Al Qa'qaa
Encyclopedia
The Al Qa'qaa State Establishment in Iraq
(also known as al Qaqaa, al Qa Qaa or al Qa'Qa; the difference in spelling is due to differing transliterations of the Arabic
name) (Arabic: القعقاع) was a massive weapons facility 48 kilometres south of Baghdad
. It is near to the towns of Yusifiyah and Iskandariya
at the geographic coordinates
33°0′54"N 44°13′12"E. Covering an area of over 28 km², the site comprises 116 separate factories and over 1,100 structures of various kinds. It is now disused and many of the buildings have been destroyed by bombing, looting and accidental explosions. In October 2004, the facility became the centre of international attention after a UN agency reported hundreds of tonnes of stored explosives "missing" (see Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy
).
and Yugoslavia
. It was completed in 1981, just in time to meet the demands of the Iran–Iraq War. Under the regime of Saddam Hussein
the facility was a key agency of the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization. It included plants for producing solid-propellant rockets and ammunition. The complex also included factories producing steel
, aluminum, and centrifuge
s. It was Iraq's principal production facility for specialist explosives, notably RDX
and HDX
.
The facility was named after a distinguished soldier in the army of the 7th century Caliph
Umar ibn al-Khattab, of whom it was said "the voice of Al Qa'qaa in an army is better than one thousand fighters." By analogy, as Saddam Hussein
explained in a visit on May 23, 2001, the workers at Al Qa'qaa were equivalent to a far greater number of their enemies:
, with its workers' expertise in explosives being used to develop explosive lenses for nuclear weapons. Iraq's program suffered serious setbacks due to the Israel
i destruction of the experimental reactor at Osirak in June 1981 and a massive accidental explosion at Al Qa'Qaa in August 1989, which severely damaged the plant and was heard hundreds of miles away. British-Iraqi journalist Farzad Bazoft
attempted to investigate the incident by disguising himself as a medical technician in order to infiltrate Al Qa'qaa. However, he was caught and executed on charges related to his visit.
In March 1990, customs officials at Heathrow Airport in London
seized a case of military electrical capacitor
s - key components of triggers for explosive lenses - which was bound for Al Qa'qaa. The United States
subsequently charged five people and two British
companies with violations of export regulations.
During the 1991 Gulf War
the facility was severely damaged by bombing. After the war, the UN weapons inspectors UNSCOM further destroyed and sealed weapons and facilities at the base. However, part of the base was rebuilt and attracted concern from Western countries. In September 2002, the plant was named by the British Government in Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (the "September Dossier
") as being the site of a rebuilt phosgene
production facility. Although phosgene has industrial uses in small quantities, there are no legitimate nonmilitary uses for such large scale production, and it is capable of being used as a chemical weapon, as was done by Germany in World War I. The British and Americans also alleged that a large consignment of 81 mm aluminium tubes delivered to the plant were to be used as rotors in centrifuge
s to produce enriched uranium
.
IAEA officials inspected the site at least ten times in 2002 and 2003 but discovered no weapons of mass destruction. The aluminum tubes did exist, but they were determined to be for short-range artillery rockets (which Iraq was allowed to possess). The inspectors left the country in mid-March 2003 shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq
. They sealed the bunkers where explosives were stored, but were not permitted to return after the United States took control.
The Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy
is over the question of when the IAEA-sealed explosives were removed from their bunkers; whether it happened before, during or after the invasion of Iraq
.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
(also known as al Qaqaa, al Qa Qaa or al Qa'Qa; the difference in spelling is due to differing transliterations of the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
name) (Arabic: القعقاع) was a massive weapons facility 48 kilometres south of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. It is near to the towns of Yusifiyah and Iskandariya
Iskandariya
Iskandariya is an ancient city in central Iraq, one of a number of towns in the Near East named after Alexander the Great...
at the geographic coordinates
Geographic coordinate system
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...
33°0′54"N 44°13′12"E. