Since contacting the GDR in the late sixties and beginning to work with them, changes have occurred within Iraq. Communists, who were originally relatively free to their beliefs at the start of the new regime, are facing persecution in the face of the Baathist leadership. Also, this communist-Baathist conflict has began to spread to Iraqis in East Germany.
March 10, 1980
Note about the Situation Among the National Groups of Iraqi Students in the Soviet Union
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
Ministry for State Security
Operative Group Moscow
Moscow, 10 March 1980
T r a n s l a t i o n [from Russian]
SECRET
N o t e
about the situation among the national groups of Iraqi students in the USSR
950 Iraqi students study in 33 cities of the USSR at educational institutions. Among those there are
500 communists,
400 members of the ruling Baath Party and
50 individuals who have a neutral position.
Recently a fierce escalation of relations between Baathists and communists was noted. In January of this year students (Baathists) attempted to provoke a mass brawl with their compatriots in the city of Tashkent. Through certain measures this was prevented in time. As a result, a group of Baathists went to Tashkent airport and demanded to be brought to Moscow. A large number of cold weapons were seized from the students, and they were removed from the airport. Members of the Iraqi Embassy who came in from Moscow attempted to put the entire blame for the incident on the communist students.
Reports from agents show that the Baathist students act under direct guidance from the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow. There also occurred clashes between Iraqi citizens of different party affiliations in the cities of Moscow, Leningrad, Baku, Donetsk and Rostov-on-Don.
The provocative activities by the Iraqi Baathists are met with negative reactions by other foreign students. In Tashkent, 17 organizations of foreign students sent protest letters to the addresses of the Arab embassies in Moscow and the Soviet Ministry of Education. The KGB is aware that such clashes among students might be exploited by the Iraqi side to the detriment of existing bilateral agreements. Thus the KGB will undertake appropriate measures to localize and crush such incidents.
In the early months of 1980, Iraqi students are studying in cities all over the Soviet Union. However, Ba'athist students attempt to provoke a mass brawl with the communist students, especially in the city of Tashkent. The Iraqi government then tries to place the blame entirely on the communist Iraqi students, and evidence suggests that the Iraqi government may have been guiding the Ba'athist students.
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BStU, ZA, HA II, 22602. Obtained and translated for CWIHP by Bernd Schaefer.
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2012-06-11
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114447
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