WRITTEN ANSWER BY JACK STRAW
UK FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY

UK HOUSE OF COMMONS

May 2, 2002

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of unaccounted for stocks of Iraqi precursor chemicals, chemical agent and special munitions, based on the findings of the UN Special Commission.

Mr. Straw: In answer to questions on 12 March 2002, Official Report, columns 743–45, I said that weapons inspectors were unable to account for 4,000 tonnes of so-called precursor chemicals used in the production of weapons; 610 tonnes of precursor chemicals used in the production of nerve gas; and 31,000 chemical weapons munitions.

This information was the best available at the time, and was based on Iraqi declarations to UNSCOM inspectors between 1991–98 and data contained in an UNSCOM report published in 1999.

Since I gave this answer, Her Majesty's Government has carried out a more detailed study. This latest assessment of the quantities of material unaccounted for by UNSCOM inspectors which has potential applications in Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programmes is as follows:

Up to 3,000 tonnes of precursor chemicals, approximately 300 tonnes of which, in the Iraqi CW programme, were unique to the production of VX nerve agent;

Up to 360 tonnes of bulk CW agent including 1.5 tonnes of VX; and

Over 30,000 special munitions for delivery of chemical and biological agents;

Large quantities of growth media acquired for use in the production of biological weapons—enough to produce over three times the amount of anthrax Iraq admits to having manufactured.

These figures represent our latest assessment. This assessment is subject to continual review in the light of any updates from UNMOVIC or incoming intelligence reports. Some of the estimates are unchanged. The changes we have made do not alter our view on the scale of the Iraqi WMD threat. Indeed, they reinforce our judgment that Iraq's chemical and biological capabilities are substantial and a very real danger to the region and the wider world. We shall be releasing further material about this threat in due course.

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