barfly
02-07-04, 14:51
WARSAW, Poland (AP) _ Terrorists may have been close to
obtaining munitions containing the deadly nerve agent
cyclosarin that Polish soldiers recovered in June in Iraq,
the head of Poland's military intelligence said Friday.
Polish troops had been searching for munitions as part of
their regular mission in south-central Iraq when they were
told by an informant in May that terrorists had made a bid
to buy the chemical weapons, Gen. Marek Dukaczewski told
reporters in Warsaw.
«We were mortified by the information that terrorists
were looking for these warheads and offered US$5,000
apiece,» Dukaczewski said. «An attack with such weapons
would be hard to imagine. All of our activity was
accelerated at appropriating these warheads.»
Dukaczewski refused to give any further details about the
terrorists or the sellers of the munitions, saying only
that his troops were able to thwart the attempt by
themselves purchasing the 17 rockets for a Soviet-era
launcher and two mortar rounds containing the nerve agent
for an undisclosed sum on June 23.
In May, a boobytrapped artillery shell apparently filled
with the sarin nerve agent exploded at the side of the road
in Baghdad but caused no serious injuries to the U.S.
forces who discovered it. Officials at the time stopped
short of claiming the munition was definite evidence of a
large weapons stockpile in prewar Iraq or evidence of
recent production by Saddam's regime.
The warheads discovered by the Polish forces date to
Iraq's war with Iran in the 1980s, and all contained
cyclosarin, multinational force commander Polish Gen.
Mieczyslaw Bieniek said.
«Laboratory tests showed the presence in them of
cyclosarin, a very toxic gas, five times stronger than
sarin and five times more durable,» Bieniek told Poland's
TVN24 at the force's Camp Babylon headquarters.
«If these warheads, which were still usable, were used on
a military base like Camp Babylon, they would have caused
unforeseeable damage,» Bieniek said.
The tests were done by American experts in the United
States and Iraq and are still ongoing.
The munitions were found in a bunker in the Polish sector,
but Polish officials refused to be more specific.
Poland sent troops to the U.S.-led war and now commands
some 6,200 international troops _ including some 2,400 from
Poland _ in south-central Iraq.
D'r zal er zo eentje in Hoog Katerijne terecht komen....
obtaining munitions containing the deadly nerve agent
cyclosarin that Polish soldiers recovered in June in Iraq,
the head of Poland's military intelligence said Friday.
Polish troops had been searching for munitions as part of
their regular mission in south-central Iraq when they were
told by an informant in May that terrorists had made a bid
to buy the chemical weapons, Gen. Marek Dukaczewski told
reporters in Warsaw.
«We were mortified by the information that terrorists
were looking for these warheads and offered US$5,000
apiece,» Dukaczewski said. «An attack with such weapons
would be hard to imagine. All of our activity was
accelerated at appropriating these warheads.»
Dukaczewski refused to give any further details about the
terrorists or the sellers of the munitions, saying only
that his troops were able to thwart the attempt by
themselves purchasing the 17 rockets for a Soviet-era
launcher and two mortar rounds containing the nerve agent
for an undisclosed sum on June 23.
In May, a boobytrapped artillery shell apparently filled
with the sarin nerve agent exploded at the side of the road
in Baghdad but caused no serious injuries to the U.S.
forces who discovered it. Officials at the time stopped
short of claiming the munition was definite evidence of a
large weapons stockpile in prewar Iraq or evidence of
recent production by Saddam's regime.
The warheads discovered by the Polish forces date to
Iraq's war with Iran in the 1980s, and all contained
cyclosarin, multinational force commander Polish Gen.
Mieczyslaw Bieniek said.
«Laboratory tests showed the presence in them of
cyclosarin, a very toxic gas, five times stronger than
sarin and five times more durable,» Bieniek told Poland's
TVN24 at the force's Camp Babylon headquarters.
«If these warheads, which were still usable, were used on
a military base like Camp Babylon, they would have caused
unforeseeable damage,» Bieniek said.
The tests were done by American experts in the United
States and Iraq and are still ongoing.
The munitions were found in a bunker in the Polish sector,
but Polish officials refused to be more specific.
Poland sent troops to the U.S.-led war and now commands
some 6,200 international troops _ including some 2,400 from
Poland _ in south-central Iraq.
D'r zal er zo eentje in Hoog Katerijne terecht komen....