(Jerusalem Post) - Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim The German government suppressed evidence of smallpox virus arsenals in Iraq for months, fearing such news could undermine Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder's re-election campaign, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. A report written by senior officials in the Health Ministry last August cited German intelligence reports that batches of smallpox virus were stored in Iraq, as well as in North Korea and in non-government laboratories in Russia. The report called for the immediate purchase of millions of doses of smallpox vaccines and presented estimates that as many as 20 million Germans could die in the event of a biological attack. It also warned that "terror groups are attempting to manufacture biological weapons."
2003-02-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive