Who Killed de Mello?

In Episode 9 I ask the crucial question cui bono from de Mello's death? (Who benefitted?) —Where did the truck come from? —How did the US know of Mr. de Mello’s plan to condemn the US Military's killing of Iraqi civilians in a press conference scheduled for the night he died? —Why was the US Army 411th Battalion for Civil Affairs inside the UN complex? Books referenced for this episode are: Chasing the Flames, by Samantha Power My Year in Iraq, by Paul Bremer

In Episode 8 I cover —The errors in the death certificate issued by the US Military; —The strange saga of the US serviceman who “helped” Mr. de Mello while he was trapped—and a year later was stopped by airport control with the “trophy” of Saddam’s Mercedes Benz. —The corrupt team of US pathologists who failed to perform an autopsy on Mr. de Mello’s body. This led the de Mello family to request the exhumation of his body since the cause of death wasn’t clear per the death certificate. Books referenced in this episode are: Oath Betrayed, by Dr. Steve Milles Chasing the Flame, by Samantha Power From Jailor to Jailed, by Bernie Kerik.

On this episode, we will go through the details of Mr. de Mello's final hours. You'd find on this episode, Paul Bremer's press conference, the US envoy to Iraq. At the scene of the bombing, Bernard Kerik was there, so was the FBI team led by Thomas Fuentes. Please note these seventh episodes were recorded from Dec 2019 through early March 2020, will resume recording as soon as the Covid-19 lock down is over.

Before I can tell you who killed de Mello, I must honor the other victims murdered on that "Black Tuesday." This episode is about 22 victims--7 United Nations' workers, and 15 guests and contractors. Who killed Nadia Younes? Who killed Christopher Kelin Beekman? Who killed Fiona Watson? Who killed Richard Hooper? Who killed Jean-Sélime Kanaan? Who killed Manuel Martin -Oar? Who killed Emad Salman al-Jeboory? Who killed Omar Kahtan al-Orfali? Who killed Arthur Helton? Who killed Gillian Clark? Who killed Ra’ad Shaker al -Mahdawi? Who killed Basim Mahmoud Atawi? Who killed Dr. Alya Ahmad Sousa? Who killed Ranillo Buenavantura? Who killed Reza Husseini? Who killed Reham Alfarra? Who killed Matha Teas? Who killed Leen al-Qadi? Who killed Ihsan Taha Hussein? Who killed Khadir Salim Tahir? Who killed Sa’ad Hurmiz Abona? Who killed Sérgio Vieira de Mello? The list of the killed was only released days later. Hundreds were injured--how many of them died in the ensuing days?

Episode 5 urges once again the importance of Location Location Location As in the Scene of the Crime: So, a brief history of the complex where it occurred. The Canal Hotel, a three-story building located on the east side of Baghdad near the Army Canal, was converted into a UN Headquarters in 1990. The US Army was housed in the same compound--namely, the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Danbury, Connecticut.

In Episode 4 I discuss the relationship of Paul Bremer, the US envoy to Iraq, and Sergio de Mello, the UN rep in Iraq. Their clash was decisive: while Bremer wished to spearhead an Occupation, de Mello wanted a free Iraq. My information on a private meeting between the two men, which I share in this Episode, comes from UN staff present the day they met outside Bremer's office in The Green Zone.

In this episode, I tell you why I don't think the bad boys did it this time. First, the nature of the explosives: according to an FBI report, the bomb was made up of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel, I explain in this episode all about those two elements. Second, the size of the operation suggested it was the work of a highly sophisticated group, not a few men that flew from Europe or crossed borders from Jordan and Syria. Third, there were fewer than 100 terrorists in Iraq in 2003; comparing this number to 2013 and 2014, did their ranks grow into the hundreds of thousands in Iraq. Please note that I misspeak in this episode--when I say "500-pound bomb," I should have said "1000-pound bomb."

In early Feb, Colin Powell gave a 90-plus minute speech at the UN Security Council about Iraq’s "certain" WMD and Zarqawi. Many years later he described it as the worst day of his life, for he misinformed the world about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction by sharing inaccurate information gathered by US intelligence. Mr. de Mello met with G. W. Bush to discuss the Guantanamo detention center, and asked the US president to let the detainees’ families know the whereabouts of their male relatives (for some reason I forgot to mention this in this episode) In May, de Mello arrived Baghdad, so did Paul Bremer, he was the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority. The first thing he did was damage Iraq irrecoverably by dismantling the Iraqi Army. Mr. de Mello was unable to act freely in Iraq, as the UN Security Council voted for Resolution 1483-- transferring the authority to seize Iraq’s oil revenue from the United Nations to the Coalition Provisional Authority. De Mello's role was per 1483 a humanitarian role not political.

In this first episode we’ll learn who de Mello was, and I will discuss the legacy he left as a United Nations diplomat after 34 years in the mission field. Why this podcast? I feel a sense of urgency to dig into this case now--and I outline my reasons for doing this podcast. Listeners may find it striking that I was raised in a house just a few minutes' walk from Baghdad's Canal Hotel--converted into UN Headquarters in the 1990’s. Reference used in this episode : Chasing the Flame book, by Samantha Power

Please join Layla Qasrany for her new podcast, Who Killed de Mello? Sergio Vieira de Mello was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and a Special Representative for Secretary General when he died in a 2003 explosion at the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. Pinned on an Egyptian named Abu Farid—said to have been at one time a professional hockey player in Milan—the suicide bombing and subsequent “investigation” stank of fish from the start. And just who was Abu Farid? What that his real name? Why has no photograph of him ever appeared out of Milan Italy? What happened to the evidence collected from the UN site? Why was there no autopsy for de Mello’s body? And why was the supposed mastermind Abu Omar al Kurdi of the plot executed before any report of his interrogation was made public? Ms. Qasrany leads listeners through a labyrinth of lies implicating some unusual suspects in this killing and cover-up before delivering her stunning conclusion to the question Who Killed de Mello?