Daily Telegraph
By Jessica Berry
 28/01/2001

SADDAM HUSSEIN has two fully operational nuclear bombs and is working to construct
others, an Iraqi defector has told The Telegraph.

The defector, a military engineer who fled Iraq a year after United Nations arms inspectors
left the country, says that he helped to oversee the completion of the weapons programme.
He is currently in hiding in Europe. International nuclear officials are investigating his
evidence, which contradicts recent reports that the Iraqi dictator's plans were still at a
preparatory stage.

Saddam's efforts to build atomic weapons were delayed by the UN Special Commission
(Unscom) inspectors who were forced to leave in November 1998, but scientists resumed the
work immediately after their departure.

According to the defector, who cannot be named for security reasons, bombs are being built
in Hemrin in north-eastern Iraq, near the Iranian border. Last week, the defector said: "There
are at least two nuclear bombs which are ready for use. Before the UN inspectors came, there
were 47 factories involved in the project. Now there are 64." The information has alarmed
security experts, who were aware only that the area around Hemrin was well-guarded.

The defector said: "The area is restricted to the Special Security Organisation. Some of it is
under the control of the military industrialisation ministry which is in charge of building up
Saddam's weapons arsenal, but one area is entirely under the control of the nuclear energy
organisation. They are digging shelters there."

The nuclear programme is shrouded in secrecy. The chain of command leads directly to the
presidential palace and Saddam's closest aide, Abed Hmoud, a Baath Party stalwart who
runs the Iraqi dictator's private office. According to the defector, General Raad Ismail, the
head of the Committee for the Use of Nuclear Weapons, answers directly to a Dr Khaled, the
director-general of the al-Athir factory, who oversees the final stages of construction of
weapons.

The factory was attacked in air raids by Britain and the United States in 1998, but has since
been rebuilt. Also involved is Awad al-Benck, who is responsible for procurement in the
presidential office. Involvement of such senior men means that the programme is top secret.
The defector says that apart from the scientists, only four or five people know what is
happening. One security expert said: "This is vital information. The fact that General Ismail
is involved can only mean that the programme is complete."

Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the UN-founded International Atomic Energy Agency
in Vienna, said that the IAEA was unable to confirm that the Iraqi dictator was complying
with Unscom resolutions. Mrs Fleming said: "I will bring this to the attention of the members
of the agency immediately. We want to investigate this as soon as possible."

The fresh evidence comes only a week after President George W Bush took office. In his
inaugural address, he promised to confront weapons of mass destruction, without mentioning
Iraq. Under Anglo-US policy, any attempt by Saddam to build nuclear or biological
weapons could lead to
 
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State and a Gulf war veteran, and Vice-President Dick
Cheney are both known to favour a radical approach in dealing with Iraq. General Powell
said of Saddam last week: "His only tool, the only thing he can scare us with are those
weapons of mass destruction, and we have to hold him to account."

The new White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said: "The President expects Saddam
Hussein to live up to the agreements he's made with the UN, especially regarding the
elimination of weapons of mass destruction."
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com