Hatfill's secret connections to ex-KGB rogues? Tell Babs!
Seriously, could be that the atx came from Soviet stashes, given corruptly to Saddam, and developed in Iraq, or just acquired by them in Prague. Prague seems to be a place all sorts of weapons can be procured.
Might be just tying up loose ends...might be trying to find out if Russia has the tech for the specific way the atx was concocted.
That's the only thing that makes sense, if there is any truth to this report. I don't think Russia would know anything about how Saddam got his hands on the Ames strain, but it's conceivable that ex-Soviet scientists might have been the source of the aerosolization know-how.