[b.2]
[b.2]
SECTION 1 OF 2
/*********** THIS IS A COMBINED MESSAGE ************/
SUBJECT: INTELLIGENCE INFOMATION REPORT POSSIBLE BIOLOGICAL
WARFARE CAPABILITY
1. (U) COUNTRY: IRAQ
2. (U) DOI: 241030C MAR 91 THROUGH 081700C APR 91
[b.2]
4. (U) DOA: 18 APR 91
5.
[b.1. sec 1.5. (c)]
6. SUMMARY: IRAQ IS BELIEVED TO HAVE STOCKPILED EXTENSIVE
QUANTITIES OF "CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM" AND "BACILLUS ANTHRACIS"
VACCINES INDICATING A PREPAREDNESS TO PROTECT ITS MILITARY FROM
THE EFFECTS OF THESE DISEASES SHOULD THE COUNTRY ENGAGE IN
BIOLOGICAL WARFARE. [b.1. sec. 1.5.(c)]
ALSO, SOME PROBABLE IRAQI SECRET SERVICE
OR SECRET POLICE AGENTS ARE BELIEVED TO BE OPERATING IN THE TOWN
OF AS SALMAN, SOME PROBABLY POSING AS DOCTORS AND PHARMACY
ASSISTANTS.
7. (U) TEXT:
A. [b.1. sec 1.5. (c)]
SOURCE TRAVELLED INTO THE
TOWN OF AS SALMAN, A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 18 MILES DUE SOUTH OF THE
AIRBASE. THE FRENCH MILITARY WERE STILL OCCUPYING THE TOWN AND
WERE THE PRIMARY OCCUPATION FORCE AT THE TIME BUT WERE PREPARING
TO
DEPART AND TURN OVER THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TOWN TO THE US THE
NEXT DAY. DURING THIS TRIP TO THE TOWN, SOURCE, [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)]
MADE IT A POINT TO VISIT THE TOWN'S MEDICAL CLINIC TO ASSESS
MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS. THE CLINIC HAD BEEN USED PREVIOUSLY (I.E.)
PRIOR TO THE OCCUPATION BY COALITION FORCES) BY THE IRAQUIS TO
TREAT THEIR TOWNSPEOPLE ANDIRAQI MILITARY OPERATING IN THE AREA OF
AS SALMAN, INCLUDING THOSE STATIONED AT THE AIRBASE. AFTER THE
OCCUPATION, COALITION FORCES (THE FRENCH) CONTINUED TO USE THE
FACILITY AS A CLINIC IN WHICH TO TREAT THE LOCAL IRAQI CIVILIANS
(NOT ITS OWN MILITARY). DURING THIS VISIT SOURCE BRIEFLY WALKED
THROUGH PORTIONS OF THE CLINIC AND SAW MEDICAL MATERIALS,
BANDAGES,
NEEDLES, MEDICATION, ETC. BUT OF MOST INTEREST WERE LARGE NUMBERS
OF IRAQI GAS MASKS, DECONTAMINATION KITS (CONTAINING AMPULES,
NEEDLES, GAUZE, ETC.), AND MOST DISTRESSING WAS THE PRESENCE OF
LARGE QUANTITIES--SEVERAL HUNDREDS, PERHAPS EVEN IN THE THOUSANDS,
OF (UNREFRIGERATED) VIALS OF VACCINE LABELLED "CLOSTRIDIUM
BOTULINUM" AND BACCILLUS ANTHRACIS." THE LABELS WERE IN ENGLISH
AND ARABIC. THE VIALS, EACH OF WHICH IT WAS ESTIMATED CONTAINED
2 TO 5 MILLILETERS OF VACCINE, WERE STORED IN BOXES, THE INSIDES
OF WHICH WERE SET UP LIKE EGG CARTONS, TO PROTECT THE VIALS FROM
BREAKING. THE MEDICATIONS IN THE PHARMACY WERE OF VARIOUS KINDS
AND CAME FROM SUCH COUNTRIES AS BULGARIA, SOVIET UNION, UNITED
KINGDOM, ROMANIA, JORDAN NETHERLANDS, AND BELGIUM. IN A SEPARATE
ROOM WAS A REFRIGERATOR THAT CONTAINED A SMALL SUPPLY OF
"CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI" VACCINE. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT DURING
THE TIME OF THE VISIT THE COALITION AND IRAQI FORCES WERE ENGAGED
IN CEASE FIRE AND INSIDE THE TOWN WERE MILITARY FORCES FROM AT
LEAST FRANCE AND THE UNTIED STATES AS WELL AS CIVILIAN
TOWNSPEOPLE AND BEDOUINS. THE FRENCH KEPT A TIGHT REIN ON THE
TOWN AND ALLOWED INTO THE TOWN ONLY THOSE WHO ACTUALLY LIVED
THERE. THERE WAS NO CURFEW IN EFFECT. WHEN THE FRENCH LEFT (THE
NEXT DAY) THE SITUATION CHANGED AND THE TOWN BECAME FAR MORE
OPEN.
