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IRAQ: THE SAMSON SCENARIO

Experts fear Saddam will unleash a chemical doomsday of almost Biblical proportions

Ian Smith

SADDAM Hussein is ready to use weapons of mass destruction if faced with defeat in the Gulf, it was claimed last night.

Experts said the Iraqi leader is already preparing to launch deadly chemical attacks on British troops if they invade.

And they warned that, if his back was against the wall, he would unleash the "Samson option" - a Biblical doomsday.

Hand-written notes allegedly smuggled out of Iraq claim Saddam has been equipping troops with chemical warfare suits to counter nerve gas.

The documents were passed to the BBC by anti-Saddam group the Iraqi National Coalition and have been verified as genuine by three independent experts.

Iraq specialist Toby Dodge, called in by the BBC to examine the papers, said last night: "The documents seem to be genuine and they would represent what my best analysis of Iraqi planning would be for the coming conflict.

"One would also assume that if Saddam Hussein had his back against the wall, he would resort to the so- called Samson option, using weapons of mass destruction to pull the temple down over his head."

According to the Book of Judges, Samson, blinded and chained to two pillars by the Philistines, pulled the whole building down, killing himself and his captors.

Yesterday, the secret documents were dismissed as fakes by anti-war campaigners.

But they raise serious fears over the horrific conditions the 30,000 British troops who have been deployed to the Gulf could face if they join a US- led attack on Iraq.

Britain and America seized on the documents as more evidence that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction.

The Iraqi National Coalition insist the documents were obtained from senior serving members of Saddam's army and smuggled out of the country in the last month.

They claim Saddam has issued the Republican Guard - his most loyal troops - with the warfare suits, as well as the drug atropine, which protects against nerve gases sarin and VX.

The documents also contained details of testing of unmanned submarines designed to attack ships in the Gulf and information on fibre- optic radar systems and plans of the layout of presidential palaces.

Secretary General of the Iraqi National Coalition, Tawfik al-Yassiri, a former Brigadier-General in Saddam's army, said: "We received the documents from inside Iraq, passed by people who left Iraq.

"We have checked the information in other ways. We have members in our organisation in most of the camps and cities in Iraq, from soldiers to generals."

Downing Street said it could not verify the accuracy of the documents, but that it fitted a "pattern" of Saddam's defiance over weapons of mass destruction.

PM Tony Blair's official spokesman said: "What is emerging is a clear pattern which suggests not only that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction but that he is also continuing to try and conceal it.

"Therefore, he is not complying with UN resolution 1441, because he is not proactively engaging with the weapons inspectors to reveal what weapons of mass destruction he has and help them disarm them."

Junior Defence Minister Lewis Moonie reassured the families of the thousands of British soldiers that they would be fully prepared for any chemical attacks.

He added: "It underlines what I have known all along. This man has evil weapons at his disposal and is quite prepared to use them."

British troops are issued with special nuclear, biological and chemical suits which can protect them from poison gases and nerve agents for up to 28 days.

They have also been offered vaccines against anthrax and smallpox, although many troops have refused the injections because of fears over Gulf War syndrome.

George Galloway, Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin, last night dismissed the smuggled documents.

He said: "No one should fall for it and the opinion polls suggest that very few are. This is war propaganda - the first casualty of war is truth.

"It is the desperate strategy of the American war-makers to try to convince the world's population to back the crime they are about to commit."

Anti-war Labour backbencher Jeremy Corbyn added: "These reports come at an extremely convenient time for the American and British governments."

But a string of military analysts and Iraqi specialists claimed they had the ring of truth.

John Shipman, director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said: "The documents fit into the picture. Iraq has been shown, through a variety of means, to have retained sarin, ricin and VX.

"The US, UK and any other country that might be involved in military operations in Iraq do not have chemical weapons, so the only purpose the Iraqis might have in procuring these chemical weapons suits is to protect them from a chemical weapons environment they have themselves created."

Bill Tierney, a former UN weapons inspector, said the evidence pointed directly to Saddam preparing to launch chemical attacks.

He said: "The key point is that the Republican Guard have been issued this new equipment. It would indicate that they are prepared to use chemical weapons."

Former CIA station chief in northern Iraq, Bob Bear, said that if the opposition was receiving information from elite military units, it suggested that Saddam was in danger of mutiny among those closest to him.

He said: "The Special Republican Guard is controlled by Saddam's family. If this information is from the Special Republican Guard, then maybe Saddam is closer to the end than we expect."

The new fears came as United Nations inspectors prepared to make their first major report on the crisis in Iraq on Monday.

DEADLY AGENTS ... AND THE TROOPS' PROTECTION

Mustard gas

MUSTARD gas comes from a liquid agent, which gives off a vapour, causing burns and blisters to exposed skin.

When inhaled, the gas damages the respiratory tract. When ingested, it causes vomiting and diarrhoea. It attacks and damages the eyes, mucous membranes, lungs, skin and blood- forming organs.

Sarin/VX

SARIN and VX are both nerve agents, VX being the most toxic. They damage the nervous system, producing muscular spasms, followed by paralysis, leading quickly to death.

As little as 10milligrams of VX on the skin can cause rapid death.

MK4 nuclear, biological and chemical suits

UK troops are equipped with the MK4 nuclear, biological and chemical suits and S10 respirators.

The suit consists of jacket and trousers made from a lightweight, non- woven fabric, covered by a more durable woven material. Inside is a thin layer of charcoal to act as a filter. The respirator protects from chemical and biological agents and radioactive dust.

A canister filters air through charcoal and paper.

There is an outlet valve, so troops can speak and a drinking device.

Troops are also issued with gloves, over-boots and masks to complete their protective layering.

The suits give only a few hours' protection when in contact with deadly agents.

The main problem the suit causes is heat exhaustion.

During the last Gulf conflict, troops could carry out strenuous tasks for only a few minutes before having to rest.

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