Iraq's 11,000-page report to the UN Security Council lists 150
foreign companies, including some from America, Britain, Germany and
France, that supported Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction
program, a German newspaper said yesterday.
Berlin's left-wing Die Tageszeitung newspaper said it had seen a
copy of the original Iraqi dossier which was vetted for sensitive
information by US officials before being handed to the five
permanent Security Council members two weeks ago. An edited version
was passed to the remaining 10 members of the Security Council last
night.
British officials said the list of companies appeared to be
accurate. Eighty German firms and 24 US companies are reported to
have supplied Iraq with equipment and know-how for its weapons
programs from 1975 onwards and in some cases support for Baghdad's
conventional arms program had continued until last year.
It is not known who leaked the report, but it could have come
from Iraq. Baghdad is keen to embarrass the US and its allies by
showing the close involvement of US, German, British and French
firms in helping Iraq develop its weapons of mass destruction when
the country was a bulwark against the much feared spread of Iranian
revolutionary fervor to the Arab world.
The list contained the names of long-established German firms
such as Siemens as well as US multinationals. With government
approval, Siemens exported machines used to eliminate kidney stones
which have a "dual use" high precision switch used to detonate
nuclear bombs. Ten French companies were also named along with a
number of Swiss and Chinese firms. The newspaper said a number of
British companies were cited, but did not name them.
"From about 1975 onwards, these companies are shown to have
supplied entire complexes, building elements, basic materials and
technical know-how for Saddam Hussein's program to develop nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction," the newspaper
said. "They also supplied rockets and complete conventional weapons
systems," it added.
The five permanent members of the Security Council – the United
States, Britain, Russia, France and China – have repeatedly opposed
revealing the extent of foreign companies' involvement, although a
mass of relevant information was collected by UN weapons inspectors
who visited the country between 1991 and 1998. The UN claims that
publishing the extent of the companies' involvement in Iraq would
jeopardize necessary co-operation with such firms.
German involvement outstripped that of all the other countries
put together, the paper said. During the period to 1991, the German
authorities permitted weapons cooperation with Iraq and in some
cases "actively encouraged" it, according to the newspaper which
cited German assistance allegedly given to Iraq for the development
of poison gas used in the 1988 massacre of Kurds in northern Iraq.
It said that after the massacre America reduced its military
cooperation with Iraq but German firms continued their activities
until the Gulf War.
Die Tageszeitung quoted sources close to the US Vice President,
Dick Cheney, as saying the Bush administration was hoping to prove a
German company was continuing to co-operate with the Iraqi regime
over the supply of equipment allegedly useful in the construction of
weapons of mass destruction.
American weapons experts have recently voiced concern that the
German Government has permitted Siemens to sell Baghdad at least
eight sophisticated medical machines which contain devices that are
vital for nuclear weapons. The machines, known as "lithotripters",
use ultrasound to destroy kidney stones in patients. However, each
machine contains an electronic switch that can be used as a
detonator in an atomic bomb, according to US experts. Iraq was
reported to have requested an extra 120 switches as "spare parts"
during the initial transaction.
The delivery of the machines was approved by the European
Commission and the UN because sanctions against Iraq do not apply to
medical equipment. Siemens and the German Government have insisted
that the machines, which are being used in northern Iraq under a
World Health Organization program, cannot be used to make nuclear
weapons.
© 2002 lndependent Digital (UK)
Ltd
