JERUSALEM Ñ Israel has accused Syria of harboring Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction.
Israeli officials said Syria has agreed to store Iraqi biological and
chemical weapons over the last few months. They said the regime of President
Bashar Assad responded to an Iraqi request that sought to hide the WMD
assets from United Nations inspectors.
The Iraqi assets were said to have included mobile biological facilities
as well as chemical munitions. Officials said some of the assets are located
along the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, Middle East Newsline reported.
"What we believe, and I say that we have not yet confirmed it
conclusively, is that weapons he wants to hide Ñ chemical and biological
weapons Ñ have indeed been sent to Syria," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
said. "Saddam Hussein wanted to hide his weapons, and I think that the
Americans know that."
Later, a senior Israeli intelligence official said Sharon had played
down
evidence of Syrian complicity in Iraq's WMD deployment. The official said
the United States has already examined evidence provided by Israel.
"We have solid evidence," the official said. "This is not a hunch or
speculation."
In a television interview, Sharon said Iraqi scientists are helping
develop a nuclear weapons infrastructure in Libya. He did not elaborate.
"Iraqi experts and scientists are working in the nuclear industry in
Libya," Sharon said.
