Iraq Predicts Mubarak's Slaying, Worldwide Terrorism : Propaganda: Commentary says attacks will make Bush 'a hostage in his Black House.'

By KENNETH FREED

Jan. 29, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Iraq on Monday predicted the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and said Baghdad-sponsored terrorists will soon strike against American and allied targets worldwide and turn President Bush into “a hostage in his Black House.”

“Honorable Arab and Muslim masses everywhere are preparing to join the great confrontation and announce the struggle to support Iraq,” the official government Baath Party newspaper Al Thawra declared in a commentary that was also broadcast over Baghdad Radio.

“National and Islamic groups are moving to the phase of guerrilla activity to start their crushing hits on the interests of America and its allies . . . and make Bush a hostage in his Black House,” the Iraqi regime declared. The last phrase was an apparent answer to Bush’s statement last week that terrorist threats would not keep him isolated in the White House.

On Monday, there were several bombings in Europe and the Philippines that were believed linked to the Gulf War, but no injuries were reported. In Athens, where the most incidents occurred, offices of British Petroleum, American Express and the Inter-American insurance company were targeted.

In its tirade against Mubarak, a principal Arab supporter of the American-led coalition against Iraq, the broadcast called him “deplorably stupid” and pointedly referred to the 1981 murder of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

“The Egyptian people, who have a rich legacy of Arabism, struggle and history, have issued their verdict on Hosni,” said the broadcast, monitored in Cyprus. “They carried out their verdict on his predecessor, Sadat. Hence, Hosni’s date with death will not be far away.”

The verbal attack on Mubarak was an evident rebuff to an earlier feeler in which the Cairo government--staking out a position opposed to that of some members of the anti-Iraq coalition--stressed that it would not agree to widening the war beyond freeing Kuwait to destroy Iraq’s military capacity and drive President Saddam Hussein out of power.

The broadcast called Mubarak “stupid . . . a frightened coward lacking manliness . . . (and) more Zionist in his speech than his Zionist friends in Tel Aviv.”

“We are well aware that he is scared to death,” the broadcast went on, “defeated . . . and that the failure of his American and Zionist masters and the defeat of their aggression against Iraq made him lose his senses.”

There was no immediate Egyptian response, but in a newspaper article that appeared before the Iraqi broadcast, Al Akbar, a daily newspaper in Egypt, called Hussein “a plague which must be eradicated.” The newspaper said “all efforts must be made to contain and eradicate it before the harm it causes gets out of control and stains values and human principles even more.”

And in their first move to squelch criticism of the war in the gulf, Egyptian police arrested an opposition party leader and editor for speaking out publicly against the war, a party spokesman said Monday.

The spokesman said Megdy Ahmed Hussein, deputy secretary general of the Socialist Labor Party and the deputy editor of the party’s weekly newspaper Al Shaab, was detained Friday while addressing a group of worshipers outside a Cairo mosque.

The Socialist Labor Party, which despite its name consists mostly of Muslim fundamentalists, has been the only significant opposition party to side with Iraq and to openly urge Egyptians to take to the streets to oppose Cairo’s role in the war.

While most analysts see no signs of that sentiment being shared by a significant number of Egyptians, there is concern that pro-Iraqi feelings could grow if the war continues for several months. Hussein’s arrest, they added, clearly indicates that the government shares that concern.

Baghdad’s threat to expand its terrorist response to the coalition attacks follows a personal call by Iraq’s President Hussein for a jihad, or holy war, against the allies. He promised that those killed in such a pursuit would be martyrs in the eyes of God.

In its follow-up broadcast, Baghdad Radio said its forces still have “a strong arm capable of reaching all places. . . .

“Every Iraqi drop of blood will be met by killing a large number of people hiding in the Saudi kingdom, Israel or other places.”

Whether a direct result of Hussein’s message or not, there has been a surge of terrorism against American, British and other allied interests in many parts of the world.

According to the British news agency Reuters, there have been at least 27 such attacks since the war broke out, including eight bombings each in Turkey and Lebanon and five in Greece. Most of the targets have been banks, airline offices and businesses of countries backing the war.

Similar attacks have been made in the Philippines, Peru, Uganda and Malaysia.

A new threat surfaced Monday when a Jordanian-based terrorist group calling itself the Islamic Jihad Beit al Maqdess Movement said it was planning to attack American military installations in Germany.

“We’re thinking, for example, of an American installation near Frankfurt,” said Nadar Tamimi, spokesman for the group, in an interview with the newspaper Der Morgen in Berlin.

“We now want to attack all Western countries participating in the aggression against Iraq,” Tamimi said. His group took responsibility for killing 11 Israelis in an attack on a tourist bus in Egypt last year.

In a related development, Egyptian Interior Ministry officials said police have arrested an unspecified number of “foreigners” who arrived in Egypt recently to plan pro-Iraqi terrorist attacks. The officials would not elaborate, but security has been increased around Cairo hotels in recent days, with guests being asked to submit their bags to searches.

The tension has caused unprecedented security precautions in the United States and elsewhere, including the use of decoy motorcades and helicopter flights to confuse anyone trying to target President Bush.

Times staff writer Michael Ross, in Cairo, also contributed to this report.

REACTING TO THE WAR

Bombings that may be linked to the U.S. role in the 12-day-old Persian Gulf War occurred in Greece, Turkey and the Philippines on Monday, and some countries instituted additional security measures to prevent war-related violence. 1--GREECE: A rocket grenade hit the British Petroleum offices in Athens, damaging the building but causing no injuries. Terrorists fired an antitank missile at an American Express office and a bomb blast shook an insurance office building in Athens. No injuries or major damage reported.

2--TURKEY: In Ankara, a bomb was placed under a car exploded in the parking lot of the main government tax office. No injuries reported. Foreign airline offices were bombed on Sunday. Offices in Istanbul and the southern city of Adana have also been attacked in the past week in gulf-related violence.

3--PHILIPPINES: Assailants today hurled a bomb at a provincial radio station and left a red poster saying “Long Live Saddam, Criminal Bush.” One person was injured.

4--INDIA: Nine people died over the weekend and more than 100 were injured near New Delhi when Hindus and Muslims fought, following a pro-Iraqi demonstration.

5--PAKISTAN: A fight among pro-Iraqi demonstrators in the remote village of Khar led to a gun battle that left three dead and eight wounded.

6--HONG KONG: Immigration authorities in Hong Kong have begun requiring visas from Iraqi nationals, effectively barring their entry.

7--MALAYSIA: Authorities said they tightened security along the border with Thailand to prevent infiltration by Arab terrorists.

8--AUSTRALIA: Iraqi diplomat Saad Omran left after being expelled over unspecified security matters. The government has restricted the movements of several other Iraqi diplomats.