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Sydney Morning Herald Phone taps' credibility questioned
By Sydney Morning Herald
07/02/2003



London: A vital plank of the US case against Saddam Hussein was a set of intercepted telephone calls between high-ranking Iraqi military officers.

Colin Powell played three phone conversations to the Security Council, each accompanied by an English translation.

In the first, an Iraqi colonel asks what he should do if inspectors ask to see a "modified vehicle" from the al-Kindi company, which Mr Powell said was "well-known to have been involved in prohibited weapons activity".

In the second, an officer discusses the inspectors' hunt for "forbidden ammo" and is told to "clean out all of the areas". In the third, a junior officer is ordered to "remove the expression 'nerve agents"' in wireless instructions".

The US has the satellite technology to intercept telephone calls over Iraq. It is also believed to be flying "Rivet Joints" - converted transport planes bristling with interception technology, capable of picking up all phone and radio traffic. These also carry up to 16 intelligence and language specialists to analyse the data, a Jane's defence analyst said on Wednesday.

Ken Boutin, the senior arms control and disarmament researcher at the Verification Research Training and Information Centre, said he found the intercepts "compelling".

But doubts remain about the credibility of the tapes, not least because many observers doubt that Iraqi officers would speak so carelessly on open telephone or radio conversations.

The conversations were also open to interpretation, Jonathan Ban, a chemical weapons specialist said. "For example, what do they mean by 'a modified vehicle'? That could mean anything as could 'prohibited ammo'."

However, David Kay, the former chief UN nuclear inspector in Iraq, said the conversations rang true.


Read the full article at Sydney Morning Herald

Links:
  • Reference to possible "unsecured radio lines"




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