26 June 2003
Iraqi Scientist's Information Seen Supporting U.S. WMD Claim
(White House Report, June 26: Iraq/U.S. mission/Iraqi scientist, Palestinian Authority, Liberia, Panama, Mauritius) (1180) A former Iraqi nuclear scientist has provided American authorities parts and documents from Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program that he claims to have buried more than 12 years ago, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters June 26. "The head of Iraq's pre-1991 centrifuge uranium enrichment program, Dr. Mahdi Obeidi, approached United States officials in Baghdad and turned over a volume of centrifuge documents and components that he had hidden in his garden from inspectors since 1991," Fleischer said. "The doctor told us that he was interviewed by IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors, most recently in 2002, but he did not reveal any of this to the inspectors" at that time, Fleischer said, noting that throughout the entire inspection process "Iraqis were scared to death to talk because they would die if they would." Fleischer said Dr. Obeidi has been moved and is currently safe. "Dr. Obeidi told us that these items, the blueprints and the key centrifuge pieces, represented a template for what would be needed to rebuild a centrifuge uranium enrichment program," Fleischer said. "He also claimed that this concealment was part of a secret high-level plan to reconstitute the nuclear weapons program once sanctions had ended," the press secretary said. "We're going to continue to work with Dr. Obeidi in order to evaluate the documents and the equipment which he has provided," Fleischer said. He added that the development supports the administration's claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and concealed them. "What's notable is that this case illustrates the extreme challenge that the world community faces in Iraq as we search for evidence of WMD programs that were designed to elude detection by international inspectors," Fleischer said. "[W]hat this says is that buried in one scientist's garden was a template for what would be needed to rebuild the centrifuge uranium enrichment program," Fleischer said. "And according to this very scientist, this is information, these are materials that were deliberately hidden, with the purpose being to produce them once the sanctions had been lifted from the country, in a effort to reconstitute their nuclear program." Fleischer said the Bush administration is hopeful that Dr. Obeidi's coming forward will set an example and encourage other Iraqis who have knowledge about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs to tell the United States what they know. "We have maintained right from the beginning that the best way, based on the history of what was discovered in the '90s, to obtain information is as a result of Iraqis providing information to the United States, just as this scientist has," Fleischer said. "This case also illustrates the challenge that the international community faces in Iraq as we search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction programs that were designed to elude detection, from the very scientists who often would not share with the international inspectors what they knew and where they had things hidden," Fleischer said. The evidence presented by Dr. Obeidi shows that the United States was right in opposing the lifting of Iraqi sanctions in the 1990s, Fleischer said. BUSH SAYS U.S. MISSION IN IRAQ MUST BE FINISHED "RIGHT" Asked by a reporter if the climbing death toll in Iraq is making President Bush rethink the U.S. mission there, Fleischer said, "the president, of course, is deeply concerned and regrets every loss of life, whether it's American, whether it's British, as well as those who are wounded ... He understands what it can mean to a family when a life is lost." "But the president also understands what it means to the future of security for the United States and for the region, to make certain that the mission that the United States and our allies started is completed," Fleischer said. "And that means finishing the job to help rout those who, left to their own devices, will continue the killing of others as well as Americans. And these people are the loyalists, they're the Ba'athists, they're the Fedayeen. And this is why the mission continues and the mission is not complete and the president's determined to finish it, to do so right." U.S. TO CONTINUE TO DEAL WITH ABBAS INSTEAD OF ARAFAT Asked if news reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat planned to announce a Palestinian cease-fire were of concern to the White House, Fleischer said "different people have freedom to speak. That doesn't mean that their voices count in the halls of this government." President Bush "is less interested in who is speaking and more interested in who is acting. And by 'acting' he means who is taking actions to actually reduce the violence and to dismantle Hamas," Fleischer said. The United States will continue to deal with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas because "he can deliver on peace," he declared. BUSH CALLS FOR PRESIDENT TAYLOR OF LIBERIA TO STEP DOWN President Charles Taylor of Liberia needs to step down so that Liberia can achieve peace, President Bush said June 26 during a midday speech to a meeting in Washington of U.S. and African business leaders. His speech, given in advance of his July 7-12 visit to five African countries -- Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria, covered U.S. initiatives related to Africa. "In Liberia, the United States strongly supports the cease-fire signed earlier this month," Bush said. "President Taylor needs to step down so that his country can be spared further bloodshed. All the parties in Liberia must pursue a comprehensive peace agreement. And the United States is working with regional governments to support those negotiations and to map out a secure transition to elections. We are determined to help the people of Liberia find the path to peace." BUSH MEETS AT WHITE HOUSE WITH PANAMA'S PRESIDENT MOSCOSO President Bush discussed trade between the United States and Panama with Panama's President Mireya Moscoso at a meeting in the Oval Office the morning of June 26, Fleischer told reporters. Bush thanked the president of Panama "for her country's excellent law enforcement and security cooperation" along the Panama Canal, said Fleischer. He also congratulated the people of Panama on the 100th anniversary of independence, and he thanked the government of Panama for its support on "Article 98 action," Fleischer said, referring to an agreement between the two countries relating to provisions of the International Criminal Court. BUSH MEETS WITH MAURITIUS PRIME MINISTER JUGNAUTH President Bush met the afternoon of June 26 in the Oval Office with Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth of Mauritius. Before that meeting, Fleischer told reporters that he anticipated trade would be the main topic of the discussions. And the White House Press Office released a statement saying the two leaders will renew their cooperation on the global war on terrorism, and in trade and development issues. (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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