Spores, Additives Raise Iraq Questions
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W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 29 — Former U.N. weapons inspectors tell ABCNEWS they've learned the anthrax spores found in a poison letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle are nearly identical to those discovered in Iraq in 1994.
ABCNEWS also has learned that at least two labs have concluded the anthrax was coated with additives linked to the Iraqi biological weapons program.
Despite continued White House denials, five well-placed and separate sources have told ABCNEWS that initial tests have detected traces of bentonite and silica, substances that keep tiny anthrax particles floating in the air by preventing them from sticking together — making them more easily inhaled.
Inhalation anthrax is far more deadly than the skin form of the disease.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer this morning continued to reject that bentonite has been found on the letter.
"Based on the results of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, it is fair to conclude that that test shows that there is no bentonite," Fleischer said. "Additional tests will be done and we'll try to keep you updated."
As far as is known, only one country, Iraq, has used bentonite to produce biological weapons, but officials caution the presence of the chemical alone does not constitute firm evidence of Iraqi involvement. While it's possible countries other than Iraq may be using the additive, it is a trademark of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's biological weapons program.
"It means to me that Iraq becomes the prime suspect as the source of the anthrax used in these letters," former U.N. weapons inspector Timothy Trevan told ABCNEWS.
In the process of destroying much of Iraq's biological arsenal, U.N. teams first discovered Iraq was using bentonite, which is found in soil around the world, including the United States and Iraq.
"That discovery was proof positive of how they were using bentonite to make small particles," former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Spertzel told ABCNEWS.
But officials cautioned that even if Iraq or renegade Iraqi scientists prove to be the source, it's a separate issue from who actually sent the anthrax through the mail.
"What you have to keep in mind is the difference between knowledge about what type of information you have to have to produce it, and who could have sent it," Fleischer said. "They are totally separate topics that could involve totally separate people. It could be the same person or people. It could be totally different people. The information does not apply to who sent it."
Experts say the bentonite discovery doesn't rule out a very well-equipped lab using the Iraqi technique. In fact, commercial spray dryers that Iraq used to produce its biological weapons were bought on the open market from the Danish subsidiary of a U.S. company for about $100,000 a piece.
Starting Thursday, FBI agents began asking company officials in Columbia, Md., if anyone suspicious in this country had recently acquired one of them.
— Brian Ross, Christopher Isham, Chris Vlasto and Gary Matsumoto
Hijacker Cars Clean
The FBI has found no traces of anthrax in cars owned by two Sept. 11 hijackers, ABCNEWS has learned.
The tests were run on cars owned by Mohammed Atta and Waleed Al-Sheehi, two of the hijackers who piloted American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Agents conducted the tests last week after the cars were tracked down at a car dealership in Tamarac, Fla. Both cars had been thoroughly cleaned and detailed by the dealership.
Two cars rented from a Pompano Beach rental agency by Atta, believed to be a ringleader of the hijackers, still have not been tested. Also untested are apartments occupied by Atta and other hijackers who spent time in the area.
The FBI says it had not previously seen a need to test any of Atta's cars or apartments, despite his repeated interst prior to Sept. 11 in crop-dusting planes and chemical dispersal.
— Brian Ross
Atta Met Iraqi Spy
Raising new questions about whether Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, officials in the Czech Republic now confirm for the first time that a key hijacker met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague.
Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said Mohamed Atta, believed by U.S. investigators to be a ringleader of the hijackers, met an Iraqi diplomat shortly before the consul was expelled. Czech intelligence officials were troubled by Al-Ani's photographing of the Radio Free Europe building in the city.
"At this point we can confirm," Gross said Friday, "Mohamed Atta made contact with Iraqi intelligence officer Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir Al-Ani, who was expelled from the Czech Republic for conduct incompatible with his diplomatic status on April 22, 2001."
"The details of this contact are under investigation," Gross said.
The meeting took place on Atta's second known visit to Prague. A year earlier, on June 2, 2000, he had came to Prague from Germany by bus in the morning hours. The next day, Gross said, Atta left for the United States.
Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz had previously denied Al-Ani had any contact with Atta in Prague. In recent weeks, Gross also had said there was no evidence to support Prague media reports citing Czech intelligence officials who said Atta had met Al-Ani.
The meeting, along with Iraq's stockpiles of biological weapons, have led some to question whether Atta — and Hussein — were not somehow behind the anthrax attacks in the United States.
"There are reports that one of the things that may have happened at that meeting was that [Atta] was given by the Iraqi some sample of anthrax," former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler told ABCNEWS. "We do not know if that is true. I believe it is something that should be investigated."
For his part, Gross would not give further details on the Atta meeting.
"At this point, neither I nor anyone else from the police or Czech intelligence services will provide any further information concerning this contact and [Atta's] stay and movement on the territory of the Czech Republic until the investigation is finished," he said. |
