CIA finds chemical weapons ties between Al Qaida and Saddam regime

The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Al Qaida joined the former Saddam Hussein regime to develop chemical weapons.
The Iraqi insurgency CW effort was attributed to the Mohammed Army, based in Fallujah and regarded as an Al Qaida offshoot. A CIA report said the group recruited a Baghdad chemist in late 2003 to develop chemical agents, including tabun and mustard.

The CIA said a network of Sunni insurgents sought to develop chemical weapons against the U.S.-led coalition in 2004. The network, called Al Abud, was detected and tracked by the Iraq Survey Group (ISG).

The Abud network sought chemicals and equipment needed to conduct CW experiments. The network encountered little difficulty in acquiring desired chemicals, including malathion pesticide and nitrogen mustard precursors. Most of the chemicals were acquired from farmers who looted state companies.

Al Abud also used the Mohammed Army to supply delivery systems for CW agents. The army reportedly provided mortar shells to be filled with CW agents. An experiment that mixed malathion and other chemicals to produce the nerve agent tabun in late December 2003 was termed a failure.

"ISG created a team of experts � including operators, analysts and technical ops officers � to systematically investigate and disrupt the Al Abud network and diffuse the immediate threat posed by the insurgents," stated the CIA report, dated Sept. 30, 2004. "The team also focused on identifying links between Al Abud players and former regime CBW experts to determine whether WMD intellectual capital was being tapped by insurgent elements throughout Iraq."

By June 2004, ISG was able to identify and neutralize the chemical suppliers and chemists, including Saddam operatives, who supported the Abud network. U.S. Special Forces conducted a series of raids of Al Abud laboratories and safe houses and detained members.

"The most alarming aspect of the Abud network is how quickly and effectively the group was able to mobilize key resources and tap relevant expertise to develop a program for weaponizing CW agents," the report said.

"If the insurgents had been able to acquire the necessary materials, fine-tune their agent production techniques and better understand the principles behind effectively dispersing CW, then the consequences of the Abud network's project could have been devastating to coalition forces," the report stated.

"The Al Abud network used their malathion mixture to weaponize nine mortar rounds," the report said. "The mortars likely are an ineffective means of dispersing the malathional because the detonation of the mortar will consume the poison. Malathion and tabun have similar chemical structures, however it is not possible to create tabun from malathion. The Al Abud chemist understood this limitation, but probably continued with the experiments to appease the insurgents."

In February 2004, Al Abud tried to produce nitrogen mustard. This also failed. The network then tried to produce binary mustard, again unsuccessfully.

The report said ISG failed to find evidence to confirm that the Abud network comprised an integrated part of a larger insurgency campaign in Iraq. Most of the figures in the Abud network have been sympathetic to the insurgency cause.

"ISG has found no evidence that the recent chemical weaponization attempts stem from the former regime's CW program or represent a prescribed plan by the former regime to fuel an insurgency," the report said. "However, many of the known Al Abud personalities have ties to the former regime through either business relationships or political affiliations."

[On April 12, the U.S. Justice Department reported the indictment of three British nationals accused of planning a WMD attack on New York and Washington in 2000 and 2001. One of the three was said to include a leading Al Qaida operative.]

[On April 12, the U.S. military reported the capture of leaders of three Al Qaida-aligned groups during an operation in Baghdad. Officers identified the groups as Ansar Al Sunna group, Ansar Al Islam and the Tawhid and Jihad group, led by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi.]