London, England, Sep. 26 (UPI) -- The former Iraqi official in charge of disbanding Iraq's Baath Party, Mithal al-Alousi, reportedly said Sunday he was not the only Iraqi to visit Israel.

The London-based ash-Sharq al-Awsat quoted al-Alousi, who was fired from his position for visiting Israel, as threatening to sue those who had terminated him from his post.

He told the Arabic-language daily "incumbent officials and leaders in Iraq have gone on secret visits to Israel," adding there were also leaders in the Iraqi National Congress, led by Ahmad Chalabi, who went to the Jewish state.

But he refused to reveal names.

Al-Alousi described his recent visit to Israel as "legitimate as a politician and researcher in issues of combating terrorism, its causes and results, especially in Iraq."

He added that if Iraq wanted to live in peace and "if we want to build a new Iraq, we should establish good relations with the rest of the world, based on respect for Iraq's sovereignty."

He claimed he had received approval from the Iraqi National Council for his visit to Israel, adding the council intended to question him on that visit.

Al-Alousi also described a handshake between Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom during the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York last week as "nice."

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