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Further tests ordered on suspicious Iraqi chemical
« on: Apr 28th, 2003, 8:49am » |
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Further tests ordered on suspicious Iraqi chemicals
Monday, April 28, 2003 Posted: 9:00 AM EDT (1300 GMT)
BAI'JI, Iraq (CNN) -- Material in northern Iraq suspected of being chemical weapons was undergoing further analysis Monday after previous tests showed conflicting results.
Samples of the material have been taken away for testing in the United States and in Iraq, said 1st Lt. Valerie Phipps of the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment.
Two earlier sets of tests conducted at the scene were positive for the presence of chemical weapons; a third was negative.
Initial tests indicated the presence of the deadly nerve agent cyclosarin and an unspecified blister agent in a stash of 55-gallon drums, about 130 miles (208 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
Other chemicals found in various places in Iraq and suspected of having military purposes have turned out to be pesticides or other industrial chemicals.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies says cyclosarin can cause shortness of breath, muscle spasms, unconsciousness and death.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed the inability of coalition troops to find biological, chemical or nuclear weapons in Iraq. "I remain confident they will be found," he told reporters Monday.
Blair also dismissed a USA Today report Monday quoting a senior Defense Department official as saying former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz told U.S. interrogators he saw Saddam Hussein alive following two airstrikes that attempted to kill him.
But the paper said U.S. officials don't know whether to trust Aziz, who gave himself up to U.S. forces last week in Baghdad.
Garner convenes town hall-style meeting
Jay Garner, the U.S.-appointed civilian administrator of Iraq, opened a town hall-style meeting Monday, Saddam's 66th birthday, by urging the Iraqi people to seize their new opportunities.
"We have this opportunity to establish a government where your sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters will be safe, will be free and have the opportunity for peace and prosperity," said Garner, a retired Army lieutenant general.
"Let's don't miss this opportunity," he said. "Today on the birthday of Saddam Hussein, let's start a democratic process for the children of Iraq."
Other developments
Enthusiastic troops gave U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a rousing welcome Monday at Camp Doha in Qatar as he described their "remarkable achievement" in freeing Iraq from Saddam. "What all of you have accomplished will certainly go down in the history books," he told the crowd Monday morning.
Saddam has been trained to use explosive vests like those used by suicide bombers and could blow himself up rather than face capture, an Iraqi opposition leader said Sunday. Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, said Iraqi intelligence officers passed the information to his group.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition" that U.N. inspectors are "the best ones to do the job" of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and should be allowed to go back to work as soon as possible.
CNN correspondents Chris Burns, Kyra Phillips, Jane Arraf, Dana Bash, Jill Dougherty, David Ensor, John King, Nic Robertson and Barbara Starr, and producer Terry Frieden, contributed to this report.
EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.
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