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Iraqis attempted to buy missile guidance equipment from Romania, CNN learns
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| Iraq sought sophisticated missile technology from a Romanian company | |
Web posted at: 1:53 p.m. EST (1853 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A team of top Iraqi missile engineers visited Bucharest, Romania, in May and tried to obtain sophisticated missile technology through go-betweens from a company controlled by the Romanian government, as reported by NewsStand: CNN & Time.
The Iraqis were attempting to obtain guidance equipment that would allow them to build a missile capable of hitting major Middle Eastern capitals such as Tehran, Iran; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Tel Aviv, Israel.
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What the Iraqis in Bucharest did not know was that intelligence agencies from three nations -- including the United States -- were watching and listening.
"We had the information. We had the goods on the Iraqis," said former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, "clear and irrefutable evidence of Iraq's prohibited activities. We caught them red-handed."
Iraqi officials told NewsStand that they would withhold comment until after they had seen the report.
The intelligence agencies and the arms inspectors learned about the Iraqi mission through a secret effort begun three years ago code-named "Operation Teacup" in which the United Nations attempted to cooperate with the intelligence agencies of a number of U.N. member countries.
The United Nations Special Commission on Iraq became interested in Romania in 1995 when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's son-in-law defected to Jordan. Thousands of documents were found at his chicken farm concerning Iraq's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.
A contract found there and obtained by CNN showed that the Romanian aerospace company Aerofina had committed to selling illegal missile technology to Iraq.
Cooperation between the Romanians and the intelligence agencies assured that the Iraqi trip failed, but the agencies involved vetoed UNSCOM's proposal to make the matter public.
"We had the proof. We couldn't present it. And that's where we are today," said Ritter.