Iraq never revived its secret nuclear weapons program after it was dismantled by UN inspectors in the 1990s, a senior Iraqi scientist at Iraq's new Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday.
Before launching the war to topple former president Saddam Hussein, the US and Britain said Saddam was trying to develop an atomic bomb and other weapons of mass destruction -- a key justification for the US-led invasion.
UN inspectors found no evidence of this during four months of inspections before the war. Since major military action ended in Iraq on May 1, US and British military have still found no proof Saddam had nuclear, chemical or biological arms.
"I think even the inspectors when they went there, they knew ... what the activity was there. And you know it [a nuclear weapons program] is very sophisticated," said Abbas Balasem, director general of the HAZMAT (hazardous materials) section of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
"Biological weapons or chemical weapons -- you can do something in this area. But in the nuclear area, you need a reactor, for example. So it was difficult for Iraq to restart it again," Balasem said in an interview.
Before the war, Balasem worked for the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission. According to the Foundation of American Scientists' Web site, the commission "had established a large, secure and highly successful procurement network in support of its uranium enrichment and planned weaponization efforts."
Asked if he believed the UN International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) assertion it had successfully dismantled Iraq's ambitious atomic weapons program in the seven years after detecting it in 1991, Balasem said: "I think this is true."
Balasem said Iraqi nuclear scientists now intended to use their knowledge and skill solely for peaceful purposes.
"The plan of the new ministry is to use all the activities for peaceful use, and just to leave all of this previous program behind," he said, referring to Saddam's nuclear weapons program. "They want to use all the facilities for rebuilding Iraq, for the reconstruction ..."
Balasem also dismissed fears that highly radioactive sources had been looted from Iraq's nuclear facilities during the war.
In April, radioactive materials were stolen from nuclear sites, including the country's biggest facility -- the Tuwaitha nuclear research complex outside Baghdad -- raising fears that the looted materials could pose health and security risks.
The IAEA was afraid that highly radioactive nuclear sources were among the missing materials and that they could be used in a dirty bomb -- - a conventional bomb laced with radioactive material.
But Balasem said it was impossible for these to be stolen.
"These can't be looted," he said. "They are shielded with a very secure shield. They are very heavy. They [the looters] were not organized criminals ... They were simple people looking for computers or anything they could get."
"The sophisticated materials are secure and closed," he said, adding that the looters did not get into the area where dangerous materials were stored.
Also See Story:
Blair read the 45-minute claim wrong, MI6 says
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2