http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/256517|top|07-02-2004::17:06|reuters.html
Rockets Hit Iraq Hotels, Poland Hails Arms Success
Jul 2, 4:57 PM (ET)
By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - ........Poland said its troops in Iraq had stopped old artillery shells from Saddam's era containing the deadly nerve agent cyclosarin falling into the hands of militants by buying the weapons after tip-offs. It gave few details.
POLAND SAYS MILITANTS SEEKING SHELLS
Poland said the shells found by its troops dated from the 1980s and that it had bought them through individuals who contacted officials in its military zone in south-central Iraq.
"We bought all the shells available ... Terrorists are seeking these missiles on the black market, offering a price of around $5,000 per warhead," General Marek Dukaczewski, head of army intelligence, told a news conference.
He said there was no evidence any shells had ended up in militants' hands.
Poland said its soldiers found 17 Grad rockets and two mortar shells in late June and that U.S. experts had carried out tests on the weapons.
"Tests conducted showed that there was cyclosarin in the rocket heads," said Dukaczewski.
But the U.S. military said only two of the rockets had tested positive for sarin gas, and that another 16 rockets found by the Poles had contained no chemical agents.
The reason for the discrepancy in figures was unclear.
"Our predictions and reports that Saddam Hussein did not come clean with a large sum of weapons, artillery shells and of weapons of mass destruction were proven true," said Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski.
"Some of those warheads were old but it could not be ruled out some could still be used," Szmajdzinski said.
Saddam's government said it produced cyclosarin munitions in the 1980s to fight Iran but was committed to destroying stocks and ceasing production by U.N. resolutions after the Gulf War.
A Pakistani kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq contacted his family in Pakistan to say he had been released. Earlier, two Turkish hostages were freed by guerrillas, apparently after promising to stop working for U.S. forces.
Jordan's King Abdullah told the BBC his country was ready to become the first Arab country to send peacekeepers to Iraq if the new government requested it. Iraqi leaders have previously said they do not want troops from any of Iraq's neighbors.
Rockets Hit Iraq Hotels, Poland Hails Arms Success
Jul 2, 4:57 PM (ET)
By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - ........Poland said its troops in Iraq had stopped old artillery shells from Saddam's era containing the deadly nerve agent cyclosarin falling into the hands of militants by buying the weapons after tip-offs. It gave few details.
POLAND SAYS MILITANTS SEEKING SHELLS
Poland said the shells found by its troops dated from the 1980s and that it had bought them through individuals who contacted officials in its military zone in south-central Iraq.
"We bought all the shells available ... Terrorists are seeking these missiles on the black market, offering a price of around $5,000 per warhead," General Marek Dukaczewski, head of army intelligence, told a news conference.
He said there was no evidence any shells had ended up in militants' hands.
Poland said its soldiers found 17 Grad rockets and two mortar shells in late June and that U.S. experts had carried out tests on the weapons.
"Tests conducted showed that there was cyclosarin in the rocket heads," said Dukaczewski.
But the U.S. military said only two of the rockets had tested positive for sarin gas, and that another 16 rockets found by the Poles had contained no chemical agents.
The reason for the discrepancy in figures was unclear.
"Our predictions and reports that Saddam Hussein did not come clean with a large sum of weapons, artillery shells and of weapons of mass destruction were proven true," said Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski.
"Some of those warheads were old but it could not be ruled out some could still be used," Szmajdzinski said.
Saddam's government said it produced cyclosarin munitions in the 1980s to fight Iran but was committed to destroying stocks and ceasing production by U.N. resolutions after the Gulf War.
A Pakistani kidnapped by Islamic militants in Iraq contacted his family in Pakistan to say he had been released. Earlier, two Turkish hostages were freed by guerrillas, apparently after promising to stop working for U.S. forces.
Jordan's King Abdullah told the BBC his country was ready to become the first Arab country to send peacekeepers to Iraq if the new government requested it. Iraqi leaders have previously said they do not want troops from any of Iraq's neighbors.
