Soviets have placed nuclear weapons in Cuba, Cuban refugees tell CIA

Another cuban crisisCastro: Nukes or not?Last year's massive influx of refugees from Cuba into the United States has been a productive event for one American organisation - the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to intelligence reports, a number of refugees interrogated by CIA personnel stated that the Soviets had placed nuclear weapons in Cuba. Although the CIA is still investigating the reports, indications are that they are probably true.One of the refugees is a former Russian translator for Fidel Castro, having spent eight years in the Soviet Union. While working for Castro, he translated numerous secret conversations with high-ranking Soviet generals and told the CIA that the Soviets had nuclear weapons in Cuba. He also pinpointed the nuclear sites, where, according to him, no Cubans were employed.Another refugee, in a separate interview, told the CIA that the Soviets had a nuclear base near Havana containing three missile sites. He also said that not all the missiles were removed after the 1962 missile crisis. His story was confirmed by a third refugee, a senior military officer in the Cuban army, who had actually been trained in missile operation. He described the warheads to the CIA which had no doubt that what he was describing were nuclear warheads. If the stories are confirmed, it is not difficult to foresee another dramatic confrontation between the Americans and the Soviets over Cuban missiles.A shift in strategyThe sudden lull in the fighting between Soviet forces and rebels in Afghanistan's mountainous countryside is significant. Though there have been sporadic bombing runs by Soviet forces on suspected rebel strongholds in the rural areas, the intensity of the conflict has abated and for a very good reason. All reports from Afghanistan in recent weeks indicate that the rebels have decided to change their strategy of operating in the rugged hills and are now concentrating on urban guerrilla warfare.Recently, the rebels launched a daring daylight attack just outside Kabul and destroyed four buses and an army troop-carrier. Since then, all public transport and army vehicles have been ordered to travel in convoy. The next day, rebels ambushed an army jeep in the centre of Kabul, killing five Soviet and Afghan officers. On the same day, in a pre-dawn raid, a group known as Afghan Freedom Fighters' Front surrounded the headquarters of the secret police and blew up the building with mines, killing all the occupants. The area was sealed off but a house-to-house search by Soviet and Afghan troops proved fruitless.Meanwhile, there are rumours in Kabul that another massive demonstration by women and children is being planned for sometime in early March. Similar anti-Soviet demonstrations last year led to a number of women and children being shot, after which both the Karmal Government and the Kremlin found themselves facing a wall of international hostility.Militant armeniansThere is a new terrorist group making bloody headlines these days - the Armenian Secret Army of Liberation. Last fortnight, the group claimed responsibility for the attack on two Turkish diplomats and a banker in the heart of Paris. One diplomat, Resat Moralli, died on the spot, and the other, Tecelli Ari, was seriously wounded. Earlier, in Milan, Italy, the same group blew up the offices of Swissair and the Swiss Consulate.During the past six years, according to reports, Armenian terrorists have killed 15 Turkish diplomats without any arrests being made. The secret army is known to be operating in 10 different countries, including the United States. The terrorists are led by radical Marxists and most of the recruits come from middle class families in France. Lebanon and the United States. The main objective is to gain independence for that part of Armenia inside Turkish borders and push the incorporation of Turkish Armenia into Soviet Armenia. Anti-terrorist agencies have concluded that the Armenian terrorists conduct operations from a base in Beirut, because arms are plentiful and easy to acquire, and also because there are approximately 200,000 Armenians in Lebanon.Friends fall outKhomeini and Arafat: Soured relationsThe famous picture of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat being embraced by Ayatullah Khomeini after the latter toppled the Shah is now only a fading memory. Relations between Iran and the PLO have soured considerably over the past few months. The slide became evident when the PLO's chief representative in Iran, Hani Al-Hassan, one of Arafat's closest advisors, was abruptly removed and replaced by a junior official.According to intelligence reports, the souring came about when Khomeini insisted on making a series of demands to the PLO - demands which were rather outrageous. For one, Khomeini insisted that the PLO adopt a more Islamic face and that a new Imam (religious-political leader) be appointed to replace Arafat. The demands also included the immediate dismissal of certain key members of the organisation, mainly Christian Arabs and radical leftists like Abu Saleh, a member of the central committee of the PLO.The PLO's reply was that such demands amounted to interference in their affairs and went totally against the grain of the movement. The relationship was strained further when Iran rudely rejected the PLO's intervention as a mediator in the hostage crisis, spurning its warning that holding the hostages for any length of time would be dangerous.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 25, 2013 09:56 IST--- ENDS ---

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Soviets have placed nuclear weapons in Cuba, Cuban refugees tell CIA

Last year's massive influx of refugees from Cuba into the United States has been a productive event for one American organisation - the Central Intelligence Agency.

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