Secret documents and letters obtained by Al Majalla reveal that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began preparations for the invasion of Kuwait, which took place on 2 August 1990, in the wake of his declaration of an end to the Iran–Iraq War (1980 to 1988).
The documents and letters show that Saddam worked on multiple tracks: He formed a cooperation council with Jordan, Yemen, and Egypt. He appropriated the Palestinian discourse and allied with Yasser Arafat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. He accused Syrian President Hafez al-Assad of treason while calming down with some Gulf countries. Last, he hosted the Arab summit in Baghdad.
However, the biggest surprise was the secret messages, carried by Arafat, to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hashemi Rafsanjani before and after the invasion, which comprised astounding concessions to Tehran.
In one of the letters he sent to Rafsanjani in mid-August, he says, "... with this decision of ours, all has become clear, and thus all that you have desired and all that you have stressed has been achieved.”
Today, Al Majalla publishes the first part which includes the Arab Cooperation Council, the Yemeni mediation between Saddam and Assad, and the Arab Summit. The second part, to be published tomorrow, will include Saddam's letters to Khamenei and Rafsanjani.
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