Some 200 companies from 30 countries have provided Saddam Hussein with the equipment and technology to build an atomic bomb, according to Iraq's 1996 nuclear program dossier, submitted to UN last week and leaked to AP.
Over half of the firms listed in the report were German, while other key suppliers who helped Iraq’s $10 billion nuclear efforts from the early 1980s to the Gulf War include British, American and Japanese firms.
Most of the sales were conducted not in defiance of the international weapons embargo on Iraq, but rather under authorization from the concerned governments, which were unaware of the products’ intended use.
According to the Die tageszeitung, well known German firms including Daimler-Benz, MAN and Siemens, were named among the witting or unwitting contributors to Iraq's arms build-up. American firms pointed out by the German daily include Hewlett Packard, Honeywell, Rockwell, Bechtel, ICS and Unisys. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
