U.S.: Iraq develops bioweapons

The Washington Post And Associated Press

GENEVA — The United States has singled out Iraq and five other countries for pursuing germ warfare programs, in what many believe is a further step forward in building a case for international action against Saddam Hussein.

John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, also said the United States worries that one of the countries might be helping Osama bin Laden in his quest for biological weapons.

Bolton spoke at the start of a three-week conference to review 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which has been ratified by 144 countries.

Bolton did not say whether any of the five other countries he cited as being at various stages of germ-warfare development — North Korea, Libya, Syria, Iran and Sudan — are suspected of trying to supply bin Laden.

Late Monday, South Korea charged that the communist North has an arsenal of up to 5,000 tons of biochemical weapons, but added there is no clear evidence linking it with bin Laden.

Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin said that the North is also believed to have stockpiled anthrax, smallpox and eight other types of biological weapons.

Earlier in the day, Iraq immediately rejected the allegation it was violating the global ban on germ warfare and said the United States was making the claim as a pretext for an attack on Baghdad.

The existence of Iraq’s program is "beyond dispute," Bolton said, while stopping short of making a direct linkage to bin Laden.

"Beyond al-Qaida, the most serious concern is Iraq," Bolton said. "Iraq’s biological weapons program remains a serious threat to international security."

On Sunday, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush’s national security adviser, left open the possibility that Iraq could become a target in Bush’s war on terrorism.

"We do not need the events of September 11 to tell us that (Saddam Hussein) is a very dangerous man who is a threat to his own people, a threat to the region and a threat to us because he is determined to acquire weapons of mass destruction," she said.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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