Saddam gets busy, orders murders of dissidents

OK. Let’s take a break from Turkish elections. In other news, Saddam has busied himself recently with ordering the assassination of Iraqi dissidents abroad, particularly in London where the Iraqi National Congress is based. The goal is to prevent them from making plans to form a government after the removal of Saddam.
The Iraqi strongman has reportedly contacted Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi for help in getting this work done, since the Libyans have a network of sleeper cells based in Britain in Europe.

In the past few months, senior members of his Ba’athist regime have visited a number of Arab countries to lobby for support. Intelligence officials were particularly interested in a recent visit to Libya by Saddam’s cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, who is wanted for war crimes over his role in using chemical weapons against the Kurds at Halabja in 1988. “Chemical Ali”, as he is known in Baghdad, spent several hours with Col Gaddafi.
Apart from asking for assistance with killing opposition figures, al-Majid is also believed to have asked for Libyan help in carrying out terrorist attacks against British and US targets in Europe and the Middle East. Saddam is also keen to target the Gulf states of Bahrain and Qatar, which are the main bases for US forces in the region. The Libyan leader’s response to the requests is not known.

If this is true, Saddam is feeling the heat (and Libya is back up to its old tricks.) My worry is that a desperate Saddam could strike out with more terrorist cells or with whatever weapons of mass destruction he may already possess in a “use ’em or lose ’em” tactic brought on by American rhetorical bludgeoning.