Humble....?
He's power crazy
"Proof" that Iraq
sought uranium was
fake
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear agency has shot
down allegations that Iraq tried to revive its nuclear arms programme and
says fake documents back U.S. claims Baghdad tried to buy uranium to
make bombs.
In what some believe was his last update report to the U.N. Security Council
on weapons inspections in Iraq, International Atomic Energy Agency
Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei undermined Washington's position
just as it scrambles for support for a U.N. resolution paving the way for war
in Iraq.
"Based on thorough analysis, the IAEA has concluded ... that these
documents, which formed the basis for the reports of recent uranium
transactions between Iraq and Niger, are in fact not authentic," ElBaradei
told the U.N. Security Council on Friday.
"We have therefore concluded that these specific allegations are
unfounded," he said.
Britain and the United States have alleged that Iraq had tried to revive an
ambitious atomic weapons program that was neutralised by the United
Nations before inspectors left in December 1998.
The claim Iraq had attempted to import the uranium was vital to the U.S.
accusation, since it would not have needed the uranium for anything other
than a nuclear weapons programme.
"After three months of intrusive inspections, we have to date found no
evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons
programme in Iraq," he said.
To date, the IAEA's inspectors have carried out 218 inspections at 141 sites,
he said.
THE TROUBLE WITH TUBES
ElBaradei said extensive investigations of high-strength aluminium tubes
Iraq attempted to purchase had confirmed that they were not suitable for a
uranium enrichment centrifuge programme, as the United States had
alleged.
In his speech to the council, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted
that the IAEA should "keep the issue open" and said Iraq was also "found
shopping for these tubes" in Europe.
But ElBaradei said a team of international centrifuge manufacturing experts
believed Baghdad had told the truth about wanting them for rockets.
"Extensive field investigation and document analysis have failed to uncover
any evidence that Iraq intended to use these 81mm tubes for any project
other than the reverse engineering of rockets," he said.
Knocking down another U.S. allegation, ElBaradei said IAEA experts had
concluded that none of Iraq's declared high- strength magnets could be
used directly to enrich uranium.
But, ElBaradei added: "Iraq possesses the expertise to manufacture
high-strength permanent magnets suitable for use in enrichment
centrifuges."
For this reason, he said the IAEA would keep an eye out for equipment and
materials that could be used to enrich uranium.
Baghdad has consistently denied it had attempted to revive its nuclear
weapons program.
Echoing similar comments from chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix, the top
nuclear inspector concluded his speech by saying Iraq had become more
cooperative in recent weeks.
"I do hope that Iraq will continue to expand the scope and accelerate the
pace of its cooperation," ElBaradei said.
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