'Gotcha': U.N. Team Finds Germans Engaged In Missile . . . . . Proliferation
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Decision Brief, No. 92-D1, 1/2/92 |
UN inspection teams charged with investigating Iraq's nuclear weapons
capabilities have disclosed that German companies knowingly assisted in
extending the range of Iraqi Scud missiles.
A report released by the inspectors referenced both photographic evidence
and actual nameplates removed from Scuds in tying German firms to the Iraqi
program. This information flatly contradicts denials made by the German
Embassy in 3/91 regarding German involvement in the Iraqi Scud program.
A UN Inspector's Report, shared with the German government in 7/91,
revealed that approximately 20% of pressure lines found in Scuds were made
in Germany. Three missiles in particular included German-made pressure
gauges and had electrical plugs manufactured by Hirschmann of Germany.
Additionally, portions of launch vehicles were of German origin. Goldhofer
supplied load bearing chassis, Siemans' electrical distributors were present,
as was an electrical switch control board manufactured by Polyma. Launchers
were also located containing parts manufactured by Mercedes Benz and the
Swedish firm SAAB.
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One On One: Rolf Ekeus
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Defense News, 1/6/92, p. 30 |
In an interview for Defense News, Rolf Ekeus, the executive chairman
of the UN Special Commission on Iraq,
revealed the extent of Iraq's nuclear weapons program and UN efforts to
destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Ekeus stated that destruction
of missiles is fairly easy and low-cost, though the extent of chemical
munitions, including a few Scud missile warheads with nerve gas, makes
disposal in this area fairly risky and expensive. He estimated that the
46,000 chemical weapons would be destroyed by the end of 1993 and may cost
between $150- 200 million.
Ekeus further stated that, for the future, the IAEA and the UN Special
Commission have harmonized two plans for the monitoring and verification
of Iraq's nuclear and non-nuclear programs to ensure that they do not acquire
weapons of mass destruction again and that those they do have are destroyed.
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Iraq Arms Aid Traced To US Firms
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Los Angeles Times, 2/4/92, p. A4 |
US House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee investigators
have identified 13 US firms that supplied equipment to an Iraqi
missile program, code-named Project 395. A German intelligence report identifies
project 395 as Iraq's effort to develop the Condor-2, a missile capable
of delivering a nuclear warhead to a range of more than 600 mi.
In a letter to President Bush, Committee Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez
(D-Tex) said, "Numerous US companies provided critical support to Iraqi
weapons programs, including missiles." From 1985-1990, the US government
approved sales of technology to Iraq worth $1.5 billion. The US assistance
also extended to financial banking-- according to a US Customs internal
memo, the Atlanta branch of the Italian bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro,
"is suspected to have provided loans to various firms for export to Iraq
of missile related technology for use in the Condor-2 project." These loans
were worth $4 billion.
Export licenses for the Condor project identified the user as the Iraqi
Technical Corps for Special Projects, which was also responsible for extending
the range of Scud missiles.
According to Gonzalez, Secretary of State Baker has hampered the Committee's
inquiry by refusing to ask the UN and the IAEA for documents naming US
suppliers to Iraqi military projects.
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Hussein Said To Rehire Son-In-Law To Battle U.N.
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Los Angeles Times, 3/3/92, p. A8 |
Saddam Hussein reportedly reinstated his son-in-law, Gen Hussein Kamel
Hassan, as chief of Iraq's arms and oil industries on 3/2/92. Kamel Hassan
was the main architect of Iraq's clandestine nuclear, chemical warfare
and long-range missile programs. In 2/92. Iraq
refused to adhere to a UN order to destroy ballistic-missile production
facilities.
