EGYPT ASSISTED IRAQ'S CW PROGRAM

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Egypt provided significant help to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.

The CIA determined in a report that Egypt helped the former Saddam Hussein regime weaponize chemical agents used in the war against Iran as well as against the Kurdish insurgency. The report said Egypt supplied technology and personnel to develop an Iraqi chemical weapons infrastructure.

"During the early years, Egyptian scientists provided consultation, technology, and oversight allowing rapid advances and technological leaps in weaponization," the CIA's Iraq Survey Group said in a report.

The report, dated Sept. 30, 2004, said Egypt helped Iraq with CW production during its war against Iran. In the first official disclosure of Egypt's help to Iraqi WMD programs, the Iraqi Survey Group cited Cairo's export of delivery systems to Baghdad and changes to Iraqi weapons.