French VX tests

[Seb Wills <saw27@DELETETHIScam.ac.uk>]

On Sat, 31 Oct 1998, C.I. Rowat wrote:

> ... about the VX loadings.  While I have not
> followed these allegations closely I do know that the latest in the press
> seems to be that the VX findings have been replicated by French and Swiss
> labs; these tests were requested by the Iraqi government after a US
> military lab made the initial allegations. (source: Financial Times
> 27/10/98)

My last impression was that the French & Swiss tests were negative, so I
dug out the following three reports from 26th / 27th October. They're
quite revealing, but I'm still not clear exactly what's going on... 

------------

France urges more U.N.-Iraq talks on VX nerve gas

PARIS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday that United Nations
weapons inspector Richard Butler should continue his
talks with Iraq after studies seeking to prove Baghdad had battle-ready VX
nerve gas during the Gulf War were inconclusive.

The foreign ministry said the analyses of Iraqi warheads by laboratories
in the United States, France and Switzerland did not
prove that Baghdad had loaded the deadly gas into missile warheads before
the 1991 Gulf War.

Of the three reports issued by the U.N. on Monday evening, the U.S. study
asserted Baghdad had VX shells ready for use in
the war while the French and Swiss reports were inconclusive.

"At no point do the experts mention that the analyses proved Iraq had
succeeded in making VX militarily operative," foreign
ministry spokeswoman Anne Secret-Gazeau said.

"(Richard) Butler is right to suggest that he continue with further
discussions between the Special Commission and Iraq," she
said in reaction to the report released on Monday evening at the U.N.
headquarters in New York.

Butler is head of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), which
since Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War has overseen
the dismantling of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Diplomatic sources said 11 of the 46 warhead samples tested by the U.S.
laboratory were suspect and showed traces of
decomposing VX, a colourless liquid that turns into gas but needs a
chemical stabiliser to keep it from degrading.

The Swiss laboratory said it found no traces of chemical arms on the 83
samples it analysed, the sources said.

Of the 40 samples they analysed, the French chemical experts said in their
report that "only one sample turned up a degraded
product of a chemical warfare agent, although it could not be established
whether this was degraded VX or not."

The UNSCOM report said this trace "could be another agent such as sarin or
something else used for civilian purposes,"
Gazeau-Secret quoted it as saying.

Some arms experts have suggested these other chemical traces found on the
warheads could be from detergents used in an
attempt to wash off any traces of VX gas.

The diplomats said Paris hoped further discussions between Butler and the
Iraqis would clarify the source of the unidentified
agents.

Iraqi officials say they were not able to stabilize VX, which prevents the
transmission of nerve signals, causing loss of muscle
control, respiratory paralysis and death.

The UNSCOM report recommended that Butler ask Iraq to explain "the origin
and history of the fragments analyzed by all
three laboratories and then the presence of degradation products of nerve
agents."

No warhead with chemical or biological agents was fired during the Gulf
War, in which a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi troops
from Kuwait. But UNSCOM wanted to know if Iraq had loaded VX into warheads
in order to determine if any remained.

Stringent eight year-old U.N. sanctions are linked to demands Iraq destroy
and account for its weapons of mass destruction.
The embargoes were imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. 


--------------------------------------------------

Monday October 26, 11:04 PM

Experts confirm VX nerve gas findings in Iraq

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - International arms experts confirmed
American tests indicating Iraq had put the
deadly nerve gas VX into warheads before the 1991 Gulf War, contrary to
Baghdad's denials, a U.N. report said on Monday.

At the same time the report to the Security Council said tests done in a
French government laboratory may have found traces
linked to VX. But it also reveals a dispute among French and American
experts on the French findings.

The report also hinted that Iraq may have tried to decontaminate the
samples between the first American tests and those
conducted later in French and Swiss government laboratories.

It was submitted by 17 scientists from seven countries who analyzed
findings from the United States, France and Switzerland
on samples or swabs of Iraqi warhead fragments.

The reports' conclusions signify Baghdad may have hidden information on
its ability to put VX into warheads and now has to
account for its past program so U.N. inspectors can determine whether all
the dangerous arms were destroyed.

"The existence of VX degradation products conflicts with Iraq's
declarations that the unilaterally destroyed special warheads
had never been filled with any CW (chemical weapons) agents," the report
said.

"All analytical data provided by the three laboratories were again
considered as conclusive and valid," it added.

Iraq has admitted putting Sarin, a gas that causes spasms, nausea and
possible death, into warheads but has denied it was able
to load VX before the 1991 Gulf War.

The tests have been a source of controversy since June, when a U.S. army
laboratory at Aberdeen, Maryland, said it found
traces of VX in 11 of the 46 swipes it analyzed in May. Iraq accused the
United States of faking the results and insisted French
and Swiss laboratories duplicate them.

Samples from different areas of a warhead dump in Iraq were then given to
Swiss and French government laboratories in July.
The report said tests from Switzerland proved negative as did a second
round of U.S. tests from other samples.