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Iraq Agrees To Destroy Missile, Nuclear Equipment
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Arms Control Today, 4/92, p. 18 |
Avoiding another confrontation with the United Nations, Iraq
began destroying "key ballistic missile production, modification, and repair
equipment" in late-3/92. Iraqi officials had refused to destroy the equipment
in late-2/92 during a UN inspection. However, in mid-3/92, the UN Security
Council condemned Iraq's failure to comply with the UN cease-fire resolutions,
demanded the disputed equipment be destroyed and that Iraq formally accept
a long-term monitoring agreement, and dispatched a missile inspection team
to Iraq to monitor destruction of the equipment in question. Inspection
team leader Derrick Boothby confirmed on 3/25/92 that Iraq had begun to
destroy the equipment in question, "including missile fuel and precursors,
missile body production and transport equipment, precision lathes, and
even a "unit for filling [Scud] and al-Hussein warheads.""
Inspectors also sought to verify recent Iraqi
claims to have possessed 89 operational ballistic missiles, three training
missiles and 135 warheads (including 45 for chemical weapons) in addition
to those previously declared and which it claims to have destroyed without
UN supervision. The team visited seven "missile graveyards" verifying the
remnants of 86 of the declared missiles but has yet to locate the other
declared items. Boothby also reported that the Iraqis appear to have adopted
a more cooperative attitude toward the UN teams.
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Arabs Accuse Jordan Of Hiding Iraqi Scuds
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Washington Times, 4/2/92, pp. A1, A9 |
Arab diplomats stationed in Amman, Jordan claim Iraqi
Scud missiles were secretly moved to Jordan to escape destruction under
UN sanctions. The sources claim the Scud missiles are hidden and maintained
by Iraqi soldiers near two air bases, known as H-4 and H-5, in an area
called al-Ruweished. They also stated that Iraq had moved the missiles
disassembled in trucks disguised as refrigerated tractor-trailers. In addition,
they claimed that Iraqi Scud technicians have recently been spotted in
Amman. US intelligence agencies have been following up on the claims but
have yet to find anything.
CIA Director Robert Gates said in 3/92 that Iraq
has "hundreds" of Scuds that have yet to be destroyed. Many such missiles
were found during a UN inspection in late-3/92, but it is still uncertain
whether all have been accounted for. Several hundred mobile launch vehicles
are also believed to have survived the Gulf war.
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No Evidence Iraq Can Make Own Missile Guidance
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Executive News Service, 8/28/92 |
On 8/25/92, the United Nations Special Commission on the elimination
of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction gave a summary o. the findings by
the UN inspection team which visited Iraq
from 8/7/92-8/18/92. The summary said that "No evidence was found that
Iraq had the capability indigenously to produce complete guidance systems
for ballistic missiles.. Nor did the inspection team find any weapons or
components forbidden under Security Council resolutions which call for
the destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The inspections
at eight sites in Iraq also led the UN inspectors to obtain new information
about the range of Iraq's programs to acquire or produce prohibited ballistic
missiles and components, including previously undisclosed projects for
computer support and missile fuel production. Information about Iraqi organizations
and their relationships to various missile projects, as well as data concerning
foreign involvement in certain programs, were also made available to the
inspectors.
The 22-member team visited the facility at which all of Iraq's future
research and development in ballistic missiles will be undertaken--those
with a range of less than 150 km that do not come under the UN ban. "The
inspection of this site provided much information that will be of use in
designing the ongoing monitoring and verification regime that will need
to be applied to ensure that it will not be used for prohibited purposes,"
the UN commission said. "Much of the information obtained will be useful
in assessing the full extent of Iraq's ballistic missiles program."
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Destroying Iraq's Ballistic Missiles
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Jane's Intelligence Review, 10/92, pp. 459-462 |
This article describes the efforts and activities for the past 18 months
of the ballistic missile inspectors who are a part of th. United Nations
Special Committee (UNSCOM) in Iraq.
On 4/3/91, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 687, which mandated
UNSCOM to identify and destroy, under international supervision, Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction and their means of production. This included
the elimination of all ballistic missiles with ranges greater than 150
km and any related support, production, research and development facilities.
