Heavy Surveillance And Cheese

By PAUL GRAY/

After Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, Iraqi diplomats and their families stationed in the U.S. began to notice that someone was watching them. Following a State Department order that Iraq recall 36 diplomats and their families, one carload of evicted Iraqis got lost on the way to the airport; up popped the FBI agents who had been shadowing them to provide helpful directions. Later, while waiting for their flight, some restive and hungry Iraqi children were treated to pizza by attentive G-men. These were not spontaneous acts of kindness. The FBI was sending a message to Saddam that his people could not move without being monitored by Uncle Sam. Bureau officials believe this breathe-down-their-necks strategy may keep Iraq and its sympathizers from hatching terrorist plots in the U.S.

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS