- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq
on Thursday denied U.S. accusations that it has developed and produced
biological weapons and said it is Washington that has been researching
germ warfare.
-
- ``Iraq ended its biological program in 1991 in compliance
with the Convention that it has joined in the same year,'' a Foreign Ministry
spokesman said.
-
- ``The United States has unleashed in the past few years
a new program for secret researches for biological weapons and not Iraq,''
he added.
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- The spokesman said U.N. weapons inspectors affirmed that
Iraq no longer possessed biological weapons or any other banned weapons.
-
- On Monday, the opening day of the three-week conference
in Geneva aimed at strengthening the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention,
the United States accused Iraq and North Korea of having such weapons.
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- ``The U.S. official has affirmed double standards adopted
by America by directing false accusation against a group of states, the
majority of them are Arab and Muslim countries, without presenting any
evidence to these accusations,'' the Iraqi spokesman said.
-
- ``The U.S. official exempted the Zionist entity (Israel)
from any criticism or accusation, though it has refused to sign the Biological
Weapons Convention and despite that evidence indicating its possession
of mass destruction weapons were known to the whole world,'' the spokesman
added.
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- Iraq has said it once had a program to develop germ warfare
weapons, but says that all stocks have been destroyed.
-
- But it has refused to allow access to United Nations
inspectors since 1998. Washington says it has since strengthened its biological
arsenal.
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