A Special Report Commisioned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center

Prepared by Kenneth R. Timmerman

E. THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT REPORT

The real "secret" of Samarra was how it remained a secret for so long. Despite the early press coverage of German involvement in building the plant, little or nothing was done to stop it in Bonn. The Kohl government admitted as much when it presented its only public report to Parliament on the Samarra plant. That report was dated December 20, 1988 36 . In other words - more than four years after the first accounts appeared in the press about poison gas deliveries to Iraq, and five years after the first backdoor warnings from the U.S government about the involvement of German companies.

In its 1988 report, the German government states that its investigation into illicit chemical weapons sales to Iraq only began in November 1987. On November 25, 1987, the German police carried out searches on 29 individuals and/or companies, the report states, believed to be engaged in chemical weapons sales to Iraq. Seized documents were turned over to German Customs. The report named the following German companies as the priciple offendors:

- W.E.T. (Walter Engineering Trading) GmbH of Hamburg;

- Karl Kolb GmbH & Co KG, of Creieich bei Offenbach;

- Pilot Plant GmbH, of Dreieich;

- Prussag AG, of Hannover; and

- Heberger Bau GmbH, Schifferstad bei Ludwigshafen.

By December 1988, a total of 38 persons had been indicted, and more than 50 searches had been carried out. But the West German government "still lacks complete proof" that anything illegal had occurred, the report concluded. It was a remarkable admission.

In his written reply to this report, Opposition Parliamentarian Norbert Gansel wondered whether the shipments to Iraq continued out of "coincidence, or does it prove the powerless of the government when confronted with big busuness interests ?" Or even worse, Gansel wondered, did the samarra case point to an " undeclared government policy?" Despite insistent requests by Gansel and other German parlamentarians, the Federal Government in Bonn has never provided a more detailed accounting of poison gas shipments to Iraq, either in public or in executive session.

F. Short-list of German contributers

The count of German companies involving in supplying Iraq with poison gas, ballistic missiles, and the manufacturing equipment to produce them locally is still mounting. But this much is sure: the real "secrets of Samarra" are not in Iraq, but in Bonn.

The following summary has been extracted from the more complete data base listing in the appendix. Interested readers can refer to that listing for source material.

ANTON EYERLE: mobile toxological labs

AVIATEST (Rheinmetall subsidiary): production equipment

for the Samarra plant;

wind tunnels to the

Saad 16 R&D complex in

Mosul

BP (Germany): chemical research equip

ment

BLOHM (a Korber AG subsidiary): machine-tools to the

Saad 16 R&D center

CARL ZEISS : unspecified equipment

to CW plants

DEGUSSA: unspecified equipment

to saad 16 R&D center

FRITZ WERNER INDUSTRIE: CNC machine-tools

GILDERMEISTER PROJECTA GmbH: Main contractor for

Saad 16 R&D research

center, which was

signed on 16/184

HEBERGER BAU GmbH: Construction work on

chemical weapons plants

I.B.I. ENGINEERING : Construction of CW

plants, used as middle-

man by Preussag for CW

equipment deliveries

INFRAPLAN: Nerve gas plant in Fall-

luja (Project 9230)

INTEGRAL/SAUER INFORMATIC/ICME: Computer programming for

Saad 16 R&D complex

IVECO/MAGIRUS-DEUTZ: Vehicles for mobile

toxicological laborato-

ries

JOSEPH KUHN: Bacteriological weapons

(Mycotoxins TH-2, T-2)

KARL KOLB: Priciple supplier of

equipment and chemicals

for Samarra plant. In

July 1987, got additio-

nal order to contribute

to chemical weapons re-

search lab at Saad 16.

KORBER AG: machine-tools for Saad

16

KWU: nuclear technology

MAUSER: machine tools for wea-

pons production; weapons

R&D

MBB: laboratory equipment for

CW research; extensive

cooperation for on Ira-

qui missile programs via

Consen Group in Zug, Swi

tzerland: provided trai-

ning, drawings, enginee-

ring support,; fuel- air

explosives licenses.

PILOT PLANT: extensive deliveries of

production equipment for

Samarra and al-Falluja

CW plants. In 1989, the

company was dissolved.

PLATO-KUEHN: Toxins for biological

weapons

PREUSSAG: Special water-purifica-

tion equipment for Sa-

marra CW plant

QUAST: Reactor vessels for Sa-

rin production

RHEMA-LABORTECHNICK: Ventilation systems for

CW research unit at Sa-

marra.

SIGMA CHEMIE: Bacteriological weapons,

precursor virus

THYSSEN: Weapons and munitions ma

nufacturing equipment

TESA: Unknown manufacturing e-

quipment

TRANSTECHNICA (an MBB subsidiary): Principle technology sup

plier for Saad 16 R&D

complex. Was searched by

german Customs in 1989.

WET ENGINEERING: CW Precursors for mu-

stard gas, Sarin, and

Tabun; Sarin and Tabun

production lines at al-

Falluja CW plant. The ma

nagers of this company

were arreseted in 1990.

WTB WALTER THOSTI BOSWAU: Equipment for manufactu-

ring nerve gas.