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Mmmm, Mustard Gas

"Iraq's past declarations were not accepted as a full account of the scale and the scope of Iraq's (biological weapons) program," the inspectors wrote.

Saadi, however, said Sunday that the Iraqi government was unable to find any documents about the destruction beyond those it already had turned over to the United Nations over the past decade.

"Those documents have not been increased, not by a single document," he said at a news conference. "We have done all researching we could, and we could not find any more."

The chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, recently expressed doubt about Iraq's claims not to have more thorough evidence. "The production of mustard gas is not like marmalade," he said on a trip to Baghdad last month. "You have to keep some records."

In a series of declarations in the 1990s, Iraq acknowledged making three types of biological weapons, including one that spreads anthrax bacteria.

Iraq also admitted to developing nearly 4 tons of VX nerve gas and between 100 tons and 150 tons of sarin, both highly lethal compounds. But inspectors never were able to verify claims by Hussein's government that it destroyed everything it manufactured.

Saadi insisted Sunday that all of Iraq's biological and chemical agents had been eliminated. Iraq contends that much of it was done in secret, without U.N. inspectors present.

» Prove report is a lie, Iraq says

Excerpt made on Monday December 09, 2002 at 11:43 PM



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