Tortus. The Al-Rashid Hotel is just a short walk from the banks of the river Tigris in Central Baghdad. It's got mahogany walls, a marble lobby and a swimming pool.

And back in the 90s it's considered the height of Iraqi luxury. Only the top tiers of society are seen here.

And it's where lots of foreign journalists stay when they're in town. Like Arnold Kaskins. I was a war correspondent at that time in Iraq when the war broke out. I was staying in the very famous Rashid Hotel.

Arnold Kaskins is in Iraq because Baghdad is under attack.

He's there chasing the story.

And with its huge cellar, the Al-Rashid Hotel is packed full of people trying

to stay safe.

And during the bombardments, because Rashid had a huge stellar.

I met a foreigner in the lobby.

Most Westerners have already left the country, and this foreigner in the lobby isn't a journalist, so Arnold Kaskins notices him.

At that time, shortwave radios were forbidden, eh? In Iraq because Saddam Hussein didn't want people outside

Iraq telling about his regime and I saw him walking with this small radio and I went up to him and we chat a little bit he was very

pro-Sata moussain. The man asked for a favour. There are no phone lines between Iraq and Europe and he wants the

journalist to pass a message to his family so they know he's okay. Arnold Kaskins agrees.

And after five minutes, he walked away.

It's a fleeting moment in the chaos,

but something about it sticks with the journalist.

So when he gets home, he calls the man's family as promised.

Job done.

But Arnold Kaskins can't shake the feeling that there's more to this

mysterious well-connected foreigner. So he starts trying to gather as much

information about him as he can.

...