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No evidence Hussein transferred weapons-report
Washington, Nov 16: The CIA has found no evidence that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tried to transfer chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction to al Qaeda or other groups, The Washington Post reported today, citing a military and intelligence expert.
Washington, Nov 16: The CIA has found no evidence that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tried to transfer chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction to al Qaeda or other groups, The Washington Post reported today, citing a military and
intelligence expert.
Details about the results of the weapons investigation were released in a report by Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, based on briefings over the past two weeks in Iraq from David Kay, the CIA adviser who
is directing the search for unconventional weapons in Iraq, The Post said.
The paper reported that after Kay's briefing Cordesman wrote: ''No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer Weapons of Mass Destruction or weapons to terrorists.'' ''Only possibility was Saddam's Fedayeen (his son's irregular force) and talk only,'' Cordesman wrote.
In an interim report in October, Kay said that no such weapons had been found in Iraq. Critics have said the White House may have exaggerated the threat Iraq posed in order to justify the war.
According to The Post, Cordesman, who visited several Iraqi cities from November 1 to 12, noted that Kay said Iraq ''did order nuclear equipment from 1999 on, but no evidence (has turned up) of (a) new major facility to use it.'' The Post report said although there was no evidence of chemical weapons production, Cordesman wrote that Kay said he had located biological work ''under cover of new agricultural facility'' that showed ''advances in developing dry storable powder forms of botulinum toxin.''
During his visit to Baghdad, Babel, Tikrit and Kirkuk, Cordesman met combat commanders and staff in high-threat areas, including Iraq's US administrator Paul Bremer.
Based on a briefing by Bremer, Cordesman said 95 percent of the threat came from former Hussein loyalists while most foreign militants, who entered Iraq before the war, arrived from Syria, with some from Saudi Arabia and only ''a few from Iran,'' according to The Post report.
Cordesman wrote that Bremer ''felt Syrian intelligence knows (of the volunteers) but is not proactive in encouraging (them),'' the report said. He also said there was ''no way to seal borders with Syria, Saudi (Arabia) and Iran. Too manpower intensive.''
Bureau Report
The paper reported that after Kay's briefing Cordesman wrote: ''No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer Weapons of Mass Destruction or weapons to terrorists.'' ''Only possibility was Saddam's Fedayeen (his son's irregular force) and talk only,'' Cordesman wrote.
In an interim report in October, Kay said that no such weapons had been found in Iraq. Critics have said the White House may have exaggerated the threat Iraq posed in order to justify the war.
According to The Post, Cordesman, who visited several Iraqi cities from November 1 to 12, noted that Kay said Iraq ''did order nuclear equipment from 1999 on, but no evidence (has turned up) of (a) new major facility to use it.'' The Post report said although there was no evidence of chemical weapons production, Cordesman wrote that Kay said he had located biological work ''under cover of new agricultural facility'' that showed ''advances in developing dry storable powder forms of botulinum toxin.''
During his visit to Baghdad, Babel, Tikrit and Kirkuk, Cordesman met combat commanders and staff in high-threat areas, including Iraq's US administrator Paul Bremer.
Based on a briefing by Bremer, Cordesman said 95 percent of the threat came from former Hussein loyalists while most foreign militants, who entered Iraq before the war, arrived from Syria, with some from Saudi Arabia and only ''a few from Iran,'' according to The Post report.
Cordesman wrote that Bremer ''felt Syrian intelligence knows (of the volunteers) but is not proactive in encouraging (them),'' the report said. He also said there was ''no way to seal borders with Syria, Saudi (Arabia) and Iran. Too manpower intensive.''
Bureau Report