TT On-The-Go
TT Feed
| Iraq says captures al-Qaeda chemical gas team |
|
 |
 |
 |
Font Size 
.jpg) BAGHDAD - Iraq captured a suspected al-Qaeda cell that planned to produce chemical poisons such as mustard gas to attack Iraqi forces and to ship overseas for attacks on Europe and the United States, the government said on Saturday, Reuters reported.
The announcement was made as investigators look into allegations over the use of sarin nerve gas in next-door Syria where foreign-sponsored rebels and the government have blamed each other for using chemical weapons.
During the height of the Iraq war, al-Qaeda in Iraq used chlorine gas in its explosives to poison areas where their bombs detonated and Saddam Hussein used chemical gas to attack Iraqi Kurdish villages in the north.
Five men were caught before they could manufacture any gas or chemical weapons in makeshift factories in Baghdad and another province, Mohammed Al-Askari, a defense ministry spokesman told reporters.
"They got some programs from al-Qaeda outside Iraq, they were working ... to produce mustard gas ... and other gas," he said. "There are some confessions about organized cells to smuggle them outside Iraq through a neighboring country in order to target Europe, America and different capitals."
Officials showed reporters three suspects dressed in yellow jumpsuits with their heads covered by masks. They also displayed bottles of chemicals and other lab equipment as well as remote controlled toy helicopters authorities said the men planned to use to disperse the gas.
Meanwhile, a group of doctors working in Syria said on Friday its members had seen dozens of patients suffering from what they believe are chemical weapons attacks, saying the number seemed to be rising.
"We have dozens of cases of people hurt in what seems to be chemical attacks, especially civilians," Tawfik Chamaa, a founding member of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (UOSSM), told AFP.
The organization, which has dozens of doctors in field hospitals across Syria, said 97 percent of the victims were civilians, and that the cases were mainly concentrated in the suburbs of Damascus.
  Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
|