FRANCE: Israeli special forces have infiltrated north-west Iraq to prepare for reprisals against President Saddam Hussein's regime, according to a former French intelligence officer with links to espionage agencies, writes Lara Marlowe in Paris.
Israel's potential involvement in a Gulf war would dramatically intensify Arab and Muslim opposition to a US-led invasion. "It's common knowledge in intelligence circles," Mr Eric Denécé, director of the French Research Centre on Intelligence, told The Irish Times.
He has received reports of an Israeli presence in Kurdish-held areas of northern Iraq "from several European intelligence services".
The Israelis belong to the Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli unit which led the 1976 assault on a hi-jacked El Al airliner in Entebbe, Mr Denécé said. Mr Jonathan Netanyahu, the brother of the Israeli Foreign Minister, was killed in that raid.
It is possible that Israelis from other groups, like the military intelligence agency Aman, are also inside Iraq, he added.
The Israeli agents have been deployed to locate Iraqi Scud missile launchers and gather intelligence for possible Israeli air raids on Iraq, Mr Denécé said.
In the 1991 Gulf war, Iraq fired 39 Scuds at Israel. Two Israelis were killed from falling debris, four died of heart attacks and seven suffocated in their gas masks. Some 1,059 were hospitalised, 544 for acute anxiety.
"The Israelis don't want the same thing to happen to them as in 1991," Mr Denécé said, recalling that the previous Bush administration stopped Israel from retaliating. "This time they have the green light [from Washington\]. They're getting ready."
Mr Denécé believes the Israelis inside Iraq number between five and several dozen, and may be wearing US army uniforms or civilian clothing.
Local Kurds would assume that western-looking, English-speaking Israelis are US Green Berets from the army's Third Special Forces Group, or operatives from the CIA's Special Operations Group. Both are present in northern Iraq, where intense rivalry has reportedly developed between them. Mr Denécé believes the British SAS are also there.
The US would seem to have no incentive for including Israel in those operations, and Mr Denécé said he does not know if there is a secret agreement between them over the Israeli presence.
"My guess as an expert is that the Israelis are doing it on their own. There might be limited co-operation on the spot, like using two or three Israelis as liaison officers. But the Americans have no interest in having Israeli special forces behind Iraqi lines."
Israel has maintained a strategic alliance with Muslim Turkey for the past decade, and may have infiltrated military intelligence officers through Turkey into northern Iraq. "It's a tradition of Israeli special forces to infiltrate neighbouring states," Mr Denécé said.
His study centre provides information to French politicians and media, and publishes a newsletter called Intelligence and Special Operations. He has written two books, Special Forces: the Future of War and Secret War Against al-Qaeda.