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U.N. nuclear experts back in IraqOfficials will try to secure looted facility near Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A small team from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived Friday in Iraq to assess damage to a nuclear research center looted after the war. The experts from the U.N. nuclear body are on their first visit since the end of the U.S-led war, but the team will not conduct weapons inspections, spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said. Residents of villages surrounding the Tuwaitha nuclear facility, about six miles (10 kilometers) south of Baghdad, said they used drums from the site to hold water. The drums had contained uranium oxide, or yellowcake, which the villagers said was dumped on the ground. Yellowcake is highly toxic if ingested but gives off only low levels of radioactivity. Workers poured concrete over piles of yellowcake to contain it. "We will determine how much of it was looted, get control of as much as we can, put our seals on it, secure the facility and come home," Gwozdecky said. "We have in the last month or more sounded the alarm that these radioactive materials shouldn't be on the loose." The U.N. agency has said there is not enough nuclear material at Tuwaitha for a nuclear bomb. But substances there could be used for a "dirty bomb," made by combining conventional explosives with radioactive material. U.S. soldiers woundedU.S. forces continue to face pockets of resistance in Iraq. In Baghdad, two men, armed with pistols, wounded two U.S. soldiers guarding a bank in the center of the Iraqi capital, U.S. Central Command said. Soldiers returned fire, killing one of the assailants, a Central Command statement said. The other escaped. The motive of the attack is unknown. Officials also said a U.S. soldier was killed and five wounded Thursday in the central city of Fallujah, a hotbed of violence. An unknown assailant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in Fallujah, which is 43 miles (about 70 kilometers) west of Baghdad. In addition, two soldiers were killed and nine wounded in a firefight last week with hostile forces in Fallujah. On May 21, at least two Iraqis were killed when gunmen opened fire on a U.S. patrol in the city center with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. At the end of April and the beginning of May, 17 Iraqi civilians were killed in three days of clashes with U.S. troops. Seven U.S. soldiers were wounded. Questions about weaponsIn Washington, President Bush is facing growing criticism and calls for congressional hearings about his administration's prewar assertions on the threat posed by Iraq. Bush vowed Thursday to "reveal the truth" about what he has described as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Speaking to troops in Qatar, Bush suggested it shouldn't be surprising that no such weapons have been found. (Full story) Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that inspectors found no evidence before the March invasion that Iraq had reconstituted its chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs. But he also said that the Iraqi regime was unable to account for chemical or biological weapons it claimed to have destroyed and weapons inspectors couldn't clear up discrepancies before leaving Baghdad in advance of the invasion. (Full story) Other developments
• A U.S. Navy "Seabee" was killed and one was wounded Thursday in an explosion in Kut, according to Pentagon officials. The seaman was killed while working on a construction site and operating heavy equipment when either a land mine or unexploded ordnance detonated under the vehicle, a Pentagon official said. Officials say they believe the incident was not a hostile act. Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, is under Marine control. • Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz experienced chest pains this week and may have suffered a mild heart attack while in custody, U.S. officials said Thursday. Aziz, who has a history of heart problems, has received medical treatment for his condition since surrendering to the U.S. military in April, officials said. • A former Iraqi general who was believed killed in an April airstrike on his Basra home may be alive, senior Pentagon officials said. Intelligence from Iraqi detainees and other sources have led U.S. officials to change the status of Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majeed from "believed killed" to "unknown" on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis. Al-Majeed, a cousin of Saddam's, was given the moniker "Chemical Ali" because he is alleged to have ordered a deadly chemical weapons attack on Kurds in 1988. (Flash gallery: Iraq's most-wanted) • A senior Iraqi officer on active duty told the British government that Iraq was capable of firing chemical or biological weapons on 45 minutes' notice if Saddam gave the order, the Financial Times reported Thursday. Government officials told the newspaper they tried to find a second source for the information but were unable to do so. They relied on the information and distributed it because the official was a senior figure in Saddam's regime, not a defector, the British publication said. • In response to a news report, the British Home Office said Thursday it would not look favorably on an application to grant asylum to two of Saddam's daughters. A newspaper quoted a cousin, who lives in Leeds, as saying the women want to come to England. The Home Office said it had received no formal application and had "no evidence suggesting that Saddam Hussein's daughters would seek asylum in Britain." (Full story) CNN Producer Bruce Conover contributed to this report.
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