In 7/91, UNSCOM began its first ballistic missile inspection at the
Al Taji military camp where the Iraqis
presented the team with 62 Scud/Al Hussein missiles, six Soviet made MAZ
543 Scud transporter erector launchers (TELs) and two Al Nidal and Two
Al Waleed TELs. Ten days later, the team conducted an undeclared inspection
at the same site and discovered that the Iraqis were hiding 11 decoy Scud
missiles and a number of missile storage racks from UNSCOM. All of the
prohibited items were then destroyed by the Iraqis under the direction
of UN inspectors.
In 8/91, the inspectors travelled to the Balad-al-Suhada factory complex
at Taj al-Ma'arik, the Dhu Al-Fiqar motor casing and nozzle factory, and
the Yawm al-Izim rocket motor test and assembly plant.
In 10/91, one of the sites the inspectors visited was near H2 airfield
and the rest were out in the desert. Each site contained six to eight fixed
Scud launchers. The team found that about half of the 25 launchers they
discovered had been completely destroyed by coalition bombing and the remainder
were damaged to varying degrees. UNSCOM then supervised the total destruction
of all the launchers.
Two months later, the UNSCOM inspectors visited 17 sites including the
ballistic missile research facility Sa'ad 16. During this time, the team
discovered that Iraq had started to
rebuild some sites, and missile production equipment was found at two other
locations where the team made undeclared visits. A number of Scud TELs
were also found to have been converted to launch short range missiles.
Due to UNSCOM's apprehensions about Iraq's affirmations on the number of
Scuds they possessed before 8/90, the next inspection team went out to
13 sites in western Iraq and one site near Baghdad to search for any remains
of Iraqi mobile Scud units attacked by the coalition during the Gulf war.
In 2/92, the inspectors were tasked with verifying the destruction of
items and missile production facilities earmarked by previous inspections,
but Saddam Hussein did not allow any of the equipment to be destroyed.
However, during this inspection, the team was able to visit some more missile
production facilities where they noticed that the Iraqis
continued to extensively repair the equipment. The director of one of theses
facilities said that within six months his plant would be able to resume
the production of rocket motors for short-range Abadil 100 and Sakr 200
missiles.
After the US threatened to use military action in order to force Iraq
to destroy nuclear related facilities, Iraq declared more ballistic missile
related equipment to UNSCOM. The Iraqis said that in 7/89 they destroyed
operational Scud missiles, three Scud training missiles, five MAZ 543 TELs,
four Al Nidal TELs, three training vehicles, 45 Scud chemical warheads
and numerous support vehicles and then buried the remains in pits at Dawrah.
UNSCOM inspectors excavated the site to verify the contents and they found
that at least 86 missile had been destroyed.
In 4/92 and 5/92, the inspectors oversaw the destruction of 45 ballistic
missile production items and 10 buildings, including most of the equipment
that was to be destroyed in 2/92. A number of surprise inspections to undeclared
facilities led to the discovery of large quantities of imported material
used in the production of ballistic missiles. In 5/92, the inspectors verified
the destruction of one TEL, five decoy missiles, 25 missile support vehicles,
production equipment for the first stage of the Badr 2000 missile, and
three buildings used for ballistic missile production. Other items for
the Badr 2000 that were destroyed included a second mock-up of the Badr
2000, missile transport dollies, two horizontal test vehicles, two independent
test vehicles, two training test vehicles, a maintenance vehicle, an erector
arm for the training vehicle and a number of fuel vehicles. Five prototype
Iraqi manufactured, guidance units
for Scud type missiles and 33 pages of documents relating to construction
work at Sa'ad 16 were removed from Iraq for further analysis.
After a month long standoff in front of the Iraqi
Ministry of Agriculture in Baghdad, which ended once again with Saddam
Hussein yielding to the threat of US military action, UNSCOM was able to
enter the ministry and other buildings in 8/92 and make significant finds
relating to Iraq's missile programs.
Although UNSCOM has not disclosed a full account of their findings,
the information that has been made public confirms that Iraq
was trying to develop guidance systems, had produced chemical warheads
for their Scuds, were at an advanced stage of developing the Badr 2000
long-range missile and were developing a three-stage missile called the
Abid which was intended to carry satellites or re-entry vehicles.
