Iraq shows pesticides as proof of innocence

Iraq today took reporters to a suspected chemical and biological warfare plant and showed them sacks marked agricultural pesticides as proof of innocence.

“The plant is producing domestic insecticides and agricultural pesticides and it has nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction,” said manager Haidar Hassan.

It was the third visit by reporters to plants this month as Iraq tries to ward off a possible US attack – though it has stopped short of allowing UN weapons inspectors to conduct a comprehensive and informed review.

Officials said the Falluja-3 plant, 65 miles west of Baghdad, was destroyed by US warplanes in 1991 and 1998 and rebuilt each time. Reporters saw no signs of damage today.

Dusty barrels were scattered on the plant’s floor alongside sacks marked as containing agricultural pesticides. Scores of workers were busy fixing machinery or checking pesticides and the sound of operating machinery could be heard from elsewhere in the plant.

Some of the barrels bore serial numbers and dates of manufacture and expiry. Some of the inscriptions were not clear, while others were partially wiped out. Other barrels were labelled toxic.

In the agricultural pesticides unit, large tanks bore labels reading UNSCOM, the UN body that took charge of dismantling Iraq’s mass destruction weapons following the 1991 Gulf War. The significance of the labels was not explained.

Husam Mohammed Ameen, who led the Iraqi side that coordinated with the UN inspectors before their departure, said cameras and sensors were installed at Falluja-3 by the UN experts for monitoring purposes in 1994, but that they were destroyed in US-British air strikes in 1998.

“Moreover, the site was visited by many inspection teams to verify its activities. The total number of the inspections by the Special Commission (UNSCOM) was more than 250 inspections ‘until 1998,” he said.

On earlier tours of suspected sites this month, Iraqi authorities took reporters to a livestock vaccination laboratory and a complex of foodstuff warehouses.

The tours come amid speculation Washington is planning to attack Iraq to remove Saddam. Baghdad also has launched a diplomatic offensive with senior officials visiting Syria and China, the latter a permanent member of the UN Security Council.