Ihsan Barbouti

Ihsan Barbouti was an Egyptian national living in the U.S.. He was involved in the procurement of materials for chemical weapons and had connections to various intelligence operations.

Barbouti procured artillery cups for Cardoen's Santiago-produced chemical weapons from West Germany. He had previously provided equipment for chemical weapons to Libya and was known for arranging for former Nazi scientists to work on missile technology in Egypt in the 1950s. He faked his death to escape Mossad and resurfaced in the U.S. in the early 1980s. According to Israeli intelligence, he later cut a deal with the CIA and began working on its behalf with Arab countries, basing himself in Texas and Florida.¹

He had an interest in Cardoen's "agricultural project" (chemical plant) in Paraguay, which was a joint venture, sourcing materials from Florida and Texas. Barbouti was also involved in nuclear missile projects in Iraq through the Cardoen network. He was named as an enemy of the state by an Israeli intelligence committee and was placed on an execution list, though Yitzhak Shamir intervened to put the executions on hold.¹