http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/n...top.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=350384 Hmmmmm......I bet Wild missed this one. UN inspectors uncover proof of Saddam's nuclear bomb plans By Con Coughlin (Filed: 19/01/2003) United Nations weapons inspectors have uncovered evidence that proves Saddam Hussein is trying to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons, The Telegraph can reveal. The discovery was made following spot checks last week on the homes of two Iraqi nuclear physicists in Baghdad. Hans Blix was made aware of the discovery last week Acting on information provided by Western intelligence, the UN inspection teams discovered a number of documents proving that Saddam is continuing with his attempts to develop nuclear weapons, contrary to his public declarations that Iraq is no longer interested in producing weapons of mass destruction. The revelation follows last Thursday's discovery of a number of warheads at an ammunition storage facility south of Baghdad that had been designed for carrying chemical and biological weapons. Although UN officials say that they have no comment to make at present on the documents found at the scientists' homes, a Western diplomat closely involved with the investigation into Saddam's nuclear capability yesterday confirmed that the documents showed that Iraq was still attempting to develop its own atomic weapons. "These are not old documents. They are new and they relate to on-going work taking place in Iraq to develop nuclear weapons," the official told The Telegraph. "They had been hidden at the scientists' homes on Saddam's personal orders. Furthermore, no mention of this work is made in the Iraqi dossier that was submitted to the UN last December." UN nuclear experts are this weekend continuing to examine the seized documents. Officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna have also been informed of the discovery. The revelation that Saddam is working on nuclear weapons in defiance of the United Nations is further evidence that Iraq is failing to comply with the terms of UN Resolution 1441, which requires Baghdad to make a complete disclosure of its weapons of mass destruction programme. A false or incomplete disclosure or a failure fully to co-operate with the inspectors would constitute a material breach of the resolution and result in military action against Baghdad. Although Dr Hans Blix, the head of the UN inspections teams, was made aware of the discovery last week, he failed to mention it during talks with Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, and Jacques Chirac the French president. British officials are particularly concerned that Mr Blix appears to be playing down the significance of last week's breakthroughs. He indicated that he did not feel the discovery of the chemical warheads was an issue that needed to be reported to the Security Council. The inspectors' discoveries follow a radical improvement in relations between UN officials and Western intelligence which had been reluctant to hand over sensitive information for fear that it might fall into the hands of Iraqi officials, thereby risking the lives of agents working in Iraq. In particular intelligence officials were keen that a team of UN inspectors visit the homes of two Iraqi nuclear scientists living in the outskirts of Baghdad. This followed information from high ranking officials at Iraq's Ministry of Military Industrialisation (MIO) that suggested Saddam had ordered that top secret nuclear documents should be hidden at the homes of scientists working on the project. As one inspection team discovered the empty chemical warheads, nuclear weapons experts were cordoning off the street where two scientists lived in Baghdad's al-Ghazalia neighbourhood. They searched the homes of Faleh Hassan, a specialist in laser equipment, and Dr Shaker alJibouri, a nuclear scientist. Inspectors also accompanied the scientists to sites known to have been used for nuclear research.
A Skeptical U.N. Support Ebbs for U.S. War Plans By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 19, 2003; Page A01 ... Russia, one of the five permanent Security Council members who can veto any council action, along with France, China, Britain and the United States, said last week it saw no reason to consider war. Moscow signed three agreements with Baghdad on Friday for exploration and development of oil fields in southern and western Iraq. One of the rotating council seats reserved for Europe is now held by Germany, a staunch opponent of using force and a much more formidable voice than Ireland, the country it replaced. Germany takes over the chair of the council in February; Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said yesterday that not only would Germany not take part in any "military intervention in Iraq, that is exactly how our voting behavior will be in all international bodies, including the United Nations." A council diplomat said, "Before, the five [permanent members] could meet without serious problems from the rest. They didn't have to think about the Irish. But that's not so with the Germans, particularly for the Europeans." Other new members include Pakistan, Chile and Angola, all U.S. friends reluctant to approve a war, and Spain. ... There is widespread international appreciation of the fact that inspectors would not be in Iraq today if the United States had not used its overwhelming military and diplomatic power, the official said. Bush could easily declare victory now and save himself a potential debacle. "He's shown seriousness, and Saddam caved," the official said. "If you ask whether the world is in a better position vis-a-vis Saddam Hussein than it was a year ago, the answer is 'Absolutely.' Is that victory? Yes, if you want it to be." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12182-2003Jan18.html Nuclear 'threat' found as UN asks for time http://www.observer.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,877819,00.html regards wild