Iraq busts Qaeda poison gas cell in Baghdad
IRAQ: Iraq's defence ministry said on Saturday it has broken
up an Al-Qaeda cell that was working to produce poison gas for attacks
within the country as well as in Europe and North America.
The group of five people built two facilities in Baghdad to produce
sarin and mustard gas, using instructions from another Al-Qaeda group,
spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told a news conference.
The members of the cell were prepared to launch attacks domestically,
and also had a network to smuggle the toxins to neighbouring countries,
and further afield to Europe and North America, Askari said. The arrest
of the cell members was possible because of cooperation between Iraqi
and foreign intelligence services, he added.
The United Nations said last month that sarin nerve gas may have been
used by rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in
neighbouring Syria.
Iraq and Syria share a 600-kilometre (375-mile) border, and officials
have warned that Al-Qaeda-linked Sunni militants opposed to Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad have
set up camp in Iraq's western desert region.
Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq is still active in the
country, launching regular attacks on government and civilian targets.
So far, the group has largely refrained from waging violence outside
Iraq, but earlier this year it publicly said it was linked to Syria's
Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group fighting the Assad regime. Saddam
Hussein's forces used poison gas to attack the Kurdish town of Halabja
in 1988, killing an estimated 5,000 people.
AFP |