US-led forces have taken custody of the Iraqi scientist known as "Dr. Germ" for her work in creating weapons-grade anthrax, US officials said Monday.
Dr. Rihab Rashid Taha, 46, who had been negotiating her surrender for days, turned herself in over the last 48 hours, said Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command.
U.N. weapons inspectors nicknamed Taha "Dr. Germ" because she ran the Iraqi biological weapons facility where scientists worked with anthrax, botulinum toxin and aflatoxin. A microbiologist, Taha holds a doctorate from the University of East Anglia in Britain.
She is not on the list of the 55 most wanted former members of Saddam Hussein's regime. But American forces have been trying to capture her and last month raided her Baghdad home in the search for her and her husband.
Taha is married to Amer Rashid, who held top posts in Saddam's missile programs and was oil minister before the war. Rashid surrendered to U.S. forces April 28.
The Iraqis presented her during the 1990s as the head of the biological program, but inspectors suspect she may have been fronting for someone more senior. She met with U.N. teams before the war on technical issues.
In a rare interview earlier this year, she said about her work "Iraq has been threatened by different enemies, and we are in an area which suffers from regional conflict. It is our right to defend ourselves."
While she acknowledged research and development into biological agents, she insisted the regime never weaponized the bacteria it developed. "We never intended to use it," she continued. "We never wanted to cause harm or damage to anybody."
Also reported captured was Armed Forces Chief of Staff Ibrahim Ahmad Abd al Sattar Muhammad al Tikriti, Pentagon officials said. He is No. 11 on a list issued last month of the 55 most wanted former members of Saddam's regime and the jack of spades in a card deck issued to troops looking for regime leaders. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
