Information About ™Farzad Bazoft |
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Smelling a likely sensation, Bazoft headed for al-Hilla disguised as an India n medic to search for details. However, other reports have it that he undertook his investigation with the accord of Iraqi officials. ''Observer'' editor Donald Trelford said in response to later events: "Farzad Bazoft is not a spy. He is a reporter who went to do a story. He said in advance the story he was going to do... He told the Baghdad government where he wanted to go... This is not the action of a spy, this is the action of a reporter." In September 1989 , soon after his return, Barzoft was captured together with his companion, the British nurse Daphne Parish who was said to have driven him to the site, just before their departure from Iraq. Obviously under pressure, he later confessed in front of the TV cameras to being an Israel i agent. Before their trial, President Saddam Hussein had written to the British Prime Minister , Margaret Thatcher , assuring her that Farzad Bazoft and Daphne Parish would get a fair hearing. Following a one-day trial behind closed doors lacking any conclusive evidence of his guilt, Bazoft was executed by hanging. Parish was jailed for 15 years, however she was released on 16 July the same year following a plea from Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda . International appeals for clemency had no effect. Right after the execution the British ambassador was ordered to leave Iraq and all ministerial visits were canceled. Bazoft's story triggered a general outrage of the West and contributed to international isolation of Saddam's regime. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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