Short Descriptor: Special Security Organization-controlled entity; administratively controls the BW program starting in 1987

New structure at TRC facility in Salman Pak (replacing old BW research lab)

New structure at TRC facility in Salman Pak (replacing old BW research lab)

Details:
 
The Technical Research Center (TRC) was established in 1985 under an Iraqi intelligence agency, to which part of the BW program was added in 1987. According to Iraq's account, the involvement of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in the BW program ceased with the transfer of the biology group from Al-Muthanna to the TRC, which was under the control of the Military Industrial Commission (MIC). Iraq asserts this MOD link was only re-established specifically for the deployment of weapons in January 1991. The explanation given is that MIC had a higher status than the MOD and was a self-contained entity that could progress from initiation to deployment of weapons without outside input.

Iraq states that the Director-General of the TRC reported to Hussein Kamel as head of the State Security Organ (SSO), rather than the MIC. In spite of this, Iraq denied any interaction between the BW program and any Iraqi intelligence agencies.

In mid-1987, a group of biology researchers left Al-Muthanna to continue research within TRC at Al-Salman and to support biological weapons tests.... The Commission assesses that the transfer of the BW work from Al-Muthanna to Al-Salman (TRC) was to preserve secrecy.... The establishment of the BW research group at Al-Salman in 1987 is accepted as stated, although the means by which it was established and managed is far from clear. The relationship of the program within TRC to other organizations is also unclear.

Zubaidy device: An aerosol generator for the dispersal of biological warfare agents or toxins was developed by the TRC at Salman Pak by modification of helicopter-borne commercial chemical insecticide disseminators. These modified aerosol generators are assessed as suitable for the dissemination of BW agents from helicopters or slow moving fixed-wing aircraft and are referred to as Zubaidy devices.

Other Information:

...However, in March 1987, when Saddam ordered the increase in chemical agent research and production, [Defense Minister] Adnan drew the line on biological agents. He had strong views concerning the wisdom of embarking on such a path, and refused to allow this work to take place at Muthana. [SSO and MIC director] Hussein Kamel fought Adnan on this issue and lost. As a result, Rihab Taha and her team joined a special unit run by the SSO called the Technical Research Center, or TRC. The TRC was involved in a wide number of intelligence support activities, including the use of biological agents in covert operations. Hussein Kamel now had control of Iraq's biological weapons program, and began large-scale construction to build new research facilities to the liking of Taha. [1] 

...In 1987, MIMI transferred Dr. Taha's biological R&D program to a laboratory complex at Salman Pak, south of Baghdad, which already was doing research on BW for covert use by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. There the program came under the Forensic Research Department of the TRC... [2]

Key Sources:
[1] Scott Ritter, Endgame: Solving the Iraq Problem - Once and for All (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999), p. 87.
[2] Timothy McCarthy and Jonathan Tucker, "Saddam's Toxic Arsenal," in Sagan, Lavoy and Wirtz, eds., Planning the Unthinkable: New Powers and Their Doctrines for Using Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons (forthcoming), p. 98.