Colonel Ismail, the former officer in the IRG's intelligence service who fled from Iran, asserted to "Asharq al-Awsat" the validity of recent reports about the involvement of circles close to the IRG's Quds Corps in the plot to assassinate former Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Allawi. Speaking to this newspaper, he gave details of the plan that was due to be implemented during Allawi's visit to Basra and said that the leader of a small Shiite party financed by the IRG's intelligence service was asked to announce his split from the Shiite "Unified Iraqi Coalition" and join the Iraqi list led by Allawi. This leader, who is also a member of the Iraqi National Assembly, has some popularity in Basra and Al-Zubayr and his mission was to accompany Allawi on an elections visit to these two cities. A unit of very well trained elements was moved from the IRG's Khatim al-Anbiya camp to Basra on the eve of the Shiite party's announcement of its split to wait for Allawi's arrival. The plot was to assassinate Allawi and his colleague Hujjat al-Islam Hussein al-Sadr, whose name tops the Iranian intelligence list of "enemies" together with the names of Allawi, Iyad Jamal-al-Din, and Dr. Adnan Pacachi. Col. Ismail disclosed that one of his colleagues in the IRG leaked details of the plot to the concerned organs in the British forces in Basra, thus foiling it after Dr. Allawi was briefed on this information. He added that the Shiite party's split from the "Unified Coalition" remained secret at Dr. Allawi's request.