Report: Saddam May Already Be Using Chemical Weapons
NewsMax Wires
Monday, September 10, 2001
Middle East News Wire reports that Kuwaiti officials have raised the prospect that Iraq might have used nonconventional weapons to kill hundreds of tons of fish in the Persian Gulf.
Kuwaiti officials said they suspect that the regime of President Saddam Hussein might have used biological or chemical weapons to poison fish in Kuwaiti territorial waters.
Defense Minister Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah said Iraq has deployed both biological and chemical weapons. Mubarak said Kuwait cannot rule out that Iraq used these weapons to destroy the fish.
The aim, Mubarak said, appears to be to eliminate the Kuwaiti fish industry. The minister was quoted by the A-Siyassi daily that Kuwait is investigating the toxic waste found in its territorial waters.
The death of the fish has led to cancellation of orders for Kuwaiti fish from Gulf Cooperation Council states. So far, 2,000 tons of dead fish have been washed up on the coast of Kuwait.
Gulf relations with Baghdad were high on the agenda of the GCC foreign ministers meeting, which ended on Saturday. The GCC condemned Iraqi threats against its neighbors during a discussion on the economic, military and political situation in the Gulf and the Middle East.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