Along with the bombings by the coalition, UNSCOM has destroyed a significant
amount of Iraqi ballistic missile production,
repair, research and development infrastructure. However, Iraq's actions
and attempts over the past 18 months to conceal missiles, TELs, productions
facilities and data from UNSCOM are clear signs that Saddam Hussein still
wants to maintain Iraq's ballistic missile capability. The fact that no
TELs or operational Scuds have been found during undeclared inspections
leads the inspectors to believe that Iraq has been successful at hiding
some Scuds and possibly with chemical warheads. UNSCOM sources say that
the press reports about Iraq still secretly storing hundreds of Scud missiles
are "way off the mark.. It appears that only a few dozen Scuds and a handful
of TELs seem to remain.
Since UNSCOM began its inspections, it has demonstrated an expertise
in monitoring Iraq's on-going compliance with the UN resolutions of the
Gulf war. The unprecedented results its inspectors have achieved make the
UNSCOM operations a paragon for arms control regimes to follow in the future.
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UN Inspectors Monitor Chemical Weapons Capability
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Proliferation Issues, 10/7/92, p. 22
Le Monde (Paris), 9/24/92, p. 6 |
LE MONDE outlines Iraq's chemical munitions capabilities and briefly
discusses the Iraqi Scud missiles which
can carry chemical agents. The report states that due to their design,
the Iraqi manufactured chemical warheads located on the Scud missiles do
not seem capable of withstanding "the rise in temperature linked to the
missile's reentry into the atmosphere."
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Disarming Iraq: Preparing For The Long-Term Monitoring Of . . .
. Iraq's Nuclear
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Washington Council On Non-Proliferation, 10/26/92, p.
6 |
During a discussion on "Disarming Iraq"
on 10/26/92, Michael Newlin, the Deputy Executive Chairman for the UN Special
Commission on Iraq, said that UNSCOM has destroyed or verified the destruction
of several hundred Iraqi Scud missiles. Nevertheless, he added that the
Commission is still investigating the rumors that Iraq is concealing as
many as 200 of their Soviet supplied Scud missiles. Newlin stated that
the Russians have provided UNSCOM with a thorough list of the Scuds shipped
to Iraq by the former Soviet Union, including serial numbers, spare parts,
erector launchers and fuel.
The Deputy Chairman informed the discussion group that UNSCOM is now
entering into the long-term monitoring and compliance phase of the UN Resolution
687. However, he added that "UNSCOM will continue to conduct intrusive
inspections whenever the circumstances warrant them.. Newlin went on to
say that in order to develop an effective data base on Iraq's ballistic
missile capabilities, UNSCOM must search practically every large scale
production type plant, including those that manufacture dual-use items.
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Iraqi Long-Range Missile Plan Used UK Technology
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Independent, 10/28/92 |
The newspaper Independent obtained documents that revealed Iraq
was trying to manufacture a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying
a nuclear warhead 1,500 mi. The Space Research Corporation (SRC), a Brussels,
Belgium based armaments design company played a large part in devising
what was called "Project Bird.. SRC compiled a long list of high technology
components which western companies, including more than 20 in Britain,
would supply to Iraq without even knowing that the goods were for a missile
system. There was no evidence the orders were made or delivered. On 2/17/90,
western intelligence intercepted correspondence from SRC to Iraq that turned
out to be documents outlining the project's technical goals.