B. [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] SOURCE STAYED AT THE AIRFIELD,
GETTING SETTLED INTO HIS ASSIGNMENT AND HIS QUARTERS. THE ONLY
THING OF NOTE WAS THAT [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] , TWO WOUNDED
IRAQI SOLDIERS IN UNIFORM PRESENTED THEMSELVES FOR TREATMENT
INDICATING THAT THERE WERE STILL IRAQI MILITARY IN THE AREA OF AL
SALMAN. HE DID NOT REPORT WHAT HE HAD SEEN AT THE CLINIC AT THIS
TIME BECAUSE HE WAS NOT SURE OF WHAT HE HAD SEEN AND WANTED TO
CONFIRM WITH OTHER DOCTORS.
C. (C) [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] SOURCE RETURNED TO TOWN OF AS SALMAN
ALONG WITH SEVERAL DOCTORS OF 11TH COMBAT AVIATION BDE (CAB) AND
THE 730TH MEDICAL CLEARING COMPANY. THEY CAME ON A HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE VISIT BRINGING FOOD, WATER, MEDICINE AND MEDICAL
MATERIALS TO HELP AT THE CLINIC. SOURCE IN ADVANCE WARNED THE
OTHER DOCTORS TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE CASES OF BIOLOGICAL
AGENT VIALS WHICH AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL, ALL HAD A CHANCE TO SEE.
AT THE CLINC THEY MET WITH THREE "DOCTORS": [b.1. sec 1.5. (c)]
AND NO NAME WAS
OBTAINED FOR THE THIRD DOCTOR. THE FIRST DOCTOR SAID HE WAS THE
ONLY ONE WHO SPOKE REASONABLE ENGLISH AND HE DID ALL THE TALKING.
[b.1. sec 1.5.(c); b.6.]
A PRIMARY REASON FOR THIS VISIT WAS FOR SOURCE TO POINT OUT THE
HUGH SUPPLY OF VACCINES TO THE OTHER US DOCTORS AND ALLOW THEM
AN
OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A JUDGMENT ABOUT THEM. ALL SAW THE VIALS
AND LATER CONCLUDED THAT THE ONLY POSSIBLE REASON FOR SUCH A HUGE
SUPPLY OF SUCH VACCINES WAS FOR BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PURPOSES.
D. THE NEXT TIME SOURCE VISITED THE CLINIC [b.1. sec.
1.5.(c)]
AGAIN ON A HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE MISSION. DURING THE INTERIM
PERIOD HOWEVER, BEGINNING AFTER 25 MARCH (WITH THE DEPARTURE OF
THE FRENCH) THE TOWN HAD BEEN OPENED UP TO REFUGEES, AND BEDOUINS
FROM OUTSIDE THE TOWN, AS WELL AS SOME IRAQI MILITARY (AND
PROBABLY SOME OF HUSSAYN'S SECRET POICE). DURING SOURCE'S VISIT
TO THE CLINIC [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] IT WAS NOTED THAT ALL THE
PHARMACEUTICALS THAT HAD BEEN THERE BEFORE, INCLUDING ALL THE
/****** BEGINNING OF SECTION 002 ******/
VIALS OF BIOLOGICAL WARFARE VACCINES, THE DECONTAMINATION KITS AND
THE PROTECTIVE MASKS, HAD BEEN REMOVED. ALSO GONE WERE DOCTORS
#1
AND #3. DOCTOR #2 WAS STILL THERE ALONG WITH AN OLDER GENTLEMAN
WHO WAS IDENTIFIED AS A PHARMACY ASSISTANT (OR PARAPHARMACIST).
