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To: stockman_scott who wrote (16409)	4/4/2003 2:33:29 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 89467

Evidence hints at weapons lab Materials seized at a militants' camp may confirm U.S. suspicions. By Sacramento Bee -- Last Updated 5:36 a.m. PST Wednesday, April 2, 2003 HALABJA, IRAQ -- Documents and equipment found at a bombed-out Islamic militants' camp near the Iranian border indicate that chemical or biological weapons probably were there, a U.S. special operations forces commander said Tuesday. Those materials were discovered after an attack on a compound in Sargat that U.S. officials had said was a training camp for terrorists with links to the al-Qaida network. A battalion commander for the traditionally secretive special forces, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said the air and ground offensive coordinated with Kurdish troops in recent days against Ansar al-Islam in northeastern Iraq was a "model" operation in the war on terrorism that revealed signs the group was trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. "We have found documents and evidence that would indicate the presence of chemical and/or biological weapons," the commander said, without specifying what they found. He said the materials would be analyzed and that the results would be made public. The materials have been flown back to the United States for further analysis, special forces commanders said. On Saturday in the Ansar stronghold of Biyara, the Boston Globe found evidence of a crude chemical lab and documents outlining the parameters of what appeared to be an attempt to isolate botulism and perhaps develop the toxin ricin in a municipal building held by Ansar. There also were explosive belts used by suicide bombers and stacks of TNT. On Tuesday in the village of Sargat, three small buildings that were not damaged by the U.S. airstrikes contained about 300 small bottles of acetone and several plastic, 25-liter containers of potassium cyanide as well as C-4 explosives. A foul odor around the buildings discouraged most reporters from entering, but a German television crew videotaped the labels of the chemicals. This is the first time since the war started that U.S. officials have said they found indications of banned weapons in Iraq. However, the area, in the north, is not under the control of Saddam Hussein's forces. "It confirms many reports over the last eight months that this site was being used as a chem-bio site," a U.S. commander said at a news briefing. "I can't offer an elaboration on any particular evidence. We're not chemical experts. It's an ongoing operation; tests haven't been run yet." In early February, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the U.N. Security Council that a U.S.-led attack on Iraq was justified, in part, because intelligence information indicated that chemical and biological weapons, including ricin, were being manufactured in that mountain hideout. Powell also said the camp was connected to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and that Ansar's leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi, was permitted to operate freely in Baghdad. The camp, built of reinforced concrete, included an ammunition bunker, a small medical clinic, a radio station, a library and living quarters for families of Ansar soldiers. After being struck by U.S. bombs, it is now mostly rubble strewn over an area the size of a football field. Special forces commanders and Kurdish Peshmerga officers told reporters they suspected that 75 to 100 of the 250 Ansar fighters who were killed in the fighting Friday and Saturday were originally from al-Qaida. Identification papers found on their bodies showed that they were Arabs from countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and the Persian Gulf states, they said. The U.S. soldiers allowed their photographs to be taken at a news briefing but would not give their names. In last week's battle, U.S. fighter jets, B-52 bombers and AC-130 "Spectre" gunships attacked 750 to 1,000 Ansar soldiers over a more than 250-square mile area in the Halabja valley before Friday's ground assault. "Ansar and al-Qaida were not a pushover," the U.S. commander said. The attack involved 8,000 to 10,000 Peshmerga fighters. The commander described the offensive as a "division-scale attack against a brigade force." U.S. forces did not suffer casualties. At least 22 Peshmerga were killed. "The real folks who carried the day were the Peshmerga," he said. "They were something to see. It was an outstanding example of special forces working with an indigenous force against an enemy on well-entrenched, difficult terrain." About 300 Ansar soldiers escaped over the mountains into Iran, said Mustafa Said Qadir, the commanding general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan forces, on Sunday. Iranian security officials arrested another 150 soldiers who crossed the border. Paul McEnroe is a reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The Boston Globe contributed to this report. sacbee.com