The US administration has received a credible report that Islamic extremists affiliated with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network obtained a chemical weapon in Iraq last month or in late October, the Washington Post cited two officials with knowledge of the report and its source as saying.
According to the officials, government analysts suspect that the transaction involved the nerve agent VX and that a courier managed to smuggle it overland through Turkey, the Post said Thursday.
If the report turns out to be true, the transaction marks two important milestones. It would be the first known acquisition of a non-conventional weapon other than cyanide by al Qaeda or a member of its network.
Moreover, it would be the most solid evidence to support the charge, aired for months by US President George W. Bush and his top advisers, that al Qaeda terrorists receive material assistance in Iraq.
Regarding whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein knew about or authorized such a transaction, US analysts are said to have no evidence. However, because Saddam’s handpicked Special Security Organization, run by his son Qusay, has long exerted firm control over concealed weapons programs, officials said they presume it would be hard to transfer a chemical agent without the Iraqi president's knowledge, the U.S. newspaper said.
First developed as a weapon by the American Army, VX is an oily, odorless and tasteless liquid that kills on contact with the skin or when inhaled in aerosol form. Like other nerve agents, it is treatable in the first minutes after exposure but otherwise leads swiftly to fatal convulsions and respiratory failure. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
