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Saddam's poison gas kills 20 of his men By Jessica Berry (Filed: 02/09/2001)

AT least 20 specially-trained Iraqi soldiers are dead and up to 200 have been admitted to hospital after taking part in a chemical weapons exercise that went wrong.

News of the training accident emerged last week amid concerns that Saddam Hussein has rebuilt his chemical weapons arsenal. The soldiers, based in the Zaafarnia region south of Baghdad, were suffering from severe respiratory problems, according to intelligence received from Iraq.

A diplomat said: "They were training in the Al Suwayrah and Basmaya camps three months ago. We know that the accident has not stopped the training. Fresh soldiers were brought in soon after." The Al Suwayrah camp has been rebuilt since it was attacked in February by American and British aircraft.

Saddam last used chemical weapons against the Kurds in March 1988 at Halabjah causing thousands of injuries. In December 1998, American and British warplanes mounted Operation Desert Fox in an attempt to destroy Iraq's chemical weapons capability.

However, evidence surfaced last week that Iraqi scientists are working around the clock to rebuild the Iraqi leader's conventional weapons and self-defence arsenal as well as his chemical capability.

In the past three months, eight military factories have begun working at almost full strength. The most significant, in the unpopulated Syrian border area of Al Qayem, is said to be building chemical weapons and missiles.

A Western military observer said: "The Al Qayem base has only recently expanded. It has just passed under the total control of Saddam's son and heir Qusay. To ensure total secrecy, each scientist has been hand-picked by Qusay."

Evidence also emerged last week that Saddam's most sophisticated Chinese-built radar tracking systems are back to strength. One intelligence official said that many advances had been achieved by Chinese engineers and technicians who had become regular visitors to Baghdad.

According to secret internal documents seen by The Telegraph, Saddam believes that it is only a matter of time before the West attacks Iraqi installations again. His new self-defence technology last week scored a propaganda success, shooting down a pilotless US spy plane. It is the first time that the Iraqis have downed an Allied aircraft since the Gulf war in 1991.

The Iraqi leader is determined to ratchet up the tension by fomenting a civil war inside Iraqi Kurdistan to lure more Allied aircraft over his guns, according to intelligence officials. "Destabilising the region would warrant an Iraqi invasion to stem the insurrection," said one. "His plan is to encourage further Allied strikes."

A British Government official said that Iraq was becoming increasingly aggressive towards Allied planes. "There were 10 incidents in July in which coalition aircraft narrowly avoided being shot down, compared with 11 in the previous four months. We will continue to respond to these attacks to guarantee the safety of our aircrew."

-- Anonymous, September 02, 2001

Answers

This guy just never quits, does he? Sort of like a Peck's Bad Boy, messing around with nasty malicious-mischief stuff. Well, at least it's nice to have such an obvious, in-your-face, enemy. And we know where he lives!

-- Anonymous, September 02, 2001