Finnish detectives investigated suspicions of Iraqi WMDs in 2003

Arms sales case examined battlefield gases in addition to conventional weapons; no charges ultimately brought

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The case involving the sale of arms to Iraq, pursued by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation in 2003, also touched on weapons of mass destruction.
      A recently published report of the preliminary investigations by Finland's central criminal police authority discloses that many officials in this country provided assistance in the probe, which sought to determine whether a Finnish company had been used in an attempt to secure nuclear technology and chemicals for use in battlefield gases by the Iraqi army.
      Earlier public reports of the case had referred only to the role of conventional weapons, for example radar systems for use in anti-aircraft batteries or spare parts for Russian T-72 tanks.
     
In the early months of 2003, the National Bureau of Investigation found itself in an unusual sitiation at a moment when plans for the invasion of Iraq drawn up by the coalition led by the United States were close to being put into effect. The grounds for the US-led intervention included a need to seek out and destroy alleged weapons of mass destruction still in Iraqi hands.
      The NBI began to look into the affair in December 2002, after receiving a tip-off from the Security Police. The Security Police had in turn received information of suspicious enquiries made to a Vantaa-based company by a Finnish architect of Iraqi extraction.
      The National Bureau of Investigation detectives began to suspect something more was going on when confiscated documents showed correspondence that mentioned not only conventional weaponry but items such as graphite rods, a broad range of chemicals, and radiation counters. Some of the items were on the United Nations' controlled Goods Review List. The chemicals concerned had possible applications as raw materials for battlefield weapons such as nerve gases.
     
The NBI appealed to a range of Finnish officials for expert assistance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked to determine which of the items was covered by the UN list of so-called "dual-use" products that could also be deployed for military purposes.
      It soon transpired that the list included the graphite rods, sodium cyanide, and measuring devices in use in the nuclear energy sector.
      The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority examined the use of graphite rods in the branch and in the military. The Finnish Defence Forces were also involved, and were asked to explore the possible military applications of the arsenal of chemicals on the confiscated "shopping list". It was reported that all three of the main chemicals under investigation had civilian uses, but could also be deployed in nuclear weapons technology and/or in the making of chemical weapons.
     
Ultimately no charges were brought by the State Prosecutor against the Finnish-Iraqi man or against two other suspects, a Finnish businessman and a Russian writer. The case also involved the brother of the first man, a former Iraqi lawyer who now holds British citizenship and who is currently on the defence team of Saddam Hussein as the former dictator faces war crimes charges.
      The Prosecutor felt that there had been adequate grounds for a police investigation but that it had not been sufficiently clearly determined that the correspondence among the suspects had generated a concrete danger of an attempt to export military materiel to Iraq (see attached articles from October 2005 and January 2003).


Previously in HS International Edition:
  No charges against businessman Fryckman and Iraqi architect over arms export affair (25.10.2005)
  Finnish Police investigate possible arms exports to Iraq (22.1.2003)

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