France, according to the report, found a "degradation product" of a nerve
agent in one sample, which could be VX, or other
nerve agents, Sarin and Soman.

But French scientists said their findings of nerve agents could also
originate from other compounds, such as detergents.
However, the U.S. experts "said that they are not aware of any such
compounds in connection with any commercial product,"
according to the report.

But the report also said tests from French and Swiss laboratories and a
second round of American tests from samples taken in
June and July all found chemicals associated with a decontamination
compound.

Some arms experts suggested an attempt had been made to remove traces of
any nerve gas.

The "presence of certain non-chemical weapons related compounds" in the
Swiss, French and second American samples "has
no obvious explanation," the report said.

VX, a colorless liquid that turns into gas, needs a stabilizer to keep it
from degrading. Iraqi officials say they were not able to
stabilize VX, which prevents the transmission of nerve signals, causing
loss of muscle control, respiratory paralysis and death.

The experts, called together by the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM), in
charge of dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction, met at U.N. headquarters on Thursday and Friday.

"It is recommended that UNSCOM invite Iraq to explain first the origin and
history of the fragments analyzed by all three
laboratories and then the presence of degradation products of nerve
agents," the experts said in the report.

Iraq was also asked to give more data on its efforts from "mid-1988 to the
end of 1990 to develop and produce VX by
improved synthetic routes."

No warhead with chemical or biological agents was fired during the Gulf
War, in which a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi troops
from Kuwait. But UNSCOM wanted to know if Iraq had loaded VX into warheads
in order to determine if any remained.

Stringent eight year-old U.N. sanctions are linked to demands that Iraq
destroy and account for its weapons of mass
destruction. The embargoes were imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August
1990. 

-----------------------------------------------------

Tuesday October 27, 3:05 PM

New Iraqi nerve gas analysis doesn't end dispute

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - International scientists have concluded
that Iraq misled U.N. arms experts by
denying it had ever filled missile warheads with the deadly VX nerve gas.

But their finely-tuned report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday was
just vague enough to keep the political controversy
going on how many banned warheads Baghdad retained, if any, diplomats
said.

The panel, organized by the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of
Iraqi disarmament, confirmed tests by a U.S.
army laboratory in Aberdeen, Md. that showed traces of VX on 11 of 46
warhead fragments taken from an Iraqi dump site.

"The existence of VX degradation (decomposed) products conflicts with
Iraq's declarations that the unilaterally destroyed
special warheads had never been filled with any chemical weapons agents,"
the report said.

But subsequent long-awaited tests from a French military laboratory on
fragments from different areas of the dump site were
inconclusive and led to a dispute between French and American experts,
according to the report.

A third laboratory in Switzerland found no traces of any nerve gas. A
second round of U.S. tests was also negative.

UNSCOM has accounted for 75 destroyed missile warheads, some filled with
biological and chemical substances, before the
1991 Gulf War. But its inspectors want to make sure there are no more
warheads following Baghdad's denial it was not able to
fill any with VX for loading onto Scud missiles. .

Although the 17 experts from 7 countries submitted a joint report,
diplomats said the results could be used to bolster the
positions of France, Russia and China, which are more sympathetic to Iraq,
because only the United States reported definitive
positive results.

With stringent U.N. sanctions against Iraq in their eighth year, UNSCOM is
under increasing scrutiny. Baghdad attacks the
commission almost daily as a lackey of the United States and says it no
longer has any weapons of mass destruction.

French scientists, the report said, maintained their tests showed possible
but not conclusive decomposed traces of VX or of
two other nerve gases, Sarin and Soman.

However, they also argued the decomposed chemicals could originate from
other compounds, such as detergents. But
American experts were adamant the compounds did not fit the description of
"any commercial product," the report said.

Iraq has admitted putting Sarin, a gas that causes spasms, nausea and
possible death, into warheads but has denied it was able
to load VX before the 1991 Gulf War. None of the biological or chemical
warheads were fired during the war.

Nevertheless, the report, following meetings of the experts on Thursday
and Friday, made clear that analytical data provided
from the U.S., French and Swiss laboratories were all considered "valid."

Iraq now had to explain the presence of substances associated with VX and
to provide more data on its programs "to develop
and produce VX" from mid-1988 to the end of 1991.

Another mystery was a "decontamination" compound found in tests from the
French and Swiss laboratories and a second
round of American tests from samples taken in June and July.

The report said this did not support Iraq's declarations that these the
containers for the warheads had been in contact with
alcohols only. Some experts suggested privately that Iraqi experts tried
to wipe them clean before testing but UNSCOM
officials said there was no proof of this.

VX, a colorless liquid that turns into gas, needs a stabilizer to keep it
from degrading, which Iraq says it was unable to produce.
VX prevents the transmission of nerve signals, causing loss of muscle
control, paralysis and death.

The tests have been a source of controversy since June, when the American
laboratory found the traces of VX. Iraq accused
the United States of faking the results for political reasons and insisted
other countries duplicate them.



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