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Iraqi Missile Scientist Says Heâs Been Working With British
EFL:An Iraqi scientist who headed Saddam Husseinâs missile program has been meeting with the British military in Iraq and he said he didnât flee to Iran as believed by U.S. weapons hunters. Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi said in an interview with The Associated Press that he tried several times to reach the American teams searching for weapons of mass destruction. Once, in July, he asked a friend who had already met with American missile experts to set up a meeting for him but the Americans never showed up. Later, he said, his British handlers assured him that they had discussed his case with the CIA, and he didnât need to worry about reaching them. "Nothing to worry about, old chap." But it appears the messages didnât get to weapons hunters, who told The Associated Press last month that they believed Modher had gone to Iran and said they never interviewed him. On Nov. 16, AP reported the U.S. weapons inspectorsâ comments that they were concerned Modher was providing expertise to the missile program in Iran. The military officers assigned to the search said they believed he crossed the Iraq-Iran border on foot after U.S. forces took Baghdad in the spring. The information was based on human intelligence. Colleagues of Modher said in recent interviews that they hadnât seen him since the war. They said they too believed he was in Iran. After the AP story ran in November, Modher said he asked his British handlers to spread the word he was still inside Iraq. "I gave all my information to the British liaison office," he told AP last week. "We had more than 25 meetings." Oops! Somebody dropped the ball, looks like it was the British this time. Either that, or our guys didnât read their mail. Within a week of the AP story, Modher was interviewed by a four-person team from the U.S. weapons search, he said. He identified the only member of the team that he knew as an American named John Larrabee who worked previously as a chief missile inspector for the United Nations during the 1990s. Larrabee did not return an e-mail message seeking comment. A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Larrabee is working for the weapons hunt but declined to say whether he interviewed Modher. Members of the weapons teams wouldnât comment on any meeting, saying such confirmations put the teams and Iraqis they meet in danger. In an October report to Congress, the head of the weapons search said two Iraqis were shot, and one was killed, for cooperating with the search. Britainâs Ministry of Defense declined comment as well. And messages left for one of Modherâs British handlers werenât returned. Yup, sounds like the screwup is on their end. According to Modher, he and Larrabee had a five-hour meeting at Baghdadâs convention center, the primary meeting point for Iraqis and members of the U.S.-led occupation authority. Modher said he remains in contact with the British officials who gave him a military identification pass in July which says he is "cooperating" with the coalition. He showed the pass, along with letters from other military officials working with Iraqâs new defense ministry, to AP. Modher is considered to be Iraqâs top missile expert. He was the father of the Iraqi Al-Samoud program and worked on Scud missiles like the ones that hit Israel and Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War. Good catch, keep him safe, OK? Posted by: Steve 2003-12-15 |
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