DOCTOR #2, WHOM SOURCE HAD BEEN TOLD BY DOCTOR #1 SPOKE VERY
LITTLE ENGLISH, GREETED SOURCE AND THE OTHERS WITH HIM, SPEAKING
EXCELLENT ENGLISH AND, AS WAS CONFIRMED BY SOURCE'S INTERPRETER,
DOCTOR #2 COULD TRANSLATE EXPERTLY BETWEEN ENGLISH AND ARABIC.
WHEN QUESTIONED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE MISSING
PHARMACEUTICALS, HE SAID SIMPLY, "THEY HAD ALL BEEN USED". WHEN
ASKED ABOUT DOCTORS #1 AND #3, HE SAID "BOTH DECIDED TO MOVE TO
THE NORTH WHERE THEY COULD MAKE A BETER LIVING." WHEN QUESTIONED
ABOUT SIMPLE MEDICAL INFORMATION, HOWEVER, HE COULD NOT RESPOND
AT ALL INTELLIGENTLY (HE DID NOT EVEN KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
TETRACYCLINE OR OTHER COMMON DRUGS). THIS LED SOURCE TO BELIEVE
THAT DOCTOR #1 PROBABLY WAS A REAL DOCTOR, (BECAUSE DURING THEIR
EARLIER CONVERSATION HE DID SPEAK VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ON MEDICAL
ISSUES), BUT ALSO THAT DOCTOR #2 WAS PROBABLY NOT A DOCTOR AT ALL,
BUT RATHER AN AGENT OF THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT, POSSIBLY AN AGENT OF
THE IRAQI SECRET POLICE. [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] SOURCE RETURNED
TO TOWN WITH
MORE FOOD, WATER AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES FOR THE CLINIC BUT
DISCOVERED THAT THE CLINIC WAS TOTALLY CLOSED. HE LEFT THE
SUPPLIES WITH THE TOWN'S MAYOR.
E. [b.1. sec 1.5. (c)] SOURCE RETURNED TO THE CLINIC, AGAIN
BRINGING
MORE SUPPLIES. THIS TIME NO DOCTORS WERE THERE AND NEITHER WAS THE
MORE ELDERLY PARAPHARMACIST, ONLY SOMEONE ELSE, A YOUNGER
PERSON,
WHO IDENTIFIED HIMSELF ALSO AS A PARAPHARMACIST (I.E. HE WAS
DIFFERENT FROM THE PARAPHARMACIST WHO HAD BEEN THERE
[b.1. sec 1.5. (c)]
ASKED WHERE ALL THE DOCTORS WERE, SOURCE WAS TOLD - ALL HAD GONE
NORTH TO WHERE BUSINESS IS BETTER. WHEN SOURCE ATTEMPTED TO VIEW
THE PHARMACY AREAS AND THE ROOM WHERE THE VIALS OF BW VACCINE
HAD
BEEN STORED, THE PARAPHARMACIST PHYSICALLY ATTEMPTED TO PREVENT
SOURCE FROM LOOKING AND TOLD SOURCE THAT THERE IS NOTHING OF
IMPORTANCE TO BE LOOKING FOR IN THE ROOM.
F. [b.1. sec 1.5. (c)] SOURCE AGAIN WENT TO TOWN AND VISITED
CLINIC.
NO DOCTORS WERE THERE, BUT BOTH PARAPHARMACISTS WERE. SOURCE
ASKED QUESTIONS OF THE OLDER PHARMACIST AND ABOUT WHERE HE HAD
BEEN - DID HE GO TO BAGHDAD? THE PARAPHARMACIST ANSWERED YES --
"TO VISIT FAMILY." HE ADMITTED HE WENT THERE OFTEN. THE
CONJECTURE WAS THAT THIS PERSON RETURNED TO BAGHDAD TO MEET WITH
HIS SUPERIORS IN THE GOVERNMENT. IT APPEARS LIKELY THAT ALL THE
VACCINES AND MEDICINES AS WELL AS PROTECTIVE MASKS AND
DECONTAMINATION KITS, WERE REMOVED AND SENT NORTH TO BAGHDAD.
