France, US differ on conclusiveness of Iraq VX test results

The US State Department received an UNSCOM report on tests run by three laboratories for the presence of chemical weapons agents on Iraqi warheads as proof that, "Iraq loaded nerve agents, some of the most horrible weapons in the world including VX, into its missile warheads."

State Department spokesman James Rubin added, "The experts unanimously concluded that the existence of VX degradation products conflicts with Iraq's declaration." He called on Iraq to provide a "full and accurate account of their weapons of mass destruction," especially of its VX.

"These findings make clear that Saddam Hussein did produce VX weapons contrary to what he said," Rubin said, saying that the report illustrates the need for accurate reporting by Iraq of its weapons, "so that the international community can confirm disarmament of those provisions, without which sanctions cannot be lifted."

Rubin reasserted the US stance on a possible sanctions review by the UN Security Council, "In the absence of renewed cooperation by Iraq with UNSCOM that we are not going to allow this comprehensive review that they want to go forward; but with renewed cooperation it can go forward."

However, the French Foreign Ministry's assessment of the report contrasted sharply with the US view regarding the conclusiveness of the tests. Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Anne Gazeau-Secret said that the French laboratory gave no confirmation of the presence of VX, saying, "The French laboratory, the Bouchet Research Center, found nothing on 39 samples out of 40 that were analyzed. The last sample showed a byproduct of a war agent, but it was impossible to confirm whether it was a VX byproduct."

"Given the wide range of results obtained by each laboratory, and especially the relatively small number of samples that exhibited traces of VX byproducts, these results are not conclusive one way or another, even if the results can be considered reliable and valid," Gazeau-Secret said.

This comes into direct conflict with the US State Department spokesman's statement that, "All tests in all countries are conclusive and valid."

The UNSCOM report itself cites contradictions in the test results which are without "obvious explanation."