Iraqi uranium secretly removed to U.S.

[I admit it.  I saw this in the local Gannett rag. The Post states although a 
portion of refined material has been removed, Iraq still possesses an 
estimated 400 tons of natural uranium. -x]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D0FC5873-EF9C-4CA2-9C19-B0B2B9537F6D.htm
US secretly removed Iraqi uranium 


Wednesday 07 July 2004, 3:55 Makka Time, 0:55 GMT  

 The United States has secretly moved out more than 1.7 tonnes of enriched 
uranium and other radioactive materials from Iraq.


Washington on Tuesday said the operation, carried out just days ahead of the 
28 June handover of power to the Iraqi interim administration, was aimed at 
preventing the materials' use for the manufacture of a radiological bomb or in 
a nuclear weapons programme.

"This operation was a major achievement for the Bush administration's goal to 
keep potentially dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists," 
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a statement.

"It also puts this material out of reach for countries that may seek to 
develop their own nuclear weapons," he said.

Elaborate operation

The operation involved 20 US nuclear experts from the Energy Department's 
secret laboratories as well as an undisclosed number of US troops.

US personnel packed the low-enriched uranium and roughly 1000 other highly 
radioactive devices, loaded them on a military plane and hauled them to the US 
on 23 June.

Abraham said the operation was consistent with "relevant United Nations 
Security Council resolutions" and aimed to "ensure the safety and security of 
the Iraqi people".

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iraqi officials were briefed in 
advance about the removal.

The Bush administration has repeatedly accused neighbouring Iran of running a 
clandestine nuclear weapons programme. 

Iran has persistently denied the charge.






The Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35404-2004Jul7.html

The International Atomic Energy Agency kept Iraq's uranium under seal in 
storage facilities for more than a decade before the U.S. invasion in March 
2003, but the storerooms were looted when Baghdad fell several weeks later. 

The IAEA was allowed back into Iraq to help clean up the facility, and it 
urged U.S. officials to protect Iraq's former weapons sites from further 
looting. 

But in recent months, radioactive equipment and Iraqi weapons components have 
been showing up in scrap yards and ports in Europe and the Middle East. 

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the IAEA, has unsuccessfully 
lobbied the White House to let international inspectors return to Iraq. He is 
now discussing the matter with Iraqi authorities. Before the war, ElBaradei 
reported that Iraq had no nuclear weapons program, despite assertions to the 
contrary by the Bush administration, which went to war to remove weapons of 
mass destruction. Such weapons have not been found. 

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council yesterday, ElBaradei said the IAEA 
had been told about the operation to remove the low-grade uranium and 
radiological sources, but he made it clear that the international nuclear 
agency -- which has a mandate to oversee Iraq's nuclear materials -- was not 
consulted or asked to participate. 

_______________________________________________
heads mailing list
[email protected]
http://ballistichelmet.org/mailman/listinfo/heads/
http://ballistichelmet.org/donate/