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Iraq I: Defector Documents WMD Facilities; Sanctions Negotiated An Iraqi defector who calls himself Abu Mohammad said he had documents and other information about the exact location of secret chemical and biological weapons plants in Iraq, according to a report today by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Mohammad, who said he was a chemical engineer who worked for almost a decade in Iraqi military plants, applied for residency in Australia. Mohammad’s profile, as described by ABC and Agence France-Presse, is very similar to the description of a defector called Adnan Ihsan Saeed al-Haideri in yesterday’s New York Times, but the exact relationship between the two is unclear (see GSN, Dec. 20). Mohammad told ABC he can pinpoint hidden weapons sites. “New factories are built in place of old factories that [were] bombed” and in another places, he said (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Dec. 21). Mohammad produced diagrams of 150 secret military projects that showed the locations of sites Iraq used to produce weapons and missiles, according to Agence France-Presse. Richard Butler, former head of the U.N. weapons inspections team in Iraq, said he had seen the documents and thought the Mohammad’s account was credible. The information supports claims that Iraq is continuing to produce weapons of mass destruction, Butler said. “Reports like that of this guy and other defectors suggests to us quite strongly that they’re back in business … In the three years without inspection I’ve seen reports that [Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has] recalled his nuclear weapons design team, and Lord knows what he’s been able to acquire on the black market,” Butler said. Mohammad said his work as a contractor to the Iraqi military included sealing secret facilities to prevent chemical and biological agents from leaking, Agence France-Presse reported. He was arrested early this year and tortured for six months before bribing guards and escaping Iraq, he said (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 21). Russia and U.S. Discuss Sanctions Meanwhile, Russian diplomats said yesterday they were working to preserve Russian interests during the final day of U.S.-Russia discussions to design a new sanction regime for Iraq, according to Agence France-Presse. “It is important that we reach an agreement under which Russian exports to Iraq do not suffer … The most important thing is that we and [the] United States agree to expand the list of goods that can be delivered to Iraq through a fast-track system that does not require U.N. approval,” said a Russian official. Russia and the United States were working on a 500-page list of goods to include in a fast-track program, the official said. The discussions followed an agreement last month in the U.N. Security Council to extend sanctions against Iraq for six months and then revise the sanctions (see GSN, Nov. 30). Russia originally opposed the plan but then reached an agreement with the United States. Russia has said it was concerned that barriers on exports to Iraq could hurt Russian economic interests (Agence France-Presse/Jordan Times, Dec. 21).
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