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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>New Reports on
U.S. Planting WMDs in Iraq<BR><BR><BR>BASRA, April 12 (MNA) -– Fifty days after
the first reports that the <BR>U.S. forces were unloading weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) in <BR>southern Iraq, new reports about the movement of these
weapons have <BR>been disclosed.<BR><BR> Sources in Iraq speculate that
occupation forces are using the recent <BR>unrest in Iraq to divert attention
from their surreptitious shipments <BR>of WMD into the country.<BR><BR> An
Iraqi source close to the Basra Governor’s Office told the MNA that <BR>new
information shows that a large part of the WMD, which was secretly <BR>brought
to southern and western Iraq over the past month, are in <BR>containers falsely
labeled as containers of the Maeresk shipping <BR>company and some consignments
bearing the labels of organizations such <BR>as the Red Cross or the USAID in
order to disguise them as relief <BR>shipments.<BR><BR> The source, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Iraqi <BR>officials including forces
loyal to the Iraqi Governing Council <BR>stationed in southern Iraq have been
forbidden from inspecting or <BR>supervising the transportation of these
consignments. He went on to say <BR>that the occupation forces have ordered
Iraqi officials to forward any <BR>questions on the issue to the coalition
forces. Even the officials of <BR>the international relief organizations have
informed the Iraqi <BR>officials that they would only accept responsibility for
relief <BR>shipments which have been registered and managed by their
<BR>organizations.<BR><BR> The Iraqi source also confirmed the report
about suspicious trucks <BR>with fake Saudi and Jordanian license plates
entering Iraq at night <BR>last week, stressing that the Saudi and Jordanian
border guards did not <BR>attempt to inspect the trucks but simply delivered
them to the U.S. and <BR>British forces stationed on Iraq’s
borders.<BR><BR> However, the source expressed ignorance whether the
governments of <BR>Saudi Arabia and Jordan were aware of such
movements.<BR><BR> A professor of physics at Baghdad University also told
the MNA <BR>correspondent that a group of his colleagues who are highly
specialized <BR>in military, chemical and biological fields have been either
bribed or <BR>threatened during the last weeks to provide written information on
what <BR>they know about various programs and research centers and the possible
<BR>storage of WMD equipment.<BR><BR> The professor also said these people
have been openly asked to confirm <BR>or deny the existence of research or
related WMD equipment. A large <BR>number of these scientists, who are believed
to be under the <BR>surveillance of U.S. intelligence operatives, have claimed
that if they <BR>refuse to comply with this request, they may be killed or
arrested on <BR>charges of concealing the truth if these weapons are found by
the Bush <BR>administration in the future.<BR><BR> He said that the Iraqi
scientists believe their lives would be in <BR>danger if they decline to
cooperate with the occupation forces, <BR>especially when they recall that
senior U.S. officer Michael Peterson <BR>once said, “Iraqi scientists are at any
case a threat to the U.S. <BR>administration, whether they talk or
not.”<BR><BR> A source close to the Iraqi Governing Council said, “In the
meantime, <BR>many suspect containers disguised as fuel supplies have been moved
<BR>about by some units of the U.S. special forces. The move has been
<BR>carried out under heavy security measures. Also, there are unofficial
<BR>reports that the containers held biological and bacteriological toxins
<BR>in liquid form. It is possible that the news about the discovery of the
<BR>WMDs would be announced later.”<BR><BR> He also said that such
mixtures had been used by the Saddam regime in <BR>the 1990s.<BR><BR> The
source added that some provocative actions such as the closure of <BR>Al-Hawza
periodical by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer, the secret <BR>meetings between
his envoys with some extremist groups who have no <BR>relations with the Iraqi
Governing Council, the sudden upsurge in <BR>violence in central and southern
Iraq, a number of activities which <BR>have stoked up the wrath of the prominent
Shia clerics, and finally, <BR>the spate of kidnappings and the baseless charges
against the Iranian <BR>charge d’affaires in Baghdad are providing the necessary
smokescreen <BR>for the transportation of the WMD to their intended
locations.<BR><BR> He said they are quite aware that the White House in
cooperation with <BR>the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has directly tasked
the Defense <BR>Department to hide these weapons. Given the recent scandals to
the <BR>effect that the U.S. president was privy to the 9/11 plot, they might
<BR>try to immediately announce the discovery of weapons of mass <BR>destruction
in Iraq in order to overshadow the scandals and prevent a <BR>further decline of
Bush’s public opinion rating as the election
<BR>approaches.</FONT><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>