Iraqi arsenal of banned weapons discovered

SMH ^ | March 24 2003, | n/a

[concerned about politics]

Iraqi arsenal of banned weapons discovered

British troops outside Basra have discovered cruise missiles and warheads hidden inside fortified bunkers as part of a massive arsenal abandoned by Saddam Hussein's disintegrating southern army.

Cases of rockets, giant anti-shipping mines and other ammunition are piled from floor to ceiling in dozens of bunkers at what is marked on maps as the Az Zubaya Heliport.

The most disturbing find was two Russian-made Al-Harith anti-shipping cruise missiles, each 6m long and 1m in diameter, and nine warheads, hidden in two enormous reinforced concrete bunkers.

Another missile, as yet unidentified, was found still crated up at the rear of one of the bunkers.

Some of the boxes are clearly marked with the names of British manufacturers.

The scale and possible implications of the weapons find took British forces by surprise and raised fresh questions about the extent of the Iraqi war machine and the ability of weapons inspectors to cope with the task of scouring such a vast country for prohibited ordinance.

The discovery of the missiles - date-marked 2002 - came as British troops from the Black Watch Regiment fought to secure the area around Iraqi's second city, Basra, in preparation for the capture of the city.

The vast complex, surrounded by chainlink fence and barbed wire, stands to the southwest of the town, defended by a network of earth works and with tanks and other armoured vehicles dug in to the surrounding area.

But the defenders have fled after coming under attack from coalition forces.

Outside the perimeter fence are about 40 bunkers packed with a mixture of RPGs and other ammunition. Inside, 22 larger fortified bunkers contain larger weaponry including the Al-Harith missiles.

The missiles, with Al-Harith 2002 stencilled in red paint on the side, and covered with cyrillic writing, were housed in 20-m-long concrete bunkers, 8m high, buried under earth and protected by sliding steel double doors 30cm thick.

Painted grey, the missiles have two wings, each about 60cm in span and three tail fins of a similar size. There was no indication of the nature of the warheads fitted and experts have been called in to examine the find.

Also housed inside the reinforced bunkers were what appeared to be large anti-shipping mines, 1m in diameter, and a host of other munitions.

On one box, written in English, were the words: "Contract AS Navy. 5/1980 Iran."

Corporal Steven Airzee said: "The initial sight was a shock. We were trying to figure out what they were. You have to wonder whether the weapons inspectors have been there because they looked pretty big."

The entrance to the heliport is decorated with a picture of Saddam Hussein in military uniform.

The area is surrounded by wrecked vehicles and abandoned sandbagged fox holes, some flying white flags, and is overlooked by a network of watch towers.

There are fears that weapons may have been taken from some of the bunkers which lie open outside the perimeter fence.

Lieutenant Angus Watson said they found the haul when they arrived last night.

"The complex is massive and we were surprised to find a lot of the kit intact, easily enough for a whole brigade," he said.

They also discovered hundreds of leaflets lying on the floor, dropped by coalition planes, urging the defenders to surrender. The leaflets, and evidence of an aerial or artillery attack, appear to have persuaded the defenders to abandon their posts without a fight.

[maestro]

British troops outside Basra have discovered cruise missiles and warheads hidden inside fortified bunkers as part of a massive arsenal abandoned by Saddam Hussein's disintegrating southern army. Cases of rockets, giant anti-shipping mines and other ammunition are piled from floor to ceiling in dozens of bunkers at what is marked on maps as the Az Zubaya Heliport.

Mines,....Mines,.......MINES,......MINES,.......cruise missiles,......cruise missiles,........CRUISE MISSILES,........

12 years,........12 years,.........12 YEARS,.........1980-________!!!

[Boundless]

>> Some of the boxes are clearly marked with the names of
>> British manufacturers...the missiles - date-marked 2002...

> Odd?

Not really.
The Iraqis are masters at buying through intermediaries and
unprincipled gun runners.

"Made in UK" or "Fabrique en France" is less important than
the chain of delivery, which is likely to be highly indirect
in the UK case, and startling direct in the French.

Let's await the tracing.

[concerned about politics]

For those who may have missd this one....

US TROOPS CAPTURE CHEMICAL PLANT

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the info

[Franking]

I remember seeing items from the SMH that later disappeared and were never backed up...will wait and see on this.

F

[TLBSHOW]

hummmmmmm least we forget Tony Blair is a socialist too~

Some of the boxes are clearly marked with the names of British manufacturers.

[concerned about politics]

"Iraq accuses Israel of taking part in war

CAIRO - Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said Sunday an Israeli missile had been found in Baghdad and accused Israel of taking part in the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.

"You know that Israel is taking part in this aggression against Iraq. It's sending missiles. We found a missile, an Israeli missile, in Baghdad," he told reporters in Cairo where was to attend a meeting of Arab foreign ministers scheduled for Monday.

Sabri offered no proof to back up the allegation.

Israeli political sources said Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet Sunday that the missile in question bore the word Taas, an Israeli company that has made electronic components sold for use in missiles in the U.S. armoury.

Israel has said it is playing no part in the war.

article from Israel paper here "

[xJones]

How predictable. If you can't launch a Scud at Israel, blame 'em anyway for all your problems. It alwasys gives an excuse.

[cake_crumb]

"No mention on Fox yet. No mention during the CentCom briefing eiter; that press briefing included a British officer."

Nothing from the BBC yet either.

[Rocko]

cc: Blix, Chirac, Schröder, Putin.

cc: Dashle, Kennedy, Pelosi, Penn, Sarandon, Moore, A.N.S.W.E.R., etc.

[P-Marlowe]

Hopefully they left the invoices behind as well.

[OldFriend]

Paula Zahn hears only the sound of zippers!

[OldFriend]

Is Tom Hanks there too?

[meema]

bump

[Sabertooth]

Thanks for the bonk, C_O...

((((((growl)))))

[Walkin Man]

I wonder how much it cost Saddam \ France \Russia to make their UN boy Blix look the other way?

[supercat]

Tom Daschle is deeply saddened that the coalition forces have taken it upon themselves to violate Iraqi soveregnty and steal their (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction.

[Tommyjo]

A word of caution here guy and girls.

"Iraqi arsenal of banned weapons discovered"

NONE OF THOSE MISSILES REPORTED IN THE ARTICLE ARE BANNED WEAPONS.

Al-Harith is the state missile company. It maintains the Iraqi range of missiles. This maintains engines and systems for such missiles as SA-2, SA-3, SA-6 and SA-5. The Iraqi's are ALLOWED to possess ALL of these weapons. They are also allowed to operate the range of anti-ship missiles which includes the SILKWORM and SEERSUCKERs. Just because a missile look big to a soldier finding it does not mean that it is one of the BANNED MISSILES. If he was to report the finding of a SCUD and its Transport Erector Launcher then this is a coup. Yesterday we had on Freepers the posting of a picture of a "Iraqi missile" caught on video travelling through Baghdad. This was simply an SA-2 GUIDELINE surface to air missile. Totally LEGAL for the Iraqi's to possess.

[madison10]

Corporal Steven Airzee said: "The initial sight was a shock. We were trying to figure out what they were. You have to wonder whether the weapons inspectors have been there because they looked pretty big." Not if Hussein had anything to do with it. Those inspectors were dancing to quite a tune.

[Eva]

Thanks for article. It took me awhile to figure out what SMH was, though. It looks like they are getting information a lot faster than we are.