Hard to Find Scientists Making Chemical/Biological Weapons

Finding Scientists Who Made Chemical or Biological Weapons May Be Hard An AP News Analysis
By Dafna Linzer Associated Press Writer
Published: Apr 10, 2003

Finding any chemical or biological weapons in Iraq is already proving hard enough, but locating hundreds of people involved in the programs - from the scientist who produced some of the most lethal weapons in the world to the Iraqi generals who may know where they are hidden - could be even tougher.
Special U.S. disarmament teams that include intelligence and weapons experts are leading the hunt for weapons the Bush administration is convinced Saddam Hussein's regime manufactured and concealed from the world.

Many said it would be easier for the United States than it was for U.N. inspectors to get to the truth about Iraq's weapons program.

But Saddam's tight grip helped the U.N. teams in one important way - they could find the people they wanted to speak with.

It will be more difficult now.

Many Iraqis have fled the capital since the war began on March 20, suspected sites are shut down and the whereabouts of employees are unknown. Some scientists, technicians, traders and special security thought to have handled the weapons could have been among the hundreds of Iraqi casualties of war.

Key members of Saddam's Cabinet - such as Lt. Gen. Amir al-Saadi, a special adviser who oversaw Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, and Maj. Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, who oversaw the biological weapons program - haven't been seen in days.

"It's a little ironic," said one U.N. inspector. "We could find them but they wouldn't talk. Now they might talk but who is going to find them?"

So far, U.S. forces haven't found any conclusive evidence of chemical, biological or nuclear arms though some lab tests are still being conducted on the contents of metal drums soldiers discovered last week. Soldiers at the site south of Baghdad suspected the contents were chemical weapons, but military officials also have said they could be pesticides.

Since the war began three weeks ago, officials have said they expected to find evidence the closer the got to Baghdad and that once the regime fell, scientists and others would be free to talk in a way that they were not with U.N. weapons inspectors.

Gen. Tommy Franks, who is running the war, promised in the early days that the weapons would found, "along with the people who have produced them and who guard them."

The Iraqis, who claimed all along they no longer had weapons they were forbidden from having after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, provided U.N. inspectors with lists of hundreds of names of people who were involved in its past programs.

Over the years, inspectors interviewed hundreds of Iraqis, but several have said privately they were never confident they got to the top people and often couldn't tell whether those involved were Saddam loyalists or just doing their jobs.

"The scientists can tell you what they made, but Saddam's special security forces were the ones who handled the weapons," said one inspector who spoke on condition of anonymity. The inspector said teams questioned many members of the special forces over the years, sometimes yielding results.

The United States obtained many of those names through copies of Iraqi weapons declarations.

In addition, U.S. forces are relying on the expertise of several former American inspectors, including Charles Duefler and Stephen Black, who are now working with the U.S. disarmament teams stationed at Camp Doha in Kuwait.

The teams are equipped with ground-penetrating radar, sensors and sample-taking apparatus similar to that used by U.N. inspectors. Intelligence experts will be involved in questioning scientists and other while disarmament specialists comb sites and analyze samples in the field using mobile labs.

So far, work has taken place in southern and western Iraq but not in the capital.

While most of Baghdad is under the control of U.S. troops pockets of resistance and civil disorder may make it difficult to focus on the weapons hunt. The Pentagon has said securing the area would be their first priority.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday he expects U.N. weapons inspectors to be able to return as soon as possible, saying they still had the mandate to find Iraqi weapons programs. Security Council members, particularly Russia and France, have expressed reservations over a solely U.S.-led disarmament effort.

But the Bush administration, which argued bitterly with chief inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei over whether Iraq has chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, hasn't invited U.N. inspectors to take part.
---------------------------

Associated Press writer Dafna Linzer has covered the Middle East for the AP from Jerusalem and the United Nations since 1994.