US Spies Say Iraq Has Bioweapons

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 05, 2002

US Spies Say Iraq Has Bioweapons

Iraq is making new biological and chemical weapons and could have a nuclear weapon by 2010, a new report by U.S. intelligence agencies concludes.

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Iraq is making new biological and chemical weapons and could have a nuclear weapon by 2010, a new report by U.S. intelligence agencies concludes.

The most pressing threat appears to be from Iraq's expanding biological weapons program, which relies on hard-to-find mobile production facilities, the report says. Iraq's arsenal includes anthrax, it says.

In addition, "if left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade," says the report, "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs." The United States groups nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological weapons under the heading "weapons of mass destruction."

The unclassified report, released by CIA officials on Friday, contains some of the U.S. government's most specific claims about Iraq's weapons programs since 1998, when U.N. inspectors were forced out of Iraq.

Those programs are Bush administration's chief complaint as it threatens war against Iraq. The report comes at the height of an international debate on the danger posed by the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and what should be done about it.

Iraq maintains it destroyed all of its weapons, saying it has complied with all U.N. resolutions since the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

In particular, the report says Saddam's nuclear program remains stymied by his inability to obtain enriched uranium or plutonium that could be used in weapons.

If Baghdad is able to covertly acquire pre-made weapons material from overseas, Iraq could have a nuclear weapon within a year, the report says. Otherwise, Iraq will have to make its own.

The report cites Saddam's efforts to secretly acquire high-strength aluminum tubes that could be used in centrifuges for a uranium-enrichment program. Intelligence officials have said several shipments of tubes have been stopped before reaching Iraq.

The report does note a minority of intelligence analysts believes the tubes are for conventional weapons, not a nuclear program.

However, Iraq "may have acquired enrichment capabilities that could shorten substantially the amount of time necessary to make a nuclear weapon," suggesting that some shipments of tubes may have reached Iraq.

The report, which officials described as an amalgam of information and analysis from various U.S. intelligence agencies, contains many of the same conclusions as a classified National Intelligence Estimate provided to lawmakers earlier this week.

Source: agencies

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