"I have some documents you may want to see," he said, guardedly. "It will explain why the United Nations can never have full control over this region."
He placed his briefcase on the table, snapped it open, and slipped out a stack of documents bearing the letterhead of the United Nations.
"The inspectors will never be able to produce a definitive report on Iraq's arms capability, because they are not taking into account the vast smuggling network, which I helped create," he said, taking a quick look around to make sure nobody was within earshot.
The businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, showcased the documents, which are endorsed by a bona fide UN official, and the Jordanian foreign ministry.
"These are forged. The signatures are forged. The stamps are forged. I did them myself using these," he said, removing rubber stamps from his briefcase. "These are the documents used by traders to smuggle in all kinds of goods, from nuts and bolts, to high-tech computer parts."
Since 1994, crafty traders have found a way around the United Nations' stringent economic sanctions against Iraq.
According to American sources, some 80 per cent of Iraq's imports are controlled by the UN Oil for Food programme. The remaining 20 per cent, which is channelled through the black market, has been cause for concern.
Apart from Iraqi President Saddam Hussain's private requirements, the country has received regular consignments of sophisticated gadgets and multi-purpose heavy machinery, smuggled across Iraq's borders with neighbouring countries. This underground trade route is believed to have contributed to developing Saddam's nuclear and biological arsenal.
The businessman, who is now based in Europe, said he has chosen to step forward at this critical juncture, partly motivated by a sense of guilt for having played a part in the dangerous enterprise, which quickly spiralled out of his control.
The idea of forging UN documents to facilitate trading came upon him in March of 1994. Once a prosperous fabrics wholesaler with a head office in Baghdad, the businessman was badly hit by the UN sanctions, and his situation worsened when the Iraqi regime imposed a blockade on Kurdish cities.
"I wanted to import goods from Jordan into Baghdad, and then take them to Kurdish cities. Not only did I have difficulties bringing them in from Jordan, but when the regime blocked the way to Kurdish areas, I became crazy! I had lots of goods stuck in Jordan. I had to find a way," he said.
The businessman travelled to Turkey to investigate the possibilities. A Turkish customs official told him he had to get a permit from the United Nations. He contacted a friend in the U.S., and asked him to obtain the requisite permission.
A UN bureaucrat told his friend that the permission could not be granted so easily and that "only food" was allowed. Finally, through contacts of his own, the businessman said he managed to get the permission from a UN office in Jordan. The letter expressly stipulated that the bearer was only allowed to import "fabric for hospitals". The businessman tampered with the letter so as to read "3,000 tons of fabric".
"I made several copies of this letter and used it on a number of occasions to import all sorts of fabric into Baghdad and Kurdish cities," he said. "I started with small quantities, and then increased my shipments."
He soon realised that a faster and much less complicated method of making money would be to sell these forged documents to other traders. The wording of the documents, he said, was based on actual letters granted by the UN to European firms.
He charged $500 per ton of goods permitted by the forged document. For instance, for every 20 tons of merchandise he "sanctioned", the businessman would pocket $10,000. To grease the wheels of trade, he said it was sometimes necessary to bribe high-ranking officials in Turkey and Jordan.
"Traders never had any problems. The papers were accurate, and the officials were kept happy," he said.
It was not long before he made a name for himself in the black market, and traders worldwide were contacting him for letters to import all sorts of goods, from cosmetics to audio-visual equipment, into Iraq.
In 1995, the businessman stopped working in Kurdish areas because of the conflict between the two main Kurdish factions led by Masoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). During this period, he focused solely on Baghdad.
However, by the time he came to know that his letters were also being used by shady characters to import products such as chemicals and military equipment, it was too late. He claims he stopped dealing with these traders, but his idea had caught on. Agents in Iraq, Turkey and Jordan had started their own smuggling networks.
"There were many agents who began forging the documents, and they gave permission slips to traders who wanted to bring in chemicals from Germany, Ukraine and South Africa. I would see barrels waiting at the borders, but I did not know what was inside," he said.
In 1999, he withdrew from the black market, partly due to the competition. More than 50 Iraqis, among them Kurds, are now working as smuggling agents. But he claims he was also suffering from a nagging conscience.
The businessman laid the forged documents on the table and read aloud the "sanctioned" goods."650 tons of nails and screws," he cited. "This was being sold to the military. I got it off an Iraqi agent."
"10,000 photocopy machines," he continued. "But you don't know what is inside the photocopy machines..." "15,000 electrical irons," he said. "But these are not necessarily clothes irons. They could be industrial irons..."
The list went on to include 10,000 electrical refrigerators ("not normal refrigerators"), 200,000 electrical fans ("we don't know what kind of fans - maybe used for helicopters or airplanes"), 20,000 cartons of televisions and telephones for security and inspection purposes, 50,000 cartons of electrical special lamps, 500 tons of various paper, 650 tons of various door-locks, 15,000 sewing machines, 150,000 various bicycles, 10,000 typewriters, 840 tons of cosmetics and perfumes, 10,000 big washing machines, 190 tons of computer spare parts from South Korea, 150 tons of raw materials for developing films ("X-rays"), and 50,000 various recorders and special radios.
"If you ask the UN, they will tell you this is crazy, and that they would never give permission for such goods to cross the border," said the businessman. "And if you try and investigate at the borders, the customs officials will never show you the documents. They are kept in secret compartments."
While he claims he made more than a million dollars between 1994 and 1999, he lost much of the money in Turkey, where, he says, rival agents conspired to ruin him by reporting him to the authorities and accusing him of dealing with the PKK, the outlawed Kurdish party.
"This was not true," he said. "I was never involved with the PKK. Those who accused me were Turkish agents involved in the same business..."
But all this is in the past. He is now working with a charitable organisation.
Gulf News 2003