G. IN A RELATED MATTER, [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] VARIOUS
DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLINIC WERE NOTED BY SOURCE INSIDE
THE CLINIC AND IN AND AROUND A BURN BARREL OUTSIDE THE CLINIC.
SOME WERE BURNED, SOME ONLY PARTIALLY BURNED. SOME HAD TO DO
WITH
IMMUNIZATIONS AND MANY APPEARED TO BE INDIVIDUAL AND UNIT
RECORDS,
INCLUDING PHOTOGRAPHS OF PERSONNEL IN MILITARY UNIFORMS, ASSIGNED
TO IRAQI UNITS STATIONED IN THE AS SALMAN AREA. THE EXISTENCE
OF THE RECORDS WERE REPORTED TO TASK FORCE FALCON (ALSO OPERATING
IN AS SALMAN) AND SOURCE BELIEVES THEY WERE COLLECTED FOR FURTHER
ANALYSIS, PROCESSING AND EXPLOITATION.
H. IN ANOTHER RELATED MATTER, [b.1. sec. 1.5. (c)] (SOURCE
WAS UNSURE OF WHICH IS THE CORRECT DATE), DURING ONE OF SOURCE'S
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE VISITS TO THE TOWN, ONE INDIVIDUAL
APPROACHED SOURCE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE WHO COULD GRANT
HIM
POLITICAL ASYLUM.
[b.6.]
ALSO THAT SAME DAY ANOTHER IRAQI
NATIONAL APPROACHED SOURCE, SAYING [b.6.] AND THAT HE
KNEW ABOUT A CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL WARFARE PLANT IN WHICH HE HAD
WORKED. HE SAID HE DID NOT KNOW THE PRECISE LOCATION, HOWEVER,
BECAUSE HE WAS BLINDFOLDED WHEN HE WAS TAKEN TO WORK AND WHEN
HE
RETURNED. HE KNEW, HOWEVER, HOW THE WEAPONS WERE MANUFACTURED,
ESPECIALLY THE BLENDING/MIXING OF SPECIFIC CHEMICAL AGENTS. BOTH
THESE APPROACHES WERE REPORTED TO THE S2, 11 COMBAT AVIATION BDE
WITH THE HOPE THESE TWO PEOPLE WOULD TURN THEMSELVES IN TO
APPROPRIATE INTELLIGENCE AUTHORITIES FOR FURTHER EXPLOITATION.
SOURCE HAS NFI ON THE STATUS OF EITHER OF THESE TWO POSSIBLE
SOURCES.
8. COMMENTS: SOURCE CAN PROVIDE GENERAL DESCRIPTIVE
INFORMATION ON THE DOCTORS AND PARAPHARMACISTS WORKING AT THE
AS
SALMAN CLINIC, IF ASKED TO DO SO. HE THINKS THAT ONE OF THE
DOCTORS [b. 1. sec 1.5. (c) ]
WHO VISITED THE CLINIC WITH SOURCE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, MAY HAVE
TAKEN SOME PHOTOGRAPHS THAT COULD INCLUDE ONE OR MORE OF THE
IRAQIS IN QUESTION. ALSO, THE 207TH MI BRIGADE, 511TH MI
BATTALION WAS OPERATING IN THE AREA AND MAY BE REPORTING
SUPPLEMENTARY OR COMPLIMENTARY INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECTS OF
POSSIBLE PREPARATION FOR CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AND SECRET
POLICE. RECIPIENTS OF THIS REPORT SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR
SUCH RELATED REPORTS.
[b.1. sec 1.5. (c)]
WE THINK IRAQIS WERE MAKING
PREPARATIONS TO ENGAGE IN BIOLOGICAL WARFARE USING
BOTULINUM AND/OR ANTHRAX.
9. (U) PREPARED BY: [b.6.]
10. (U) REVIEWED BY: [b. 6.]
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