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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sojourner Smith who wrote (8315)	4/6/2003 1:07:02 AM
From: Doug R	Respond to of 21614

You better tell that to Colin Powell then. Europe skeptical of Iraq-ricin link Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Posted: 2:58 PM EST (1958 GMT) Traces of ricin were found at a flat in North London • Russia alleges Georgia-ricin link • Timeline: UK ricin terror probe • What is ricin? • Ricin and the umbrella murder • Ricin as a weapon • CNN Access: How great is the threat? • Moscow: Ricin recipe found on Chechen fighter WASHINGTON (CNN) -- European intelligence officials questioned U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's contention Wednesday that the lethal poison involved in a terrorist plot broken up in Britain came from Iraq. Powell cited the plot in testimony before the House International Relations Committee, arguing that part of the danger of not disarming Iraq lay in possible alliances with terrorists. "The ricin that is bouncing around Europe now originated in Iraq -- not in the part of Iraq that is under Saddam Hussein's control, but his security forces know all about it," Powell said. But investigators have said that arrests in Europe found suspected terrorists trained in biological and chemical weapons in the Pankisi Gorge region of Georgia and nearby Chechnya -- and the traces of the ricin found in a British raid were clearly "homemade." A French intelligence source said he was "stunned" by Powell's comment. "There is no, repeat, no suggestion that the ricin was anything but locally produced," he said. "It was bad quality, not technically sophisticated." Further, the source said, British authorities "are clear" that the poison was "home-made." "Don't forget, intelligence is like a supermarket, and at that level in government, you see everything, and can pick anything," the source said. State Department officials said that Powell was likely referring to the "knowledge and capability" to produce ricin originating in Iraq -- perhaps a reference to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, said by European judicial sources to be one of the men who trained the arrested suspects in chemical and biological weaponry. President Bush last October mentioned Zarqawi as a "very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks." It is the second time in as many days that Powell's interpretation of purported Iraq-al Qaeda connections has been questioned. On Tuesday, Powell said that an audiotape said to be al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was indisputable proof of such a connection. But translations of the tape show that bin Laden, while voicing support for the Iraqi people and urging them to resist any U.S.-led attack, called the Baath party of Saddam Hussein "infidels" and said he wouldn't be disappointed if Saddam Hussein and his supporters "disappear." Other Bush administration officials defended Powell's comments. Asked about the distinction bin Laden appears to make between the Iraqi government and the Iraqi population, CIA director George Tenet told a Senate committee that such distinctions blur "very, very easily." "It's a distinction that people have tried to make, particularly in the terrorism world, which I don't think very much of, to tell you the truth," Tenet said. cnn.com

To: Sojourner Smith who wrote (8315)	4/6/2003 1:10:19 AM
From: Doug R	Respond to of 21614

DO YOU READ YOUR OWN SOURCES???? Espousing an ultra-orthodox Islamic ideology reminiscent of Wahhabism, the group's leaders issued decrees imposing their strict interpretation of Islam on the local inhabitants and introducing harsh punishments for those who failed to comply with their decrees. Not a saddam thing AT ALL These people would NEVER accept, much less seek, support from saddam.

To: Sojourner Smith who wrote (8315)	4/6/2003 1:11:43 AM
From: Doug R	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Traces of deadly ricin found at Paris station March 21 2003 The discovery was made public by French authorities after the launch of the US-led war against Iraq but a source close to the investigation said it did not appear there was a link. Ricin is easier to make than anthrax and the notorious poison botulinum - castor bean plants can be easily grown, the equipment can be bought off the shelf and the skills to extract the poison are available to a chemistry graduate. smh.com.au