Al-Qaida Link to Iraq Lab Suspected
Tue Aug 20,10:56 AM ET
By SANDRA SOBIERAJ, Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - Arab terrorists with al-Qaida ties may have tested biological weapons at a small facility in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, a U.S. official said.
American intelligence agencies had reason to suspect that the facility, in a part of northern Iraq not controlled by President Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites)'s government, was a kind of laboratory for chemical and biological weapons activity that included testing on barnyard animals and at least one man, the official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials believe the terrorists tested a biological toxin known as ricin, a deadly poison made from the castor bean plant.
The Defense Department has reviewed possibly taking military action against the site in northern Iraq because any time there is intelligence about production of weapons of mass destruction all options are considered, including military, a U.S. counterterror official said in Washington.
The Bush administration considered a covert military operation against the facility, but President Bush ( news - web sites) did not approve military action, ABC News' "World News Tonight" reported Monday.
Citing unidentified intelligence officials, ABC said that as U.S. surveillance of the weapons facility intensified, Bush administration officials concluded it was too small and crude to be worth risking American lives and the outcry among allies that might follow any U.S. action inside Iraq.
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