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Marines Find Possible Mobile Bio-Weapons LabThursd
« on: Apr 10th, 2003, 5:06pm » |
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Thursday, April 10, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. Marines near Baghdad may have found a mobile biological- or chemical-weapons lab, Fox News' Rick Leventhal reported Thursday afternoon.
Leventhal is embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines.
Resembling a refrigerated truck from the outside, and containing guided-missile support equipment, the truck was found to have a false internal wall that concealed an remote-controlled electronic pulley-and-winch system and several open bins and containers.
Investigators from Echo Company said the system resembled a hazardous-materials lab, where substances could be mixed, cooled and heated without direct human contact.
Hazardous materials may have been found inside the truck as well. Tests are still ongoing to determine exactly what those materials are.
Marines found the truck parked at what resembled a construction site, but it started to drive away as they approached and refused orders to stop. The U.S. forces fired upon the truck. There was no information on the driver, but video footage of the scene showed the driver's-door window shot out. The driver apparently ran away.
Anti-aircraft guns, a surface-to-air missile and several caches of weapons and ammunition were also found at the site.
The Bush administration has long maintained that such labs existed in Iraq but conceded they may be hard to find because they are so mobile.
White House officials on Thursday expressed "high confidence" that weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq. And they said that with the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis will likely be more willing to lead American experts to the banned arms.
Over three weeks of war, coalition forces have checked out dozens of suspect sites -- hunting for chemical, biological and nuclear arms materials. So far, no finds have been confirmed.
U.S. officials told Fox News that CIA officers are in Baghdad and throughout Iraq looking for scientists to point out the locations of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Special operations teams are also trying to find and test possible weapons materials at 1,000 sites. Senior defense officials said, "The list has grown ... and [the teams] have only been through a small number of sites (fewer than 20)."
But White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer noted Thursday the Iraqi regime has proven itself a master of hiding banned weapons.
Fox News' Rick Leventhal
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