
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991                   TAG: 9102090304
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. FINDING IRAQI SITES WITH MAP/ DOCUMENT SOLD BY LONDON FIRM

The Pentagon is locating and bombing military airfields and hardened bunkers in Iraq with the help of a document obtained from the office of a mysterious, now-deceased Iraqi expatriate and alleged arms broker, an attorney who helped acquire the information said Friday.

The document, which was part of a 1981 contract to build 16 military sites in Iraq for $552 million, was sold to the U.S. Customs Service by an employee of London-based IBI Engineering shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August.

IBI was one of about 30 companies run by Ihsan Barbouti, a wealthy Iraqi-born entrepreneur who was implicated in Libyan arms dealing before his death last year.

The contract's role in Operation Desert Storm reflects efforts by the Pentagon to obtain information from companies that have done business in Iraq in recent years that will help allied forces destroy the country's military infrastructure.

Iraq enjoyed generally cordial relations with the United States before its invasion of Kuwait, and Western companies helped the Iraqi government build everything from chemical weapons plants to missile sites to civilian facilities that were subsequently converted to military use.

Destroying hardened bunkers and aircraft shelters has been a top priority of Operation Desert Storm because Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's military has used them to shield tanks, aircraft and other key weapons. Built to withstand heavy bombardment, they can be destroyed only by pinpoint targeting.

Mike Johnston, an Oklahoma City attorney who helped the U.S. government acquire a portion of the 1981 contract with Iraq, said that the document was sent directly to the CIA and subsequently made available to military commanders in Saudi Arabia. He said that he has been told that the information was used to locate sites for aerial photographing and subsequent targeting.

"They used it as a checklist of where to look" in Iraq, Johnston said. "I'm convinced it played some role" in selecting bombing sites.

Johnston, who represents two former business partners who have sued Barbouti, provided a copy of the partial contract to the Los Angeles Times. He also supplied a copy of a letter from the Customs Service confirming his role in a transaction that involved a $2,700 payment of government funds to an unidentified third party last September "for documents which were critical to an ongoing criminal investigation."

Johnston, accompanied by a U.S. official who identified himself as a Customs agent, traveled to London to meet with the IBI employee and obtain the documents.

"The Customs Service does not deny the transaction," a spokeswoman for the agency said Friday when asked about Johnston's account.

The 1981 contract between the government of Iraq and a consortium of three companies called for construction of 16 satellite military airfields. The work included 12 hardened aircraft shelters, bomb and ammunition storage armories and personnel shelters. The document also provided the names and locations of the facilities.

by CNB