By Jessica Graham
An Iraqi
defector yesterday reportedly warned that Saddam Hussein has resumed
an atom-bomb project, furthering suspicions the dictator is building
weapons of mass destruction.
"Saddam
is very proud of his nuclear team," said Salman Yassin Zweir,
39, an engineer who worked for the Iraqi energy commission for
13 years, according to the Sunday Times of London.
"He will
never give up his dream of being the first Arab leader to have
a nuclear bomb."
Saddam's nuclear-bomb
program was halted by the United Nations after the end of the
Gulf War in 1991, but the defector said the project resumed two
years ago, the newspaper said.
The defector
said Saddam had done a good job of hiding his nuclear-weapons
program from Allied bombers during the Gulf War, and later, U.N.
inspectors.
Zweir said
he was arrested and tortured after he refused to work for the
revived bomb project. He escaped to Jordan, where he spoke out
for the first time last week after being reunited with his wife.
He's now reportedly set to be interviewed by American intelligence
officials.
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