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Location: 60km SW of Baghdad

Short Descriptor: Iraq's key BW facility at the time of the Gulf War. Involved in research, production, weaponization, and (after the war) disposal of agent. Hakam produced both botulinum toxin and anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) spores on an industrial scale.

Al-Hakam Photo Gallery:

Al-Hakam production plant prior to destruction.

Al-Hakam production plant prior to destruction.

Al-Hakam production plant prior to destruction.

Al-Hakam production plant prior to destruction.

Details:
 
Although the site was formally acquired on 24 March 1988, plans for the facility were completed in 1987. Iraq has acknowledged that Al-Hakam was built with the objectives of undertaking research and development together with industrial scale production of BW agents; the actual filling of weapons was considered for the future.

Spray dryer at Al-Hakam; later destroyed by UNSCOM.

In 1988, Hakam was intended to accommodate three, five-cubic meter fermenters. According to an Iraqi document, two were planned to produced botulinum toxin and one was intended for Bacillus anthracis spores. In the event, the fermentation line from the Al-Kindi company was installed comprising seven 1480-liter fermenters and two 1850-liter fermenters (14,060 liter combined capacity). Assuming annual replenishment of agent, the initial annual capacity of the factory would be about 80,000 liters.

Agent was stored in a bunker and warehouse at Hakam. The hardened bunker was capable of housing some twenty 5000-liter containers, although just four are acknowledged as having been built; two were placed in the bunker and two in the warehouse. These containers were specifically designed for pathogen storage and subsequent sterilization. Hakam also had mobile containers of the 1000-liter capacity; at least 39 were manufactured in 1989 and 1990. The total planned storage was probably in the region of 80,000 to 100,000 liters of agent.

In October 1988, Iraq's BW production staff moved from Al-Salman to Hakam (in early 1990, there was an additional transfer of staff). In 1989, much of the research group at Salman Pak was transferred to Hakam, where experiments on weapons-materials compatibility were undertaken, as well as quality control of BW agents. Also in 1989, Hakam began industrial-scale production of botulinum toxin; industrial-scale production of Bacillus anthracis spores began in September 1990. Weaponization of BW agents took place in December 1990 and January 1991. Some 340 liters of unweaponized Clostridium perfringens (causative agent of gas gangrene) were produced at Hakam.

 
UN inspector applying a monitoring tag to a seed fermentor at Al-Hakam.

Hakam was also the site of a trial in August 1990 to determine the size of the "booster charge" required to disperse agent for R-400 bombs. All attempts by Iraq to locate the exact site or to find any evidence of it have failed.

After 1991, Iraq maintained and expanded al-Hakam, although from that point on, Iraq asserts that the facility was used solely as a single cell protein (SCP) production plant. However, no serious attempts to produce SCP ever occurred. SCP was only produced in insignificant quantities as a camouflage, principally by harvesting SCP from brewers waste rather than de novo production from petroleum products. Individuals identified as key workers in Iraq's BW program continued as members of the staff of Al-Hakam. In the years after 1991, Iraq attempted to obtain dual-purpose equipment including industrial-scale fermenters from within the country and abroad.

In May/June 1996, a Commission team (UNSCOM 134/BW 31) supervised the destruction of the extensive buildings, equipment, and materials. All structures and equipment at Al-Hakam, except for a few items, were explosively demolished and the remnants were buried.

Fermentor station at Al-Hakam.

	Updated February 2006