U.S. officials say they have convincing evidence of Iraq's continued efforts to build weapons of mass destruction in the form of communications intercepts that depict transactions with foreign suppliers of Baghdad's secret program, but that no decision has yet been made about whether or how to make it public.
"What we have got in hand are a whole series of money transfers and contracts all relating to efforts to build nuclear, biological or chemical weapons," a former senior U.S. intelligence official told United Press International.
Records include Iraqi deposits to Swiss and Persian Gulf bank accounts, dealings with Swedish and German manufacturers, Dubai and Jordanian front companies, Chinese companies, contracts with South African technological firms, and invoices of materials including ingredients for biological and chemical weapons, this source said.
So far, none of that evidence has surfaced in the 12,000-page Iraqi weapons of mass destruction declaration made to the United Nations on Dec. 8, these U.S. intelligence analysts said.
The dossier was ordered by the U.N. Security Council as part of Resolution 1441 demanding that Iraq disarm or face serious consequences.
The intercepts held by U.S. intelligence also deal with communications between Iraqi clandestine sites for enriching uranium and "other sites," said the former senior U.S. intelligence official.
The Iraqis have declared they have no weapons of mass destruction, and "the Iraqis have lied," a State Department official said.
Under the terms of Resolution 1441, passed on Nov. 8, omissions or false statements in the declaration, coupled with any failure to comply with inspections, constitutes a material breach of Iraq's obligations and would result in unspecified "serious consequences" for Baghdad.
Asked if the United States would present its evidence at the U.N. Security Council as John Kennedy did in the Soviet missile crisis of 1962, an administration official said, "No decision about the time or place of any presentation has been made."
