for nearly twenty minutes. When the Deputy Minister finally came to an end, she tried to take in the full significance of the information she now possessed. 'I need one copy of this report drafted as quickly as possible, no further copies to be made, nothing put on tape, and all your shorthand notes must be shredded once the memo has been handed to me.' Hannah nodded as the Deputy Foreign Minister picked up the phone and dialled the