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US sets Saddam's scientists free Huda Ammash was educated in the US Eight former aides to Saddam Hussein - including two women accused of making biological weapons - have been released from US custody in Iraq. The freed detainees no longer pose a security threat, a US spokesman said. They include Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, nicknamed by the US "Mrs Anthrax" and Rihab Taha, also known as "Dr Germ". Reports have been circulating of a pre-election deal to free former regime figures in order to appease Iraq's Sunni Arabs, correspondents say. A US military spokesman in Baghdad said eight detainees...

'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...

ASSOCIATED PRESS An Iraqi scientist has told U.S. interrogators that her team destroyed Iraq's stock of anthrax in 1991 by dumping it practically at the gates of one of Saddam's main palaces, but never told U.N. inspectors for fear of angering the dictator. Rihab Rashid Taha's decision in 2003 to remain silent stoked suspicions of those who contended Iraq still harbored biological weapons, contributing to the U.S. decision to invade Iraq two years ago this month. "Whether those involved understood the significance and disastrous consequences of their actions is unclear," the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group says of Mrs. Taha and...

Fearing Saddam, anthrax scientist kept her secret - and chanced warLAST UPDATE: 3/28/2005 12:36:24 PM In early 2003, as war fever built in Washington, an Iraqi scientist faced a fateful choice. Rihab Rashid Taha could try to lower the heat by finally telling U.N. inspectors what happened to Iraq's "missing" anthrax. Or she could remain silent, rather than risk Saddam Hussein's wrath. The microbiologist's dilemma, she has told U.S. interrogators, was that her team 12 years earlier had destroyed the lethal bacteria by dumping it practically at the gates of one of Saddam's main palaces, and the feared Iraqi...

Dec 31, 2004 Top Female Iraqi Scientist in U.S. Custody Has Cancer, Lawyer Claims - The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An Iraqi lawyer said Friday that one of Saddam Hussein's former top scientists, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," has cancer and is dying in U.S. custody where she has been held for more than a year. A U.S. military spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq refused to comment on the report that Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash has cancer. "I am not able to discuss the health condition of our detainees," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson. "Certainly we have medical...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi lawyer said Friday that one of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s former top scientists, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," has cancer and is dying in U.S. custody where she has been held for more than a year. A U.S. military spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq (news - web sites) refused to comment on the report that Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash has cancer. "I am not able to discuss the health condition of our detainees," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson. "Certainly we have medical care available to take care of any detainee." Other U.S. officials...

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi lawyer said Friday that one of Saddam Hussein's former top scientists, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," has cancer and is dying in U.S. custody where she has been held for more than a year. A U.S. military spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq refused to comment on the report that Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash has cancer. "I am not able to discuss the health condition of our detainees," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson. "Certainly we have medical care available to take care of any detainee." Ammash, a top Baath party official and biotech researcher who got her...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi authorities together with U.S. forces have decided to free one of only two high-profile women prisoners currently in American custody, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday. Spokesman Noori Abdul-Rahim Ibrahim, however, denied the decision was linked to a demand by militants who abducted two Americans and a Briton calling for the release of all female Iraqi prisoners. "The Iraqi authorities have agreed with coalition forces to conditionally release Rihab Rashid Taha on bail", Ibrahim said. "The decision ... has nothing to do with the threat made by the kidnappers," he said. Taha, a scientist who became...

Saying there’s no evidence linking her to weapons of mass destruction, a publishing company is criticizing the detention of the University of Missouri-Columbia graduate accused of aiding Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime. AmashParty Youth & Trade Bureau Chairman Status: In Custody No. 53 on the list of 55 most wanted Iraqis Huda Salih Mahdi Amash was taken into custody by coalition forces May 4. A U.S. Central Command news release issued after her capture described Amash as "a Ba’ath Party Regional Command member and weapons of mass destruction scientist. She is No. 53 on the U.S. Central Command ‘Iraqi Top 55’...

