ULTIMATE IRONIES

The ultimate irony of the arms-for-Iran funds-for-Contras scandal must have been reached with the disclosure that a large slice of the money, perhaps between $2m and $3m, raised by the sale of US arms to Iran. found its way not to the US-supported Nicaraguan rebels, but to the Global Islamic Movement, an organisation controlled by the designated successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri. According to accounts published by the New York Times, drawing on the latest confessions of the Iranian go-between, Manuchur Ghorbanliar, US funds were diverted ("for services rendered") to the Swiss bank account of the Global Islamic Movement. This is an organisation which, amongst its various activities, funds those specialists of the political kidnap operation, the Hizbollah, Party of God, in Lebanon.