\O TIME TO SHOP?
Finally...the answer to the gift-giving dilemma this holiday
season or any occasion requiring that special touch!
• We remind you of those special occasions, shop, gift-wrap, ship or hand deliver.
• Now available! Fabulous custom designed gift baskets for any affair imaginable, including:
romantic picnics, weddings, intimate evenings, your pet's birthday, or just to show you care.
German Link To Iraqi
Chemical Bombs Listed
IRA RIFKIN
Special to The Jewish News
S
d
personal shopping service
6 81 2 - 6 3 5 9
ALL LEATHER STORES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL!
BUY FROM THE "MAVENS"
o
SPECIAL
1::=- ORDERS FOR -1
HARDTO-FIT- -
SIZES
I
LEATHERS
boa 1 41",
EVERYTHING
tf"-
._ AT LEAST
20% OFF -74
1
EVERY DAY
Downtown Birmingham
FASHIONS AND ACCESSORIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
150 W. Maple — 1/2 block West of Woodward — 644-4415
Mon.-Sat. 10-6, Thurs. 10-9
BRING IN THIS AD FOR AN EXTRA 10% OFF
coupon expires 10-31-90
final sale items excluded
GORNBE N'S
16.
•
TO
U
BRAND NAME BULBS
FOR EVERY TYPE OF
FIXTURE, DELIVERED
TO YOUR HOME
OR BUSINESS.
*Hard to find specialty bulbs
*Energy saving bulbs
*Assistance with effective &
efficient alternative lighting.
GORNBEIN•
1s
1:11/P
JEWELERS
38
Fidelity Bank Building
24901 Northwestern Hwy.
Southfield
357.1056
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1990
JUST CALL
661-4400
WE DELIVER!
MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
FREE CATALOG AVAILABLE
addam Hussein built
up Iraq's massive
chemical weapon
stockpile with the help of
207 Western companies, in-
cluding 86 German and 18
U.S. firms, according to a
new report by the Simon
Wiesenthal Center of Los
Angeles.
The 54-page report in-
cludes a comprehensive list
of Iraq's chemical weapon
sources. It paints a portrait
of corporate greed and
disregard for the human
consequences of providing
Iraq with the technology and
resources needed to produce
poison gases and other
chemical weapons.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, the
center's dean, noted that
government duplicity, par-
ticularly in the case of West
Germany, now unified with
former East Germany, was
also a major factor. Exten-
sive information on the West
German-Iraq connection was
"simply filed away and ig-
nored" by German politi-
cians, the report quotes a
West German parliament
member as saying.
Rabbi her emphasized
that German chemical com-
pany officials were held
legally accountable hi 1946
for their role in the
manufacture and distribu-
tion of the Zyklon B gas used
in the Nazis death camps.
He urged that this "legal
precedent" be explored in
connection with the sales to
Iraq to "keep these horrific
technologies and weapons
out of the hands of despots
such as Saddam Hussein.
"Once again, German
canisters could be found at
the site of mass chemical
warfare," Rabbi Hier said in
a telephone interview. "We
can't blame the current
German generation for the
tragedy of the Holocaust.
But we can blame them for
doing business in a manner
similar to the way the old
Germany did business."
Rabbi her said Berlin's
reaction to its chemical
weapons business "will tell
the world much" about new-
ly unified Germany's future
course.
"German companies clear-
ly knew that Saddam Hus-
sein was capable of using
Ira Rifkin is an assistant
editor at our sister newspaper,
the Baltimore Jewish Times.
chemical weapons to kill on
a massive scale (Iraq has
used poison gas against its
Kurdish minority and
against Iran). Now they, and
even American firms, could
be responsible for the deaths
of American soldiers in
Saudi Arabia if Iraq resorts
to this kind of criminal at-
tack again," he said.
The report, prepared by
Kenneth Timmerman, iden-
tified by Wiesenthal officials
as a Paris-based, non-Jewish
expert in Middle East
defense issues, contains six
pages listing firms that have
done billions of dollars in
chemical weaponry business
with Iraq over the past
decade. Most of the informa-
tion was taken from public
sources, such as media
reports, plus intelligence
reports from Mr. Timmer-
man's unnamed sources.
Elaborate deals involving
various Third World com-
panies were concocted to
hide the source and ultimate
destination of chemical
weapon-related sales. A sin-
gle train-load of materials
might change hands six
times on its way to Iraq, the
report said.
. Western controls belated-
ly put in place to halt the
flow to Iraq proved largely
ineffective, according to the
report, titled "The Poison
Gas Connection." "So suc-
cessful were the Iraqis at
beating the controls that
they even succeeded in get-
ting Western banks (such as
the Atlanta branch of the
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro)
to finance poison gas,
ballistic missile and nuclear
technology purchases," the
report said.
The House Banking Com-
mittee is scheduled to hold
open hearings this week on
Banca Nazionale, which is
Italian government-owned.
A committee spokeswoman
in Washington said the
hearing will center on the
bank's $2.867 billion in
unauthorized loans to Iraq.
Wiesenthal represent-
atives have been invited to
testify, spokeswoman Julie
Black said.
The report also notes that,
despite the current blockade
of Iraq, "it is indeed likely
that many of Iraq's clandes-
tine suppliers are continuing
their shipments today, using
the black market methods
they have by now perfected
to run the gauntlet . . . "
Rabbi Hier said that if the
flow to Iraq is to stop, "a line
must be drawn." 111