SYRIA EXPELS LEADING IRAQI WMD SCIENTIST WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has captured one of the directors of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs who had been expelled by Syria. U.S. officials said coalition forces arrested the head of Iraq's biological weapons program. They identified the scientist as Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, known as Mrs. Anthrax, No. 53 on the U.S. list of 55 most wanted Iraqis. Ms. Ammash, whose husband, a senior aide to President Saddam Hussein, was captured last week, escaped to Syria in early April, officials said. They said her arrest came after strong U.S. pressure...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces have taken into custody a U.S.-educated microbiologist dubbed "Mrs. Anthrax" who was active in germ warfare development under President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), defense officials said on Monday. Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, the only woman included in the U.S. military's list of 55 most-wanted Iraqi fugitives, was taken into custody in Baghdad on Sunday by U.S. troops, said the defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. Ammash was designated as No. 53 on the list and was the five of hearts in the U.S. military's deck of cards of wanted Iraqis. Eighteen...

Saddam's top WMD Scientist... The woman at Saddam's meetings... In Custody. updating the charts now.

IRAQ'S 'DR GERM' CAPTURED Coalition forces have captured one of Iraq's top biological weapons scientists. Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, among the top 55 most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's fallen regime, was taken into custody on Sunday, a US Defence Department official said. More follows... Last Updated: 15:31 UK, Monday May 05, 2003

Iraqi arms scientists said to be in Syria-report WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - Several leading Iraqi biological weapons scientists are believed to have fled to Syria, The Washington Times reported on Saturday, citing unnamed U.S. government officials. Among those said to have made it across the Iraqi border to Syria were Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, a woman known by U.S. intelligence officers as "Mrs. Anthrax," and Rihab Taha, nicknamed "Dr. Germ." The government officials said intelligence reports showed that either, or both, scientists had taken refuge in the Syrian capital, Damascus, the report said. Ammash was named on Friday as...

Report: Top Iraqi arms scientists have fled country By Reuters and Haaretz Service UNITED NATIONS - The Washington Post, citing U.S. administration sources, reported Saturday that some of Iraq’s top weapons scientists have already fled their country and have most likely already made it to Syria. The officials believed to be in Damascus are Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash and Rihab Taha, both top scientists in Iraq's biological-weapons program. The sources said there are intelligence reports that one, or both, made it to Syria. Mrs. Taha is a British-trained microbiologist, who led Iraq's drive to cultivate and weaponize deadly anthrax. Nicknamed...

<p>Some of Iraq's top weapons scientists already have fled their country and are in Syria, from where they may seek political safety in France, administration sources said yesterday.</p> <p>The officials said among those believed to have made it to Syria are Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash and Rihab Taha, both top scientists in Iraq's biological-weapons program. The administration sources said there are intelligence reports that one, or both, made it to Damascus.</p>

Richard Seither was reading a newspaper yesterday morning aboard a New York train when a photograph caught his eye. Ed Pfueller photo Huda Amash worked as a research assistant from 1981 to 1983 in Dalton Research Center, above, at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Records indicate that while working on her doctorate she lived in this University Terrace apartment, below, which is south of Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital. It was the familiar face of Huda Amash, who shared a laboratory with him 20 years ago when they were University of Missouri-Columbia graduate students. Surprised by the photo, Seither was shocked by...

<p>Huda Ammash, who is suspected of playing a key role in devising biological weapons for Saddam Hussein in Iraq, was arrested on a peace disturbance charge in 1983 at a lecture at the University of Missouri at Columbia while she was a student there.</p>

The woman who U.S. intelligence officials say is a top Iraqi biological weapons scientist is a University of Missouri-Columbia alumna who was once issued a summons by campus police for disturbing a speech about Iraq and Iran. AP photo U.S. Intelligence officials believe this image taken from a video on Iraqi television yesterday shows Huda Salih Mahdi Amash, one of Saddam Hussein's top biological weapons scientists. Amash received her doctorate in 1983 from the University of Missouri- Columbia. Seated next to Amash is Sad-dam's son, Qusai. Huda Amash received her doctorate from the MU microbiology area program in 1983, according...

Here is the text of my letter, just now, to the editor of the student newspaper "The Maneater" at the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA ***********************Dear Editor, The Maneater: I have just read your reporter Mike de Salvo's story ("War Resistance Begins") about the recent "die-in" of students there at the university and had a few comments and some information to pass on. I thought the demonstration was very realistic and shows us the horrors of war. I had a few suggestions to make these demonstrations even more powerful. Fortunately I found a connection who can probably help the students. First...