the President said confidentially.
Nichols nodded. 'The facts add up that way, but it won't be easy to prove.'
'any idea as to the identity of the mastermind behind the operation?'
'We have a make,' replied Brogan briefly. This is a condensed file on the man.' He paused to hand the President another folder. 'He did a remarkable job of disguising himself to look like the Captain of the ship during the capture, and then he changed to a mask. Later, Dirk Pitt met face to face with him during a truce before the fighting. The name he gave was Suleiman Aziz Ammar.'
'Seems odd this Ammar got lax and dropped his name,' mused Schiller.
'Must be an alias.'
Brogan shook his head. 'The name is real enough. We have a comprehensive packet on him. So does Interpel. Ammar must have figured Pitt was as good as dead, and had nothing to lose by identifying himself.'
The President's eyes narrowed. 'According to your file he's suspected of being directly or indirectly involved with over fifty murders of prominent government officials. Is this possible?'
'Suleiman Aziz Ammar is rated at the very top of his profession.'
'A diehard terrorist.'
'Assassin,' Brogan corrected the President. 'Ammar specializes only in political assassination. Cold-blooded as they come. Big on disguise and detailed planning. As the words of the song go, 'Nobody does it better.' Half his hits were so clean they were written off as accidents.
He's a Muslim, but he's taken on jobs for the French and Germans and even the Israelis. Gets top dollar. He's amassed a considerable fortune for his successful operations in and around the Mediterranean.'
'Was he captured?'
'No, sir,' Brogan admitted. 'He was not among the dead or wounded.'
'The man escaped?' the President asked sharply.
'If he still lives, Ammar cannot get far,' Brogan assured him. 'Pitt he pumped at least three bullets into him. An extensive manhunt has been activated. There is no escape from the island. He should be found in a few hours.'
'He'll be a major intelligence coup if he can be persuaded to talk,'
said Nichols.
'General Dodge has already alerted his field commander, Colonel Morton Hollis, to take every precaution in capturing Animar alive. But the Colonel thinks there is good reason to believe Ammar will kill himself when cornered. '
Nichols shrugged resignedly. 'Hollis is probably right.'
'There were no other survivors among the hijackers?' the President asked Brogan.
'Eight we can interrogate. But they appear to be only Ammar's hired mercenaries and not radical Yazid followers.'
'We'll need their confessions to prove Ammar was working for Yazid and Topiltzin,' said the President without optimism.
Schiller did not feel there was a setback. 'Look on the bright side, Mr. President. The ship and hostages have been rescued without injury.
President Hasan knows damn well Yazid wanted him dead and was behind the hijacking. He'll go after Yazid now with a vengeance.'
The President looked at him, and then his eyes traveled from face to face. 'Is that the way you gentlemen see it?'
'Julius has a good grasp of Hasan,' said Mercier. 'He can be real nasty if he's crossed.'
Doug Oates nodded in agreement. 'Barring unforeseen developments, I think Julius's projection is right on the money. Hasan may not go so far as to risk riots and ignite a revolution by arresting Yazid and trying him for treason. But he'll certainly take off the gloves and do everything short of murder to destroy Yazid's credibility.'
'There will be a backlash against Yazid,' Brogan predicted. 'Egypt's Muslim fundamentalist moderates do not condone terrorist tactics.
They'll Turn their backs on Yazid while the country's parliament gives President Hasan overwhelming support. Also, in my best rose-colored view, the military will climb down out of its ivory tower and reaffirm its loyalty to Hasan.'
The President took a final swallow of wine and set the glass on the table. 'I must confess, I like what I hear.'
'The crisis in Egypt is far from over,' warned Secretary Oates. 'Yazid may be pushed out of the limelight for a while, but in President Hasan's absence the Moslem Brotherhood of fundamentalist fanatics has formed an alliance with the Liberal and Socialist Labor parties. Together, they'll work to undemiine Hasan's nile, to bring Egypt under Islamic ties with the United States and scuttle Israeli peace agreements.'
The President tilted his head at Schiller. 'Do you subscribe to Doug's doomsday canvas, Julius?'
Schiller nodded grimly. 'I do.'
'Martin?'
Brogan's solemn expression told it all. 'The inevitable has only been stalled off. Hasan's government must eventually fall. The military's support will be here today and gone tomorrow. My best brains at Langley project a fairly bloodless coup eighteen to twenty-four months from now.'
'I recommend we take a hands-off, wait-and-see attitude, Mr. President,'
said Oates. 'And study our options in dealing with another Muslim government.'
