Really? Help a fella out and point me at 1 that states the British "had
already denounced the document as a
forgery" prior to the SOTUS.


afrol News, 8 March - The documents produced by the US and UK governments
alleging a contact between the Nigerien and the Iraqi governments with the aim
of exporting uranium are considered fabrications, according to Mohamed
ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Nigerien government thus comes clean on US-UK claims.

US officials in December publicly claimed that Niger signed an agreement in
year 2000 to sell Iraq 500 metric tons of a concentrated form of uranium known
as yellowcake. The British government also presented the IAEA with "Nigerian
state documents" that were to prove Nigerien-Iraqi attempts to trade in uranium
after the UN embargo on Iraq strictly forbade this. This "documentation" has
been a key element in the US-UK quest to prove Iraq is still trying to develop
nuclear arms.

Niger supplied Iraq with yellowcake for its nuclear program in the 1980s, which
at that time was legal. During the last months, the British and American
governments have tried to prove that Niger recently agreed to resume those
shipments, illegal since 1991. US officials claim that Iraq imported uranium
from Niger even after 1998 and that more shipments were planned in 2000.



Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)

Officials from Niger have however strongly denied these claims. Niger's former
Minister of Mining and Energy told the press these charges were "lies". He
added that Niger always had cleared their uranium sales with the IAEA,
complying with their so-called "red list" that bans certain countries from
buying uranium. Also, uranium sales could not be made without the knowledge of
the French-owned company Cogema, which operates uranium mining in Niger, the
ex-Minister said.

Nigerien officials have also denied there have been made uranium shipments to
Iraq in the 1980s. The UN weapon inspectors in Iraq however have confirmed that
Niger sold concentrated uranium to Iraq on two occasions; one shipment in 1981
and a second shipment in 1982.

If Niger is found to have sold uranium to Iraq after the 1991 embargo, the
Niamey government would be found guilty of the most serious violation of the
sanction imposed on Iraq. This would further question Niger's reliability when
it comes to sell uranium to dubious recipients, such as terrorists. Niger thus
easily could be placed in the US category of "rough states".

IAEA-leader Mohamed ElBaradei now however totally cleans Niger's name and
reputation, regarding the US-UK initiative to put the country in connection
with Baghdad's alleged ongoing programmes of developing weapons of mass
destruction. Mr ElBaradei concluded the documentation presented was not
authentic. "We have therefore concluded that these specific allegations were
unfounded," he said.

The IAEA indeed casts doubts on the allegations Iraq is still trying to develop
nuclear weapons altogether. "After three months of intrusive inspections, we
have to date found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a
nuclear weapons programme in Iraq," Mr ElBaradei yesterday told the UN Security
Council.

The case made against Iraq regarding a nuclear weapons programme more and more
seems to have been fabricated in London and Washington. The allegations first
surfaced in London, in a British government dossier of 24 September 2002.
Without naming a source country, the British document claimed Iraq had recently
bought uranium to renew its nuclear weapons programme.

On 19 December, Niger for the first time was launched as the source of new
Iraqi uranium purchases. A US State Department paper, elaborating on the
British claims, focused on Niger, the world's third largest uranium producer
after Canada and Australia, and the foremost Muslim state producing uranium.

According to IAEA officials, Western intelligence agencies had provided them
with documents consisting of correspondence between Iraqi and Nigerien
government officials. After comparing the letters with official documents of
the Niger government, however, IAEA discovered the "documents" were
falsifications produced in London and Washington. The forgery obviously had
been made in a dilettante way, with signatures, names and letterheads not
corresponding with official Nigerien state documents.

Mr ElBaradei publicly said his inspectors had concluded the documents provided
by the US and UK "were, in fact, not authentic" after scrutinising "the form,
format, contents and signatures ... of the alleged procurement-related
documentation." There were therefore no indications of "recent uranium
transactions between Iraq and the Niger."

Meanwhile, the Nigerien government can calm down again after the substantial
threat to its good reputation has been completely dismissed. Niger, the world's
second poorest country, is heavily dependent on Western aid and on its uranium
exports.

Still, the dismissal of the claims against Niger will leave an uneasy calm in
Niamey government offices. The government will ask itself why Niger's name and
reputation was being sacrificed to build a case against Iraq.

The new stories circulating about how the forged papers came into being should
sound comforting; they had been sold to an Italian intelligence agent by a con
man some time ago, with the simple aim of making easy money. The US and UK
intelligence services had of course not been involved, anonymous sources now
say. This seems a very convenient version to all parties implied.