Iraqis Reported Producing a Gas That Ruins Masks
West German companies have supplied Iraq with chemical plants now busy producing a gas that could destroy gas masks worn by a multinational force in the Persian Gulf, a West German magazine said Saturday.
Der Spiegel said West German intelligence officials had told their U.S. counterparts about the new threat allegedly posed by Iraq, which already has a chemical weapons stockpile.
It said the Iraqis are producing hydrogen cyanide, which can eat a hole in gas masks worn by Western forces in the gulf to protect them against a possible Iraqi mustard gas attack.
“British and American units have already started refitting their gas mask filters,” the magazine said in an excerpt made available ahead of regular publication on Monday.
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