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Baradei Concedes Iaea Is in Dark on Fate of Arms
New York Sun ^ | 11/02/04 | BENNY AVNI

Posted on 11/02/2004 2:55:20 AM PST by conservative in nyc

As Washington officials questioned the reliability of an Iraqi official who reported that 377 tons of explosives went missing after the war, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged yesterday that his agency is in no position to know what exactly happened.

IAEA Director Mohammed ElBaradei confirmed in an interview yesterday that the sole source for the story that dominated the news last week was a letter sent to the agency on October 10 from an Iraqi official, Mohammed Abbas.

"All we know (is that) the Iraqis reported to us the material is missing," Mr. ElBaradei told The New York Sun. "We have been out of Iraq for a long time. If it were destroyed I would be very happy, if it hasn't been destroyed I'd be very worried. But I have no clue."

---snip---

Shortly after Mr. Abbas's letter was sent to Mr. ElBaradei, it was leaked to the New York Times and CBS, creating the political controversy regarding the missing explosives. After that, Mr. El-Baradei sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council, describing the Abbas letter to him.

According to the letter the missing explosives, which could be used as detonators in nuclear weapons and therefore were sealed by the IAEA, were lost after the April 9, 2003, fall of Saddam Hussein "throughout the theft and looting of the government installations due to lack of security" - an allegation that was highlighted by Mr. ElBaradei's spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, and became a top item in Senator Kerry's stump speech.

---snip---

He blamed the fact that this has become an election issue on the American press. "The media here needs to mature a little bit," he said. "There are certain things that are not affected by political hype."

(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaqaa; baradei; explosivesgate; iaea; iraq; liar; nysun; un; unlies
UNbelievable. Now, the liar tells us that the IAEA had no proof of looting other than a letter from an Iraqi official, and they don't know how the explosives were lost or the news was leaked.

I hope the Bush administration makes sure this Clymer never works for the UN again after it wins re-election today (and prosecutes him for any oil-for-food money and bribes that he may have taken over the past few decades).

1 posted on 11/02/2004 2:55:20 AM PST by conservative in nyc
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To: conservative in nyc

We should pull out of the UN.


2 posted on 11/02/2004 2:58:04 AM PST by sheik yerbouty
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To: conservative in nyc

GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR......


3 posted on 11/02/2004 2:58:50 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: conservative in nyc

This is total BS. First of all, the IAEA purposely tried to embarass Bush. Second of all, why would anyone suddely wonder why all those explosives were missing a year after the country was liberated. We would not let that much explosives sit there that length of time without moving or destroying them.


4 posted on 11/02/2004 3:00:07 AM PST by xuberalles
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To: conservative in nyc

Careful, Mr. ElBaradei, if you backpedal too fast you might trip over the divan. What a weasel.


5 posted on 11/02/2004 3:02:03 AM PST by 6SJ7
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To: conservative in nyc

And then Baradei admits that John Kerry was given a dishonorable discharge.


6 posted on 11/02/2004 3:04:13 AM PST by wildcatf4f3 (out of the sun)
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