The Iraqi Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 179

nected to the viral program, was also planned, but was said not to have
been established. UNMOVIC is not entirely clear what the objectives of
these BW genetic engineering projects were, but it speculates that in real-
ity probably very little was achieved.
Other work during the period included experiments on the drying of
anthrax. Spray dryers for anthrax spores were included on Iraq's equip-
ment requirement list in April 1988. In 1989 Iraq signed a contract with a
foreign company for the supply of a dryer suitable for this purpose. At the
end of that year, a visit to the company by a senior Iraqi scientist was
made, and a small sample of anthrax simulant was dried during a demon-
stration of the company's equipment. UNMOVIC has evidence that in
1990, in anticipation of receiving the dryer, Iraq conducted a series of ex-
periments on a laboratory scale at Al Hakam to determine the best com-
pounds to add to anthrax spores to assist in the drying process. However,
in March 1990 the company withdrew from the contract because an ex-
port license for the special dryer could not be obtained. UNMOVIC has
evidence that the drying experiments at Al Hakam then stopped (at least
for 1990).
Field Trials of BWWeapons
UNMOVIC states that from documentation it appears that field trials of
122-millimeter rockets as a BW delivery system were conducted, possibly
in November or December 1989. No test of any other BW weapon sys-
tems is declared by Iraq for 1989.
Further Enhancement of the Program
On 2 April 1990 President Saddam Hussein declared: “I say that if Israel
dares to hit even one piece of steel on any industrial site, we will make
the fire eat half of Israel . . . Let them hear, here and now, that we do pos-
sess binary chemical weapons which only the United States and Soviet
Union have.” 6
This statement stimulated a number of WMD developments. Iraq has
stated that, along with other military establishments, Al Hakam was re-
quired to respond to this new perceived threat. Consequently, a series
of hurriedly organized dynamic tests of 122-millimeter BW rockets was