Honour Among Thieves

Scott lifted Aziz out of the front of the jeep. Together, they began to drag him the last few hundred yards towards the border with Kurdistan. Another line of Iraqi soldiers started to advance towards the jeep as Scott and Hannah carried the dead body of Aziz nearer and nearer to his Kurdish homeland. They heard more shots whistle past them, and turned to see Cohen running towards the Iraqis screaming, 'You killed my Kurd, you bastards! You killed my Kurd!' One of the Iraqis fell, another fell, one retreated. Another fell, another retreated, as Cohen went on advancing towards them. Suddenly, he fell to his knees, but somehow he kept crawling forward, until a final volley rang out. The Sergeant collapsed in a pool of blood a few yards from the Iraqi border. While Scott and Hannah carried the dead Kurd into the land of his people, Saddam's soldiers dragged the body of the Jew back into Iraq. 'Why were my orders disobeyed?' Saddam shouted. For several moments no one around the table spoke. They knew the chances of all of them returning to their beds alive that night had to be marginal. General Hamil turned the cover of a thick file, and looked down at the handwritten note in front of him. 'Major Saeed was to blame, Mr President,' stated the General. 'It was he who allowed the infidels to escape with the Declaration, and that is why his body is now hanging in Tohrir Square for your people to witness.' The General listened intently to the President's next question. 'Yes, Sayedi,' he assured his master. 'Two of the terrorists were killed by guards from my own regiment. They were by far the most important members of the team. They were the two who managed to escape from Major Saeed's custody before I arrived. The other two were an American professor and the girl.' The President asked another question. 'No, Mr President. Kratz was the commanding officer, and I personally arrested the infamous Zionist leader before questioning him at length. It was during that interrogation that I discovered that the original plan had been to assassinate you, Sayedi, and I made certain that he, like those who came before him, failed.' The General had no well-rehearsed answer to the President's next question, and he was relieved when the State Prosecutor intervened. 'Perhaps we can turn this whole episode to our advantage, Sayedi.' 'How can that be possible,' shouted the President, 'when two of them have escaped with the Declaration and left us with a useless copy that anyone who can spell "British" will immediately realise is a fake? No, it is I who will be made the laughing stock of the world, not Clinton.' Everyone's eyes were now fixed on the Prosecutor. 'That may not necessarily be the case, Mr President. I suspect that when the Americans see the state of their cherished treasure, they will not be in a hurry to put it back on display at the National Archives.' The President did not interrupt this time, so the Prosecutor continued. 'We also know, Mr President, that because of your genius, the parchment currently on display in Washington to an unsuspecting American public is, to quote you, "a useless copy that anyone who can spell 'British' will immediately realise is a fake".' The President's expression was now one of concentration. 'Perhaps the time has come, Sayedi, to inform the world's press of your triumph.' 'My triumph?' said the President in disbelief. 'Why, yes, Sayedi. Your triumph, not to mention your magnanimity. After all, it was you who gave the order to hand over the battered Declaration to Professor Bradley after the gangster Cavalli had attempted to sell it to you.' The President's expression turned to one of deep thought. 'They have a saying in the West,' added the Prosecutor, 'about killing two birds with one stone.' Another long silence followed, during which no one offered an opinion until the President smiled. THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT issued by the Iraqi government on July 2nd was that there was no truth in the report that there had been a shooting incident on the border posts at Kirkuk in which several Iraqi soldiers had been killed and more wounded. The Kurdish leaders were unable to offer any opinion on the subject, as the only two satellite phones in Iraqi Kurdistan had been permanently engaged with requests for assistance from the State Department in Washington. When Charles Streator, the American Ambassador in Istanbul, was telephoned and asked by the Reuters Bureau Chief in the Middle East why a US Air Force jet