[A-List] Iraq: key western arms buyer

[Michael Keaney]

Lots of juicy stuff here, including a strong hint that the current
administration, in line with Richard Perle's recent interview with
Handelsblatt, is eager to find ways to unseat Schröder.

For the Perle interview see
http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/a-list/2002w40/msg00053.htm

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Leaked report says German and US firms supplied arms to Saddam
Baghdad's uncensored report to UN names Western companies alleged to have
developed its weapons of mass destruction
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
The Independent, 18 December 2002

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 programme, 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 programmes from 1975 onwards and in
some cases support for Baghdad's conventional arms programme 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 fervour to the Arab world.

The list contained the names of long-established German firms such as
Siemens as well as US multi-nationals. 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 programme 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 jeopardise 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 authoritiespermitted
weapons co-operation 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
co-operation 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 Organisation programme, cannot be
used to make nuclear weapons.