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The Boston Globe March 11, 2003

Bush aides say Blix left out data

By John Donnelly and Elizabeth Neuffer

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration accused the chief United Nations weapons inspector yesterday of omitting from his public report to the Security Council last week several key examples of Iraq's development of prohibited weapons.

Administration spokesmen said that chief inspector Hans Blix did not give details of a drone that could carry chemical weapons, nor did he mention a possibly large supply of anthrax and the possible existence of a cluster bomb that could deliver deadly poisons. Those matters were covered in Blix's written report to the council but not mentioned or covered in detail in his verbal presentation on Friday. Asked about the drone, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the information `should be of concern to everyone. . . . We're concerned about that, and I think other information will be coming forward that suggests Iraq has really not changed.''

Other administration officials suggested that taken together, Blix's omissions in his televised address to the council had resulted in the failure to disclose a full picture of how Iraq was withholding information on prohibited weapons.

However, Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the UN's Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission, denied that Blix had concealed or failed to highlight key information in his address Friday to the Security Council. Buchanan said that inspectors were still not clear whether the Iraqi drone was a banned item, and that Blix has repeatedly talked about possible anthrax stockpiles. He also said that Blix addressed the issue of drones in his address.

Blix, asked about Powell's comments that he had not highlighted the negative aspects in his report, said outside the Security Council chamber last night: ''Everybody tries to squeeze as much mileage out of us as they can.''

Blix, speaking to reporters following a closed-door council meeting last night, said that despite the administration's assertions, UN arms inspectors have not yet established if the Iraqi drone ''is linked to delivery of biological or chemical weapons.''

On Friday, Blix said, ''Inspectors are also engaged in examining Iraq's programs for remotely piloted vehicles. A number of sites have been inspected, with data being collected to assess the range and other capabilities of the various models found, and inspections are continuing in this area.''

Along with the drone, US officials noted two other disclosures in the written report. First, Iraq had developed a version of South African cluster bombs -- first reported in yesterday's New York Times -- that the Americans said could be retrofitted to spray deadly chemicals instead of ordnance.

Also, the written report said that inspectors now have ''credible information'' that Iraq produced 1,820 more gallons of biological warfare agents in ''bombs, warheads, and in bulk'' than was declared, and the agent was most likely anthrax.

In their 173-page written report, the UN weapons inspectors did not say whether Iraqi drone aircraft could carry chemical or biological weapons. Instead, the report said in general that unmanned vehicles are of concern, because of ''their potential to deliver a weapon to a remote target.''

The report said the undeclared Iraqi drone had a wingspan of 24.6 feet -- possibly longer than Iraq is legally allowed. ''Officials at the inspection site state that the drone had been test flown,'' the UN report said. ''Further investigation is required to establish the actual specifications and capability of these . . . [and others and whether they] exceed'' the 93-mile limit. Iraq is banned from having missiles that exceed that range.

Some UN diplomats, who had spent the weekend poring through the document, said some of the new information was troubling. ''Just look at the sections on drones and anthrax,'' said a council diplomat, who requested anonymity.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the information on the drone and cluster bombs ''was late-breaking news, very late last week'' to the administration. In the past, he said former weapon inspectors at the United Nations Special Commission, or UNSCOM, discovered that Iraq had modified the fuel tanks on its drones, allowing them to fly beyond the 93-mile limit.

''There's no question the munitions are capable of dispensing chemical and biological weapons,'' Fleischer said. ''And based on past reporting that UNSCOM did, there is also a concern about the UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] being modified for this exact same purpose, which is the spraying of chemical and biological weapons. We're talking about weapons of mass destruction.''

In the region, he said, such drones present ''a threat to the United States because we have 200,000 troops in the region; we have friends in the region; we have allies in the region; and even absent the buildup that is taking place now, we had American troops previously stationed in the region. So, it does present a threat to America.''

Fleischer said that the United States would press UN weapons inspectors on the drone and cluster bombs during closed-door Security Council hearings this week.

US officials, including Powell, cited sections of the report yesterday in their efforts to persuade the six undecided Security Council members to support giving Iraq a deadline of next Monday to disarm.

John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a think tank on security issues, said yesterday if Iraq possessed drones capable of flying into Kuwait, or if it had cluster bombs that could spray chemical weapons, ''you should be quite worried about that. If I was sitting there trying to figure out if the Patriot or Arrow missile-defense systems would thwart a chemical or biological attack, I would be pretty worried about those drones.''

But Pike also said that claims made by Western intelligence officials have been discredited by UN inspectors, including suggestions that Iraq had purchased uranium from Niger, and that aluminum tubing could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

Regarding the administration, Pike said, ''I'd be a lot more comfortable if they made a small number of good arguments than a long list of bad arguments.''

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com.


Copyright © 2003, Globe Newspaper Company.