Faulty phone led to MI6 failure to kill Chemical Ali

Faulty military satellite links caused the failure of an MI6-led operation to assassinate Chemical Ali, the Iraqi leader.

Secure satellite links to London broke down on the first day of the war in Iraq. The British commander, Air Marshal Brian Burridge, at first thought the Iraqis had mounted a successful "cyber warfare" attack.

Military satellite phone links broke down often for hours at a time, leaving British commanders without any secure link to Prime Minister Tony Blair, a major problem when political decisions were needed as in the attacks on Chemical Ali.

Ali Hassan Al Majid, known as Chemical Ali because of his role in the 1988 chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja, was military governor in southern Iraq.

He was the target of two successive air raids called in by the commander of 1 (UK) Armoured Division, Maj Gen Robin Brims.

They followed tip-offs from MI6 agents inside Basra that were passed back, via members of the Special Boat Service operating inside the city, to an MI6 officer working alongside General Brims.

The first attack was on a Baath party headquarters. When an MI6 agent reported that several hundred Saddam loyalists were meeting in the building, General Brims called in an attack from two US Air Force F15e Strike Eagles.

There were no problems obtaining permission from London. SBS commandos on the ground guided the American JDAM bombs on to the target and a large number of those inside were killed. But Al Majid managed to escape.

A week later, an MI6 agent reported that Al Majid was in his house on the edge of Basra and General Brims called in two USAF F16 Fighting Falcons to attack it with laser-guided bombs.

The raid turned into a disaster. Concerned that civilians might be hurt in the attack, which was in a built-up area, British commanders asked for permission from London to bomb Al Majid's house.

But the secure satellite link to London failed, leaving them unable to contact government ministers who had to authorise the attack for around two hours. Eventually they used a civilian satellite telephone to obtain permission.