-Caveat Lector- http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6178663% 255E25777,00.html 'CHEMICAL FACTORY' FOUND By staff writers and wires March 24, 2003
FORCES in Iraq continue to search for chemical and biological weapons this afternoon after seizing a suspected chemical factory in southern Iraq. Iraqis drive past the US 3rd Infantry as it moves through the farmlands of Ah Najaf / AP Coalition military leaders are keenly interested in the site in Najaf, south of Baghdad, and are interviewing two captured Iraqi generals for information about Saddam Hussein's suspected biological and chemical weapons. US Central Command, which oversees the war in Iraq, said troops were examining several "sites of interest". But officials cautioned it would be premature to conclude any forbidden weapons had been located. American special operations forces found documents in western Iraq that also could lead to chemical or biological weapons facilities, said General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Myers said US commandos found the papers along with a cache of millions of rounds of ammunition after a firefight on Saturday (local time), and the discovery "might save thousands of lives if we can find out exactly where and what they have". "I just know that they have some papers that they want to exploit as quickly as possible, and we're going to do that, of course," Myers said. President Bush and other US officials say ridding Saddam Hussein's regime of chemical and biological weapons is the main objective of the war. Finding such weapons would be a huge boost for Bush, since much of the international criticism of the US-led war has focused on the fact that United Nations inspectors had not found any banned weapons in Iraq. Saddam's Government denies it has any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or programs to produce them. Asked at a news conference in Qatar about reports of the chemical plant, Lt General John Abizaid of US Central Command declined comment. He said top Iraqi officers had been questioned about chemical weapons. "We have an Iraqi general officer, two Iraqi general officers that we have taken prisoner, and they are providing us with information," Abizaid said. If the plant is confirmed as a chemical weapons factory, it would be the first find by the US-led invasion force validating US allegations that Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction. Iraqi officials have insisted that they destroyed all of the chemical and biological weapons they made after the 1991 Persian Gulf War - a claim UN weapons inspectors have questioned. UN weapons inspectors were not aware of any large-scale chemical sites which could be used to make chemical weapons in Najaf, said Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for the inspectors. However, there were many such dual-use sites in other parts of the country because of Iraq's petrochemical industry. UN inspectors visited a cement plant in the Najaf area earlier this year to check on its explosives cache but did not report finding anything improper. A team of biological weapons inspectors also visited a university and school in Kufa, several kilometres north of Najaf. The US military's discovery was first reported in the Jerusalem Post, which has a reporter traveling with the unit from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division which reached the chemical plant. The newspaper reported that about 30 Iraqi troops, including a general, surrendered at the plant. In other developments: IMAGES of captured US soldiers have been shown on Arab TV, as the US confirmed that some of the 12 troops reported missing in southern Iraq had been captured. (Audio: Footage shocks Americans) TWO British soldiers are reported missing after an attack on their vehicles in southern Iraq, the British defence ministry said. "Efforts are being made to find and recover the two soldiers. Further information will be given when available," a spokesman said. AUSTRALIAN Special Air Service troops called in an airstrike to destroy an Iraqi platoon overnight, Defence Minister Robert Hill has revealed. "They came across what was interpreted as a platoon of Iraqi military with a number of vehicles," Senator Hill told ABC radio. (More details) BRITISH troops have reportedly secured positions on the outskirts of Basra despite determined Iraqi resistance. Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade, the famed Desert Rats, were reportedly hit with grenades, artillery, mortars and machine guns as they advanced. US Marines have now withdrawn, moving northwards towards Baghdad. US Forces fought a seven-hour battle against militiamen desperately trying to halt their advance near the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, just 160 km south of Baghdad. Reuters correspondent Luke Baker reported seeing the desert "littered" with bodies after the battle. "It wasn't even a fair fight. I don't know why they don't just surrender," said Colonel Mark Hildenbrand, commander of the 937th Engineer Group. TWO Tomahawk cruise missiles were misfired and landed in an unpopulated area of Turkey, a US defence official said. There were no reported casualties. MOPPING up continued in the port town of Umm Qasr where world television audiences yesterday saw US forces pound a position where dozens of die-hard Iraqis were dug in. IRAQI police are searching for pilots in Baghdad after coalition airmen were rumoured to have bailed out over the capital. US denies planes down in the area. TWO British fliers downed by "friendly fire" are dead, the British military has said. The confirmation follows news this morning that their Tornado GR4 had been shot down by a Patriot missile battery. (More details) BAGHDAD came under intensive bombardment again overnight, with a building in the Republican palace of Saddam Hussein among those hit. (More details) TURKEY and the US reached agreement on the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Iraqi Kurds, who have not been under the control of Baghdad since the end of the 1991 Gulf war, have vowed to fight Turkish troops if they invade the territory they hold. BRITISH TV news reporter Terry Lloyd is believed to have been killed in southern Iraq, apparently from "friendly fire", his employer ITN television said. PRIME Minister John Howard denied Australia was at greater risk due to the war in Iraq. He said the Government based its terrorist warnings on advice from ASIO and intelligence indicated the threat had not increased beyond an alert issued last November. (More details) Despite the allies' worst day so far, Abizaid assured journalists that US and British troops would soon be on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where the goal is to oust President Saddam Hussein. "I think we are on track," he said. 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