Iraqi mobile labs nothing to do with germ 
warfare, report finds  
 
Peter Beaumont, Antony Barnett and Gaby Hinsliff 
Sunday June 15, 2003 
The Observer  
 
An official British investigation into two trailers found in 
northern Iraq has concluded they are not mobile germ warfare 
labs, as was claimed by Tony Blair and President George Bush, but 
were for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, 
as the Iraqis have continued to insist. 

The conclusion by biological weapons experts working for the 
British Government is an embarrassment for the Prime Minister, 
who has claimed that the discovery of the labs proved that Iraq 
retained weapons of mass destruction and justified the case for 
going to war against Saddam Hussein. 

Instead, a British scientist and biological weapons expert, who 
has examined the trailers in Iraq, told The Observer last week: 
'They are not mobile germ warfare laboratories. You could not use 
them for making biological weapons. They do not even look like 
them. They are exactly what the Iraqis said they were - 
facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons.' 

The conclusion of the investigation ordered by the British 
Government - and revealed by The Observer last week - is hugely 
embarrassing for Blair, who had used the discovery of 
the alleged mobile labs as part of his efforts to silence 
criticism over the failure of Britain and the US to find any 
weapons of mass destruction since the invasion of Iraq. 

The row is expected to be re-ignited this week with Robin Cook 
and Clare Short, the two Cabinet Ministers who resigned over the 
war, both due to give evidence to a House of Commons inquiry into 
whether intelligence was manipulated in the run-up to the war. It 
will be the first time that both have been grilled by their peers 
on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee over what the Cabinet was 
told in the run-up to the war. 

MPs will be keen to explore Cook's explanation when he resigned 
that, while he believed Iraq did have some WMD capability, he did 
not believe it was weaponised. 

The Prime Minister and his director of strategy and 
communications, Alastair Campbell, are expected to decline 
invitations to appear. While MPs could attempt to force them, 
this is now thought unlikely to happen. 

The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is expected to give evidence 
the week after. The revelation that the mobile labs were to 
produce hydrogen for artillery balloons will also cause 
discomfort for the British authorities because the Iraqi army's 
original system was sold to it by the British company, Marconi 
Command & Control.  


Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003