'Dr Germ' and 'Mrs Anthrax' released from Iraqi jail

Breaking News Ireland ^ | 12/19/05 | Breaking News Ireland

[TrebleRebel]

'Dr Germ' and 'Mrs Anthrax' released from Iraqi jail 19/12/2005 - 12:48:51

Notorious Saddam-Hussein-era officials have been released from jail in Iraq and some have already left the country, an Iraqi lawyer said today.

A legal official in Baghdad said between 24 and 25 top former officials in Saddam Hussein’s government have been freed, including Rihab Taha, known as Dr Germ, and Huda Salih Ammash, known as as Mrs Anthrax.

The Iraqi lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said some of those released were his clients.

“The release was an American-Iraqi decision and in line with an Iraqi government ruling made in December 2004, but hasn’t been enforced until after the elections in an attempt to ease the political pressure in Iraq,” Aref said.

Iraqi officials and the US military did not immediately confirm that information.

Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, the spokesman for the US-led Multinational Force, did say that US officials on Saturday released eight people formerly designated as high-value detainees, after a board process found they were no longer a security threat.

No charges had been filed against the eight, Johnson said. He would not identify them.

The legal official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said those released also included Hossam Mohammed Amin, head of the weapons inspections directorate; Aseel Tabra, an Iraqi Olympic Committee official under Saddam Hussein’s late son Odai; General Dhiaa Maher al-Tikriti; Ibrahim al-Ani, an intelligence official; and Hamid al-Janabi, a prison director.

[Calpernia]

19 December 2005: Dr. Germ. Mrs. Anthrax released from jail in Iraq

Reports from Baghdad indicate that Rihab Taha, the British-educated biological weapons expert who is often called Dr. Germ, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, aka "Mrs. Anthrax", who was a Baath Party official and biotech researcher, have been released from prison in Iraq.

The release of the two women was demanded on several occasions as a condition for release of foreign hostages held in Iraq by Zarqawi's group. Several of these hostages were beheaded when the demands for the women's release were not met.

Indications are that both women may have already left Iraq because of fears regarding "security".

For more translations and news on terrorism, visit http://www.lauramansfield.com

[benjibrowder]

Whos Dr. Mengele?

[Revenge of Sith]

"Surely a quid pro quo of some sort took place, otherwise this doesn't make sense."

Perhaps they agreed to reveal what happened to the WMD's which would be devastatating to the Democrats.

[af_vet_rr]

Are they crazy??? This is like releasing Dr. Mengele!

That's the first thing I thought of - good thing these American and Iraq officials weren't around the Nuremberg trials.

[af_vet_rr]

Whos Dr. Mengele?

I hope you're kidding. Joseph Mengele: (March 16, 1911–February 7, 1979) was a Nazi German physician who performed experiments that were condemned as murderously sadistic on prisoners in Auschwitz during World War II. He personally selected over 400,000 prisoners to die in gas chambers in Auschwitz. After the war he escaped Germany and lived covertly abroad until his eventual accidental death in Brazil, which was later confirmed using DNA testing on his remains.

[thierrya]

As an European, how can I respect the US gov. anymore?
WMD: lies.
Democracy in Iraq: lies.
Etc....

The US my family used to respect and love are gone.

It's all over now.
Goodbye, and good luck to you all.

[benjibrowder]

Actually, I didn't know who he was. But thank you for telling me. I'm only 18.

[piasa]

This Irish article is interesting- the BBC implied the names of those released were known from a US spokesperson. But according to this, the US hasn't named them, saying only that there were eight.

The source of the names is 'a legal official in Baghdad,' whatever that's supposed to mean.

[piasa]

Good riddance.

[thierrya]

Good luck to you.

If ever you're a real American.

[Qwertrew]

ping!!!!!!!!!!

[Jet Jaguar]

Farewell and don't bother to check back in.

[Jet Jaguar]

Who's side are you on?

You are nasty.

[TrebleRebel]

According to Globe & Mail Tariq Aziz is to be released?


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051220/GERM20/TPInternational/Africa

Iraqi lawyers said that among those who may soon be released is Tariq Aziz, Mr. Hussein's former deputy premier and top diplomatic representative.

[jpl]

Unreal. This has to be getting done with the thought of trying to mollify the insurgents. And I really don't think that it's going to work much, if at all. Saddam is still alive for Pete's sake!

[Mitchell]

Ping.

[Battle Axe]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20051225-08022500-bc-iraq-saddamfollowers.xml

And now the Iraqi govt. wants to arrest them again. They have had 5 days to hide.

Why in the world can't we coordinate anything???? If we were to release them, we should have put them in the car and shut the door and let the Iraqis open the other side.

[apokatastasis]

Here is how I read this situation. My hypothesis remains: 9/11 was Iraq, the anthrax was Iraq, al Qaeda were just proxies. Even before the 1991 war for Kuwait, the US government planned for an Iraqi terrorist counteroffensive, and that threat did indeed slowly materialize, once Saddam reconsolidated his regime after withdrawing from Kuwait. After the 1993 WTC bombing, Clinton tried to intimidate him back (bombing the Baghdad intelligence HQ in mid-year); after Bojinka was discovered, a Chalabi-led revolt in the north was hastily assembled, then abandoned (see Robert Baer's See No Evil), probably out of fear of Iranian strategic gains, and the CIA tried instead to organize a coup via Allawi, which failed (see, e.g. the Cockburns' Out of the Ashes); and finally, after comprehensive regime change in Iraq became official US policy (late 1998, after the African embassy bombings), Saddam would have activated his Samson Option, the threat of WMD terrorism using anthrax. Bush 43 came to office preparing to overthrow Saddam, probably on the model subsequently employed in Afghanistan (US special forces working with indigenous allies, rather than an occupation by the regular army), but 9/11 happened first, and the anthrax threat was explicitly tabled. Everything that happened afterwards revolved around removing Saddam from power (i) without triggering an anthrax attack (ii) without exposing the increasingly egregious deceptions which accompanied the covert war with Saddam in the 1990s. That second constraint is what's behind the "release" of Taha and Ammash, on my view. Despite the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty, they, like Saddam, have been in the custody of US forces, because they know too much; and they are being shuffled out of Iraq, probably to a closely monitored exile in a US-friendly country, lest the truth should come out in court. Since the full truth is presumably only known to a small circle of people (at the apex of the US government, or intimately involved with the pre-9/11 conflict), the people in Iraq immediately responsible for Taha and Ammash's fate would need to be given other reasons for their release (such as this line about pacifying the Sunni insurgents).

[Trajan88]

Maybe the CIA inserted each with a radio frequency identification (RDFI) chips to gather a little more usefull information.

Of course the Democraps/ACLU/holier-than-thou Germans & French will violently object.

I say to them... "shut up."

[Trajan88]

I bet you're right.