Dr Jaffar Dhia Jaffar: No WMD Capability in Iraq

[IJ Reilly]

To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, there were the known unknowns over the Iraqi weapons programme during the Saddam era, and the unknown unknowns.

The problem with trying to turn the remaining 'unknowns' into 'knowns' is that all the key figures from Saddam's regime are either in prison, in hiding or dead. But one key player has been tracked down by Newsnight.

Dr Jaffar Dhia Jaffar is described as the father of Iraq's nuclear weapons programme and was at the heart of the regime until Baghdad fell. Now debriefed by the CIA and MI6 he's given his first broadcast interview to Newsnight.

Our Security Correspondent Gordon Corera heard his version of events.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3559198.stm

Video of interview:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39945000/rm/_39945046_weapons110804_carera_vi.ram

[Chaszmyr]

Surely this isnt news to anyone. Iraq hasn't been an imminent threat to anyone outside of their own borders since the first Gulf War

[IJ Reilly]

Watch the entire program. According to Jaffar, in July 1991 Saddam completely abandoned his nuclear program, the sanctions were effective in stopping it from restarting, and no WMD programs were active after the Gulf War.