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Military officers rushed to hide evidence
05/02/2003 18:07 - (SA)
New York - US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday played tensely awaited taped evidence before the UN security council that indicated top Iraqi military officers were rushing to hide evidence of weapons of mass destruction a day before UN inspectors arrived in November.
In the tape, translated on a screen before the council, a colonel and a brigadier general from Iraq's elite Republican Guard discuss a "modified vehicle" from the al-Kindi company which should be evacuated. The exchange was monitored by US intelligence operatives on November 26, Powell said.
"We have this modified vehicle. What do we say if one of them sees it?," one of the voices says.
In a second conversation that Powell said was taped after inspectors found 12 empty chemical warheads last month, one official in the English translation said he had carried out written orders to clean out his facility that was being inspected for forbidden ammunition.
The other man in the conversation ordered him to destroy the orders because "I don't want anyone to see what is in the message".
"This isn't one or two isolated events," Powell said. "It is a policy set at the highest levels of the Iraqi regime."
Powell also said Iraq has a high-level committee, whose members include Iraq's liaison with the inspectors, to monitor the UN inspectors, "not to co-operate with them, not to assist them, but to spy on them".
Thirteen foreign ministers were present in the session, signifying the importance given to the new revelations expected from Powell. Iraq will be given a chance to rebut Powell's report at the end of the session. - Sapa-DPA
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