IRAQ: IRAQI OFFICIALS SHOW REPORTERS AROUND PESTICIDES FACTORY ALLEGED BY U.S. TO BE CHEMICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION SITE.

Record ID: 646619

  • Title: IRAQ: IRAQI OFFICIALS SHOW REPORTERS AROUND PESTICIDES FACTORY ALLEGED BY U.S. TO BE CHEMICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION SITE.
  • Date: 28th August 2002
  • Summary: (W4) FALLUJA, 80 KM WEST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 28, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. GV: EXTERIOR PESTICIDES FORMULATION SITE 0.03 2. MCU: SIGN READING (ARABIC) PESTICIDES FORMULATION PLANT, FALLUJA 3. SITE 0.07 3. GV/PAN: REPORTERS AND IRAQI OFFICIALS ENTERING FACTORY 0.17 4. GV: CARTONS CONTAINING PESTICIDES (2 SHOTS) 0.24 5. GV: BOTTLES CONTAINING INSECTICIDE 0.27 6. GV: WORKER CHECKING CARTONS 0.33 7. GV: VARIOUS OF REPORTERS LOOKING AT PROCESSING TANKS 0.40 8. CU: SIGN ON TANK READING (ENGLISH/ARABIC) DANGER, HIGHLY FLAMMABLE 0.44 9. CU: SIGN READING (ARABIC) NOOKOOZ UNIT 0.50 10. GV: VARIOUS WORKERS CHECKING TANKS AND PIPES (4 SHOTS) 1.10 11. CU: TANK BEARING UNSCOM LABEL 1.13 12. GV: BARRELS 1.17 13. GV/MV: WORKERS IN FACTORY (2 SHOTS) 1.24 14. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF THE IRAQI NATIONAL MONITORING COMMISSION HUSAM MOHAMMED AMEEN "The new accusation that Iraq, is said, that Iraq rebuilt the site and start using it for producing chemical and biological agents and weapons. You (the reporters) are going to visit the site by yourselves and you can visit any department, any room, any machine and you can photograph anything you want." 1.54 15. MV: DIRECTOR OF THE FACTORY HAIDER HASSAN TAHIR SHOWING REPORTERS PESTICIDE PACKET 2.02 16. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF THE FACTORY HAIDER HASSAN TAHIR SAYING "This plant is the only one in Iraq which produces various kinds of pesticides, these pesticides are designated for combating agricultural lesions." 2.16 17. MV: CAMERAMAN 2.19 18. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF THE FACTORY TAHIR SAYING "They are accusing Iraq that it produces in this plant chemical and biological agents, this is but a lie circulated by Americans, particularly CIA." 2.35 19. GV: BARREL WITH LABELS 2.38 20. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMEEN SAYING: MCU: "Those allegations which have been stated and declared by American mass media according to the CIA sources and the American administration sources and as you see those buildings are not sealed, if there were chemical or biological weapons production unit the windows are sealed, the workers should put on their faces masks." 3.11 21. GV: REPORTERS LOOKING AT BARRELS IN FACTORY (2 SHOTS) 3.18 22. MCU: BARREL WITH TOXIC SIGN 3.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: FALLUJA, 80 KM WEST OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA988NQ227TVDWRM9KGKE76IOK5
  • Story Text: Iraqi officials have accompanied reporters to a
    pesticides formulation factory, 80 km west of Baghdad, that
    America says Iraq rebuilt after being bombed in 1998 to
    produce chemical and biological weapons.

    Iraq has rejected the allegation that it has started
    producing weapons of mass destruction at the site and gave
    media free access to all areas of the facility.



    Iraq on Wednesday (August 28, 2002) showed reporters
    around a factory it says is producing pesticides and agricultural
    fertilisers, denying reports that it is used for making
    chemical and biological weapons.

    Officials said the factory, located 80 km west of Baghdad,
    was and is still making pesticides for agriculture and
    domestic usage after it was rebuilt following a 1998
    bombardment by American planes.

    "The new accusation that Iraq, is said, that Iraq rebuilt
    the site and start using it for producing chemical and
    biological agents and weapons. You (the reporters) are going
    to visit the site by yourselves and you can visit any department,
    any room, any machine and you can photograph anything you
    want," Head of the Iraqi National Monitoring Commission Husam
    Mohammed Ameen told reporters.

    Iraq says the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM)
    inspected the Falluja site under an ongoing monitoring system
    in 1994. Between June 1991 and December 1998, various
    inspection teams visited the site to verify its activities,
    totalling 50 visits.

    Five cameras and three various sensors were installed in
    the site by UNSCOM for ongoing Monitoring purposes, but Iraqi
    officials say they were destroyed during the American and
    British airstrikes in 1998.

    Iraq says Western media claims, in particular American
    and British, that Iraq rebuilt the factory post 1998 to
    produce chemical and biological agents, are "dirty."
    "They are accusing Iraq that it produces in this plant
    chemical and biological agents, this is but a lie circulated
    by Americans, particularly CIA," said factory director Haider
    Hassan Tahir.

    Iraq says the factory was established in 1987 to provide
    pesticides for the Ministry of Agriculture and different types
    of domestic pesticides for the Ministry of Heath.

    During the 1991 Gulf War, the site was destroyed by aerial
    bombardment but was rebuilt after the conflict. The site was
    then re-bombed in 1998.
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