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AP Exclusive: Top Iraqi Scientist Flees
The Iraqi scientist who headed Saddam Husseinâs long-range missile program has fled to neighboring Iran, a country identified as a state sponsor of terrorism with a successful missile program and nuclear ambitions, U.S. officers involved in the weapons hunt told The Associated Press. Dr. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimiâs departure comes as top weapons makers from Saddamâs deposed regime find themselves eight months out of work but with skills that could be lucrative to militaries or terrorist organizations in neighboring countries. U.S. officials have said some are already in Syria and Jordan.Surprise meter reads "0.000". Experts long feared the collapse of Saddamâs rule could lead to the kind of scientific brain-drain the United States tried to prevent as the former Soviet Union collapsed. But the Bush administration had no plan for Iraqi scientists and instead officials suggested they could be tried for war crimes. For various reasons that the AP reporter never quite gets around to explaining. ``There are a couple hundred Iraqis who are really good scientists, particularly in the missile area,ââ said Jonathan Tucker, a former U.N. inspector now with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute in California. ``In the chemical and biological areas, their work wasnât state of the art but it was good enough to be of interest to other countries.ââ When youâre fourth-rate, third-rate looks pretty good. Two members of the Pentagonâs Defense Intelligence Agency involved in questioning scientists in custody told AP the Iraqis continue to deny the existence of illicit weapons programs in Iraq. Dozens of Iraqi scientists have been questioned and less than 30 remain in custody. All of them, including senior members of Saddamâs regime, have been subjected to lie-detector tests, which have come up clean on weapons questioning, the DIA officers said. U.N. inspectors spoke with Dr. Modher in Baghdad a week before the U.S.-led war began on March 20. Two U.S. weapons investigators say they believe he crossed the Iraq-Iran border on foot at least two months after U.S. forces took Baghdad. His activities in Iran are unclear and may explain why his disappearance hasnât been publicly disclosed. The CIA declined to discuss its efforts with Iraqi scientists or identify individuals. "We will say no more!" Thought to be in his mid-50âs, the Czech-educated scientist specialized in missile engines. He met numerous times with U.N. inspectors during the 1990s and earlier this year when he argued that the Al-Samoud missile system under his command wasnât in violation of a U.N. range limit. The inspectors determined otherwise when tests showed it could fly more than 93 miles. They quickly began destroying the Iraqi stock, much to his frustration. "Themâs my babies!" ``Dr. Modher was declared by Iraq to have been one of the principal figures in their missile programs,ââ said Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for the U.N. inspectors. In the late 1980s, Modher headed up the Iraqi militaryâs Project 1728, part of an effort to produce engines for longer-range missiles. He was the protege and favored colleague of Iraqi Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel, Saddamâs right-hand man and son-in-law who briefly defected to Jordan in 1995. There, Kamel told U.N. inspectors during interrogations about his work and Dr. Modherâs efforts to build a missile powerful enough to strike most major European cities. Europe? Those are your friends, Modher! According to the interrogation transcripts, Kamel said Modher and a nuclear physicist named Mahdi Obeidi both took work and documents from their offices. U.N. inspectors investigated the claim but found nothing. In July of this year, Obeidi gave the CIA a stack of papers and a piece of equipment that had been buried in his backyard for 12 years. In return, he has become the only Iraqi scientist allowed to move to the United States since the beginning of the U.S. occupation. Must have been a good stack of papers. Other than Obeidi, who is living along the East Coast with his family, another scientist known to have left the country is Jaffar al-Jaffer who founded Iraqâs nuclear program in the 1980s. Heâs in the United Arab Emirates, where U.S. troops are stationed, and has been questioned by U.S. and British intelligence officials. But Jaffar, like a handful of senior scientists being held by U.S. forces in Iraq, hasnât provided any information on the whereabouts of suspected chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. While President Bush said he launched the war to disarm Iraq of its deadly arsenal, such weapons remain elusive.
Busy little beaver, isnât he? Posted by: Steve White 2003-11-17 |
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