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U.S. troops search for chemical, biological weaponsIraqi camp alleged to be source of ricin found in London
NORTHERN IRAQ (CNN) -- U.S. forces have begun combing a bombed site in northern Iraq in search of chemical and biological weapons after airstrikes hit the facility this weekend, the top U.S. general said Sunday. The complex is believed to be where the lethal poison ricin was produced for an alleged plot to attack London, England, that has since been foiled, said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The site belonged to Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic militia that U.S. officials say is linked to the al Qaeda terrorist network. It is in a Kurd-dominated region outside the direct control of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "We're now in there on the ground and starting our investigation of exactly who's up there and what's up there," Myers said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." "It's from this site where people were trained and where poisons were developed that migrated into Europe." Myers said AC-130 gunships -- aircraft used by Special Forces that are equipped with a 105 mm cannon and other side-firing weapons -- pounded the facility to "take care of the target before the folks on the ground went in." He said Kurdish forces were aiding in the hunt on the ground. The camp in northeastern Iraq, Myers said, is riddled with tunnels and other underground complexes. Myers said the facility is "probably where the ricin that was found in London probably came from" or at least "the operatives and maybe some of the formulas came from this site." Seven men were arrested January 5 in connection with a raid by British police in London where traces of ricin -- one of the world's deadliest poisons -- were discovered. In addition, equipment that could be used to produce the poison was found in one of two flats raided in north and east London. About a dozen suspects have since been arrested in connection with the case. U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, have said the facility in northern Iraq is believed to be linked to the plot. However, some European intelligence officials have questioned those links, saying they believe the ricin found in the London raid was homemade. U.S.-led teams have not uncovered any weapons of mass destruction at the Iraqi site, but Myers noted that the search has just begun. Laptop computers and documents have been found. "We're going to have to put these pieces together," Myers said. "We have people that are working that." U.S. forces have captured people at the site, Myers said, and added that they have found bodies of people other than Iraqis and Iranians. "We don't know for sure, but they're most likely al Qaeda," Myers said. At the U.S. Central Command briefing in Qatar, Gen. Tommy Franks said coalition forces "have attacked and destroyed a massive terrorist facility in the last 48 hours in northern Iraq, and ground forces, as we speak, are exploiting the results of that strike." "We'll see how it goes over the days ahead as that camp is fully exploited. It is literally huge," Franks said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin can kill through injection, inhalation or ingestion. It is most deadly if injected: An amount the size of a pinhead could kill, according to the CDC. There is no antidote for ricin, which is a byproduct of castor oil production and can be made by amateurs.
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