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Black Watch find cruise missiles in huge arms cache at heliport (more that Blix missed)
The Herald ^ | IAN BRUCE

Posted on 03/23/2003 7:25:45 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner

Black Watch find cruise missiles in huge arms cache at heliport

IAN BRUCE

SCOTTISH troops from the Black Watch battle group yesterday discovered a huge cache of weapons which could show that Saddam Hussein's regime is in breach of UN sanctions.

Two Al Harith anti-ship cruise missiles supplied last year by Russia and explosive components from a Hampshire firm were discovered at a bunker complex sited at the As Zubayr civilian heliport south of Basra, in southern Iraq.

The soldiers found 24 reinforced underground bunkers and 48 arms storage sheds containing hundreds of thousands of rocket propelled grenades, landmines, machine gun am-munition, fuses, and detonators, as well as the missiles.

Most of the site has been cordoned off until experts arrive to clear booby traps and use detectors to see if anything more sinister is hidden in the depot.

One Al Harith, a long-range sea-skimming missile which could threaten allied warships in the Gulf, was on a stand awaiting the fitting of its rocket motor. Someone had drawn a shark's face on its warhead. Another was still in its crate in another bunker.

Both weapons had Russian Cyrillic characters stencilled on their sides and were dated 2002. A strict UN arms embargo on Iraq has been enforced since 1991.

The British-made explosive components, believed to be fuses for detonators, were in small boxes stamped "Wallop Industries Limited, Middle Wallop, Hampshire" and carried danger signs and a prohibition on the product being carried by air. There were no dates on the cases.

In the bunker containing the exposed Al Harith, there was also a larger missile, between 30 and 40ft long, still in its shipping container. This was being left for bomb disposal teams. It also had Russian lettering.

Lieutenant Angus Watson, from Methil, Fife, who was in charge of the platoon which found the haul of high explosives, said: "There is enough kit here to outfit a brigade. It's an astonishing amount of ammunition. We also found deserted Iraqi tanks and personnel carriers when we moved in, but the garrison put here to defend the depot had legged it. The whole complex was wide open, with the doors of the hardened bunkers unlocked. Local civilians had begun looting."

The heliport perimeter was dotted with hastily-abandoned slit trenches and machine gun positions.

American psychological war-fare leaflets urging Iraqi troops not to resist littered the floors of most of the bunkers.

One leaflet showed Saddam and then a weeping mother with a dead child. Another depicted a chemical plant before and after it had been flattened by bombing.

"From the number of limpet mines and some of the other armaments found so far, it seems to have been a naval storage depot," said Lieutenant Watson. "It makes you wonder what chance a couple of hundred UN inspectors had of finding anything damning in a country this big. On the surface, this was, after all, supposed to be a civilian heliport."

The Herald attempted to contact Wallop Defence Systems yesterday, but there was no reply. According to its internet website, it is a division of FR Countermeasures.

- March 24th



TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alharith2002; blackwatchregiment; illegalweapons
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In breach of sanctions? What? Say it isn't so!
1 posted on 03/23/2003 7:25:45 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Both weapons had Russian Cyrillic characters stencilled on their sides and were dated 2002. A strict UN arms embargo on Iraq has been enforced since 1991.

One down, two to go. Now all we need to find are the French and German packages.

2 posted on 03/23/2003 7:28:15 PM PST by Question_Assumptions
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To: Mr. Mulliner
What! Our dear Russian "allies" are still shipping weapons to Saddam 'Hitler-lite' Hussein? Were the prohibited missiles crated next to a love note from Black Jacques 'I know zere are no WMD in ze trout stream' Chirac?

Assuming we continue to find tons of prohibited Russian, French, and German goodies, can we present the bill for the 'janitorial service' to the three aforementioned parties?

3 posted on 03/23/2003 7:30:24 PM PST by pierrem15
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Swell.
4 posted on 03/23/2003 7:30:29 PM PST by First_Salute
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To: Mr. Mulliner
I guess ole Saddam will have to change from "we don't have WMD" to "we didn't know we had WMD".
5 posted on 03/23/2003 7:31:02 PM PST by teletech (Can we bomb Saddam, NOW!?)
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To: Question_Assumptions
Is this facility the same one mentioned earlier, in which an Iraqi general who commanded a staff of 30 was ordered to surrender? The earlier facility was noted as having sand camouflage.
6 posted on 03/23/2003 7:31:29 PM PST by rudy45
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To: teletech
It was all planted there by the Americans, don't you know.
7 posted on 03/23/2003 7:31:41 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: rudy45
I was thinking it was different, though not sure. The Herald had separate news articles about this and that.
8 posted on 03/23/2003 7:32:43 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Hans Blix, your presence is requested....
9 posted on 03/23/2003 7:32:50 PM PST by Trident/Delta (Colt 1911 .45ACP .... The "original" point and click device.....)
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To: Mr. Mulliner
It was all planted there by the Americans, don't you know.

You know Chief Moose is on active duty - let's send him over there so he can blame it on 2 white guys in a white van.

10 posted on 03/23/2003 7:34:41 PM PST by GaltMeister
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To: rudy45
Different facility. The one with the General was in Nazef. The Brits are on the Peninsula.

Now that makes 2 locations...

Semper Fi

11 posted on 03/23/2003 7:34:42 PM PST by Trident/Delta (Colt 1911 .45ACP .... The "original" point and click device.....)
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: rudy45
The report on FNC, which seems to have been fairly well confirmed by Defense Dept. officials, is a believed chemical weapons facility. They didn't mention missiles or warheads.
13 posted on 03/23/2003 7:36:07 PM PST by spookycc (I raq, I rack 'em up, and I roll)
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To: Mr. Mulliner
and we wonder why we couldn't get the cooperation of the Un.....

half the world was selling to Iraq.....

14 posted on 03/23/2003 7:36:30 PM PST by cherry
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To: Mr. Mulliner
BUMP
15 posted on 03/23/2003 7:36:34 PM PST by RippleFire
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To: Mr. Mulliner
I demand Chiraq be flown to the sight today to see for himself.
16 posted on 03/23/2003 7:37:54 PM PST by ChadGore (288,007,154 Americans did not protest the war today)
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To: Mr. Mulliner
Both weapons had Russian Cyrillic characters stencilled on their sides and were dated 2002. A strict UN arms embargo on Iraq has been enforced since 1991.

Huh? A strict UN arms embargo....enforced????? Then how did Russian weapons dated 2002 get in????? Somebody wasn't watching the border.
17 posted on 03/23/2003 7:39:19 PM PST by TomGuy
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To: Question_Assumptions
Well, from what I've read, or seen on TV. The same German firm that made the bunkers for Hitler, made the one for Saddam, hopefully with the same outcome.
18 posted on 03/23/2003 7:39:41 PM PST by Professional
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To: Mr. Mulliner
What I want to know is why isn't this being reported - maybe I've missed it - I was out for awhile today, but mostly I've been glued to FOX. This is HOT stuff and I wish it was out there. It's just more stuff to add to the chem plant they found today.
19 posted on 03/23/2003 7:39:42 PM PST by CyberAnt ( -> -> -> Oswego!!)
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To: CyberAnt
I'm not sure about Fox, but the other networks are too busy reporting all the casualties in gory detail to report material breaches.
20 posted on 03/23/2003 7:41:31 PM PST by Mr. Mulliner
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