MAINZ (Germany), April 14: Two UN weapons inspectors working in Iraq before the war on Monday contested as “completely wrong” parts of a speech given by US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations in February on the country’s arms programmes.
There had been no factories making weapons of mass destruction as claimed by Washington based on a series of photographs showing ventilation systems on top of certain buildings, they said in an interview with German ARD television.
“We investigated the photos that were shown, and we found they had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction,” said Joem Siljeholm from Norway, adding parts of Powell’s presentation were “misleading” or “completely wrong”.
Mobile laboratories dealing with biological weapons described by Powell to the UN Security Council also did not really exist.
Mr Siljeholm and a German inspector, who did not wish to be named, said the vehicles in question were spotted during their three month mission in Iraq.
“It’s not as if we couldn’t find these trucks. We found them... but none of them were decontamination trucks, even if the CIA says otherwise,” said the German, who had to verify information supplied by the US intelligence service.
Mr Powell presented declassified intelligence material on Feb 5 in a dramatic bid to persuade the UN Security Council that Iraq should be disarmed by force, rather than letting inspections continue. —AFP
