Subject: IRAQI AL QAIM CHEMICAL FACILITY

Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence







TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN

REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN

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THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON

REQUEST.







DEC 90     DIRECTOR 433380



WARNING: INFORMATION REPORT NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE





COUNTRY: IRAQ



SUBJ: 1. COMMENTS ON IRAQI AL QAIM CHEMICAL FACILITY AND

ITS DEFENSES







DOI:          1990







E. INSIDE THE "CHOCOLATE FACTORY" BUT OUTSIDE THE

BARRACKS AREA WERE 18 METAL VATS, EACH ABOUT 20 FEET HIGH AND 10 FEET

IN DIAMETER. THERE WERE "BIG MIXING PADDLES  WITH  MOTORS  ON  TOP  GOING

ALL THE TIME."              FREQUENTLY  SAW  TECHNICIANS,  WEARING   BLUE

SMOCKS AND CARRYING CLIPBOARDS, WHO WOULD TAKE SOME SORT OF READINGS;

THERE WAS ALSO A SENSOR THAT WOULD SOUND AN ALARM OCCASIONALLY. WHEN

THE ALARM SOUNDED, THE TECHNICIANS WOULD HURRY TO ASCERTAIN THE

PROBLEM. ONE DAY IN EARLY NOVEMBER THE SENSOR ACTIVATED A WATER

SYSTEM WHICH DOUSED THE 18 VATS AT THE "CHOCOLATE FACTORY." TWO DAYS

LATER, THE ENTIRE AL QAIM  FACILITY  WAS  SHUT  DOWN--OSTENSIBLY  BECAUSE

OF THE        SABOTAGE EFFORTS                                    THE VATS WERE

OUTSIDE THE FACTORY, AND WERE ARRANGED IN THREE PARALLEL LINES, SIX

VATS TO A LINE. ON THE SIDE OF THE VATS OPPOSITE THE FACTORY WAS A

TWO-STORY CINDERBLOCK BUILDING. ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THIS BUILDING

WERE RED AND GREEN LIGHTED INSTRUMENT  PANELS  WHICH  WERE  VISIBLE  AT

NIGHT FROM THE           BARRACKS. ON THE  SECOND  FLOOR,  TWO  OR  THREE

WHITE-SMOCKED PEOPLE COULD BE SEEN. BELOW THE VATS WAS A MOAT IN

WHICH THE WATER LEVEL WAS CONSTANTLY CHECKED AND ADJUSTED. THE

STAGNANT WATER IN THE MOAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A MOSQUITO PROBLEM IN

THE COMPOUND.                          SURMISED THAT THE VATES  WERE  MADE  BY A

COMPANY, AS PHOTOGRAPHS OF SIMILIAR VATS ON THE  WALL  OF  THE

"CHOCOLATE FACTORY" WERE LABLED           AT  THE  "CHOCOLATE   FACTORY"

THE           ALSO SAW           SHIPPING BOXES, WHICH SPELLED THE

LOCATION "AL KAIM."



F.  DURING TRIPS TO HOSPITALS AND TO THE CABIN CAMP FOR

EXERCISE                    ABLE TO OBSERVE THE  AREA  FROM  OUTSIDE  THE

"CHOCOLATE FACTORY" CONCRETE ENCLOSURE TO THE MAIN FACILITY AT AL

QAIM. THE ENTIRE FACILITY MEASURES APPROXIMATELY 8 KM BY 8 OR 10 KM,

AND GUARDS SAID IT WAS 8 YEARS OLD. THE MAIN PLANT WAS "HUGE" AND

HAD "HUGE" PILES OF GREEN AND WHITE MATERIAL OUTSIDE IT.

THE GREEN MATERIAL PROBABLY WAS SULPHUR, THE WHITE MATERIAL

PROBABLY WAS AMMONIA.) WHEN THE WIND BLEW, THE AMMONIA-SMELLING

WHITE SUBSTANCE WOULD LIGHTLY COAT EVERYTHING.          AL

QAIM, DEVELOPED SKIN RASHES CHARACTERIZED BY BLISTERS; THESE

RASHES  DISAPPEARED  COMPLETELY  WHEN  THE  FACILITY  STOPPED  OPERATING.

"A LOT" OF PHOSPHOROUS WAS SEEN  AT  THE  FACILITY.  THERE  WAS  CONSTANT

RAIL TRAFFIC INTO AND OUT OF THE MAIN PLANT, AND THE BOXCARS--

GENERALLY 10 TO 15 PER  LOCOMOTIVE--WERE  ALWAYS  COVERED.  THERE  WERE

ALWAYS AT LEAST 100 CARS SITTING ON TRAIN SPURS. THE "CHOCOLATE

FACTORY" WAS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 200 METERS FROM A ROAD, AND THE

COULD HEAR TRUCKS CONTINUALLY PASSING BY.







C.                                   THE IRAQIS CONDUCTED A MISSILE

TEST-FIRING, THE MISSILE MISFIRED, WENT STRAIGHT UP, AND THEN FELL

AND   EXPLODED                                       THE

MISSILE EVIDENTLY DESTROYED THE          AND, PRESUMABLY, KILLED

ONE OR TWO            AS WELL. THREE DAYS LATER THE IRAQIS DID ANOTHER

MISSILE TEST-FIRING.  THIS MISSILE WENT DOWNRANGE, AND

HEARD BUT DID NOT SEE THE EXPLOSION.            NOTED THAT THESE TEST-

FIRED MISSILES WERE SURFACE-TO-SURFACE AND PROBABLY WERE OF RUSSIAN

OR            MAKE. NO ADDITIONAL MISSILE TEST-FIRINGS WERE CONDUCTED

AFTER THIS SECOND,  APPARENTLY  SUCCESSFUL  TEST.







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