Captured by Iraqi
authorities, men charged with being part of an
al-Qaeda chemical weapons
team are displayed on Iraq television.
Iraq's Latest al-Qaeda 'Bombshell' (Khaleej
Times, United Arab Emirates)
"The Iraqi government's claim that the ultimate aim of the
group was to smuggle the agents to Europe and North America will kick off
investigations on a far broader scale. ... Iraq, which sits at the crossroads between
Syria and Iran, must ensure that its porous borders and unstable political
environment are not used as pretexts for the export of terror."
A soldier holds a bottle said to contain some of the raw materials for creating a chemical weapon, during a news conference at the Iraq Defense Ministry, Baghdad, June 1. They were taken from men the government claims are al-Qaeda operatives intent on exporting them to the U.S. and Europe.
Iraq's
announcement that it has unearthed an al-Qaeda plot to lay hands on its chemical weapons is nothing short of a bombshell.
Indeed,
it has opened a Pandora’s box, and at a time when the country is sliding toward
anarchy and sectarian killings have quite literally unnerved the administration
in Baghdad. Iraqi authorities claim that they were tail-teasing a group of
people who allegedly wanted to smuggle out of the country toxic agents,
including sarin and mustard gas. The group is also
said to have had designs on using them inside Iraq. To substantiate its
revelations, the Iraqi Defense Ministry paraded four men on television it says
were arrested. The plot thickened further with the "stated"
confessions of the accused - who were produced with black hoods on their heads.
The men reportedly say they received instructions from another al-Qaeda
offshoot. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry says that cooperation between Iraqi
and foreign intelligence services made the arrests possible, which is a good
omen for the security-scared Arab country.
The
plot cannot be brushed aside as an isolated incident. Al-Qaeda and its
accomplices have been the only terrorists to use chemical weapons. They reportedly
detonated 16 crude chlorine bombs in 2006 and 2007, and its splinter organization
in Syria recently attempted to use toxic material to further its objectives. This
is also in keeping with terrorist group's agenda in Yemen and Afghanistan,
where they sought to pursue bio-warfare. The Iraqi government’s claim that the ultimate
aim of the group was to smuggle the agents to Europe and North America will
kick off investigations on a far broader scale.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
After
being alerted by a series of fiascos like the bombing plot in Times Square and
the Boston Marathon blasts, Washington had also been suspicious of foul play
from groups in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.
The
very fact that people affiliated with a terrorist group have managed to
infiltrate Iraq's security services, as is evident from this disclosure, is a
serious issue for the embattled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Though his government has already carried
out a purge of the bureaucracies, both civil and military, the uncovering of
this plot must be carefully looked into to flush out the black sheep.
Iraq,
which sits at the crossroads between Syria and Iran, must ensure that its
porous borders and an unstable political environment are not used as pretexts
for the export of terror.
