Britain, considered hostile by Saddam, faces anthrax threat

LONDON, March 24: British Intelligence sources are reported to have uncovered a plot by Saddam Hussein to flood Britain with the deadly germ...

LONDON, March 24: British Intelligence sources are reported to have uncovered a plot by Saddam Hussein to flood Britain with the deadly germ anthrax, disguised as duty-free goods. The intelligence reports, which are said to originate with someone inside the Iraqi government in Baghdad, revealed that Iraq intended to smuggle large quantities of the germ anthrax into "hostile countries," including Britain, who threatened military action against Iraq during the stand-off over UN weapons inspections. Information about the threat was revealed following the leaking of an "all-ports" warning issued by the British government to The Sun newspaper.

The warning, approved by Tony Blair was issued on March 18. According to the British press, the date of the memo is an indication that the government still regarded the threat as serious despite the last minute agreement on weapons inspections that Kofi Anan extracted in Baghdad to avert British and American air attacks on Iraq.

The government bulletin, circulatedon a "need to know" basis to Customs and Excise, Special Branch police, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, describes a plot to smuggle large quantities of anthrax into "hostile countries" in bottles containing spirits, cosmetics, cigarette lighters and perfume sprays. It warns, "Iraq may launch a chemical and biological attack using materials disguised as harmless fluids. Could officers therefore be alert for any items which may contain harmful substances. Particular attention should be given to containers of any size holding liquids with specific characteristics."

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Some sections of the press say that no comparable warning about the possibility of a biological attack has ever been issued before. Although a British Home Office minister, Mike O’Brian, told BBC today that the government received and prepared for all manner of terrorist threats, and that this was only one such. He said, "Periodically we have information that there are threats and we step up vigilance when that occurs. We don’t wantto get people particularly scared at the moment." He added, "I don’t think this is a greater threat than many of the others that have been made."

Anthrax, or the bacterium Bacillus Anthracis, is one of the most deadly components in Saddam’s biological arsenal. Anthrax, which infects animals and humans, kills within four days of inhalation, and 80 percent of cases are fatal. Experts say a "spoonful" of anthrax spores could kill 100,000 people if distributed effectively — for instance through aerosol sprays or crop spraying equipment. Ironically, Britain was one of the countries which assisted Saddam’s weapon’s capability, and among the components that Iraq acquired from Britain was the growth medium on which anthrax is bred.

Saddam Hussein has used chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds in the northern town of Halabja, and against the Marsh Arabs in the south. Iraq also used chemical weapons against Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq war. There are, however, no recorded instances of Iraq having deployedits biological war capability.