The proposed Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) would have
had four times the range of a single Scud missile because its launcher
system was to be composed of innovative clusters of five to eight Scud
missiles. The head of SRC and the man in charge of Project Bird was Gerald
Bull, the designer of "Project Babylon"--the high altitude Iraqi
supergun. In 4/90, one month after Bull was murdered, British Customs officials
seized components destined for the Iraqi supergun. The director of Project
Babylon between 1988-1989, Chris Cowley, said that when he worked for SRC,
he uncovered details of the clustered Scud missile system. Though Iraq
could produce three types of Scud missiles, Cowley said, "the Bird would
have given Iraq a three-stage rocket system capable either of putting data-gathering
satellites in orbit, or delivering a 150 kg warhead." Cowley also said
that even though there were thermo-chemical problems to overcome, the project
would have reached an advanced level within a year. Bull's attempt to acquire
a factory in Northern Ireland that produced low weight\high strength carbon
fibres that would have reduced the missile's weight, was thwarted in late
1989 by the British government.
The documents obtained by the Independent say that the missile would
have had three stages, each lighter than the last, with a Scud as the third
stage carrying the warhead. The documents go on to say that such an "orbital
launcher" can be produced from the existing missiles and that the first
launches, which would be "restricted to relatively simple payloads," would
be commencing one year after work began. However, there were still "considerable
mechanical design problems" that had to be resolved, including stage intercoupling
and separation techniques.
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Saddam Said To Play Hide-And Seek With Scud Missiles
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Washington Times, 11/6/92, p. A7 |
In a game of hide-and-seek, Saddam Hussein is suspected of moving his
prohibited Scud missiles around on camouflaged trucks so that the UN weapons
experts cannot find them during their inspections in Iraq.
US intelligence officials believe that Saddam Hussein is hiding close to
200 of the 819 Scud-B missiles acquired from the Soviet Union during the
1980-88 war with Iran or the Iraqi developed longer range al-Hussein and
al-Abbas versions. UN officials think that Iraq is concealing around half
this number from the UN inspectors. Tim Trevan, the spokes- person for
the UN Special Commission charged with dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction, said 151 ballistic missiles have been destroyed by the inspectors
or the Iraqis or are awaiting destruction. In 3/91, Iraq conceded that
it had 52 Scuds, but later admitted that it possessed another 92 ballistic
missiles, for a total of 144. UN officials believe that Iraq fired 487
of the Soviet Scuds during the Iran-Iraq war and launched 92 missiles in
the Persian Gulf war. The Pentagon admits that the allied bombings of the
Gulf war did not destroy any missiles.
An unidentified engineer, who claimed to have worked on Iraq's weapons
program prior to the Gulf war, said that the Iraqis
have buried a large number of rocket boosters under the Habaniyah air base
west of Baghdad as well as in the basements of mosques, hospitals and other
buildings where the Iraqis believe the UN inspectors will not visit. The
engineer also claimed that immediately after the war, a number of missiles
were disassembled and hidden with 6 ft rocket boosters, guidance systems
and other important missile components. He argued that actual missile production
equipment and copies of files on Iraq's weapons programs are stashed away
in private homes. Intelligence sources say they have received similar information.
Trevan could not comment on the engineers claims and said that "Iraq
most recently has given us a very full account of all 819 missiles supplied
to it by the Soviet Union."
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UN Team Gains Information On Ballistic Missiles
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Proliferation Issues, 11/12/92, p. 17
AFP (Paris), 10/30/92 |
On 10/30/92, the team leader of a UN missile inspection team in Iraq,
Nikita Smidovich, said that the team had filled in "many gaps" about Iraqi
weapons capability following team visits to over 50 sites and hours of
conversation with Iraqi officials; the team was following up reports that
Iraq still had as many as 200 Scuds. UN sources said that the team was
to find out whether Iraq still had the capability to launch missiles with
ranges in excess of 150 km, which are to be eliminated according to the
1991 Gulf War ceasefire resolutions. Smidovich refused to say whether any
hidden missiles were discovered, instead commenting that this mission was
"a bit different," and that the Iraqis' attitude had become "positive"
and that they were "open and candid.. Smidovich couldn't say whether another
UN missile team would be necessary, but he did say that a lot of information
had been collected and that the conclusion of some of the issues regarding
Iraq's ballistic missiles may depend on its analysis. Smidovich "reckoned"
that the UN would now move to verifying Iraq's long term compliance with
the ceasefire resolutions.
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