Tuesday, December 16, 2003

That Iraqi military scientist who had evidence on WMD and fled to Iran?

Well, he didn't go anywhere, and he's been working with the Brits. Not only that, but he'd been trying to get in touch with the Americans.

Now why is it we couldn't find him?

Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi said in an interview with The Associated Press that he tried several times to reach the American teams searching for weapons of mass destruction. Once, in July, he asked a friend who had already met with American missile experts to set up a meeting for him but the Americans never showed up. Later, he said, his British handlers assured him that they had discussed his case with the CIA, and he didn't need to worry about reaching them.

But it appears the messages didn't get to weapons hunters, who told The Associated Press last month that they believed Modher had gone to Iran and said they never interviewed him.

On Nov. 16, AP reported the U.S. weapons inspectors' comments that they were concerned Modher was providing expertise to the missile program in Iran, a country identified by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism.
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Of course, Modher could be lying.

Modher said he remains in contact with the British officials who gave him a military identification pass in July which says he is "cooperating" with the coalition. He showed the pass, along with letters from other military officials working with Iraq's new defense ministry, to AP.

Oh.

Modher is considered to be Iraq's top missile expert. He was the father of the Iraqi Al-Samoud program and worked on Scud missiles like the ones that hit Israel and Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War.

U.N. inspectors destroyed the Al-Samouds on the eve of the U.S.-led war in March because several of them tested beyond the 93-mile range limit set by the U.N. Security Council after the 1991 Gulf War.

Modher argued then, and now, that the missiles were designed in keeping with the council restrictions.


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