CIA Website Seeks Data on Iraq Weapons

The Central Intelligence Agency, under fire over its intelligence about Iraq’s arms programs, has posted a notice on its website offering rewards to Iraqis for information about such weapons.

The Iraqi Rewards Program notice at www.cia.gov seeks “specific and verifiable information” on stocks of “recently made” chemical or biological weapons, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and components.

U.S. intelligence agencies have been criticized for their estimates of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction because none have been found since the U.S.-led invasion last March.

The unspecified rewards were also offered for providing the location of chemical or biological laboratories and factories; development, production and test sites; and places where such materials were “secretly disposed.”

Visitors to the site can respond on electronic forms in English and Arabic. The CIA said the forms were secure and would protect the information and the identity of the sender.

The agency’s site gets many visitors from all over the world, a spokesman said. “It’s just trying to get the word as broadly publicized as possible.”