Saddam’s scientists freed as US house of cards starts to tumble
`The British-educated Iraqi microbiologist known as Dr Germ is among two dozen senior Baathist prisoners who have been freed after more than 2½ years in US detention, it was disclosed yesterday. [..]
Huda Ammash, the US-trained scientist nicknamed Chemical Sally or Mrs Anthrax, has also been released. She and Dr Taha were both high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein’s party and had been accused of being central figures in his biological weapons programme.
Dr Taha was even named in the dossier on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction that the British Government released in September 2002 to make the case for war.
Other high-value detainees released without charge from prison in the Iraqi capital in recent days include Humam Abd al-Khaliq, the former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Like Dr Ammash, he featured in the 55 most wanted deck of cards released by the US military during the 2003 invasion. [..]
The timing of the women scientists’ release was particularly acute, with President Bush conceding his Administration’s “intelligence failure on weapons of mass destruction”.’
