An Iraqi scientist interviewed by UN inspectors has given details of a military program suspected of being part of a secret effort to build a nuclear weapon, a UN spokesman disclosed, according to The Guardian.
The spokesman, Hiro Ueki, said the scientist was a metallurgist from an important Iraqi state company. Ueki did not give details of the military program involved, nor did he said whether the scientist's testimony was evidence for or against the existence of a nuclear weapons project.
However, the Iraqi foreign ministry issued a statement naming the scientist as Kathim Jamil, a specialist in the use of aluminium tubes in making short-range missiles. He appeared on Iraqi television to deny participation in any weapons program.
The Iraqi statement on Friday implied that Jamil had corroborated Baghdad's version of the aluminium tube controversy. It pointed out that the interview had been carried out in al-Rasheed hotel in Baghdad, in the presence of a government official.
On his part, Ueki said only that the metallurgist had provided "technical details of a military programme" that had "attracted considerable attention as a possible prelude to a clandestine nuclear programme".
His testimony, Ueki said, "will be of great use in completing the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) assessment" of Iraq's nuclear program. (Albawaba.com)
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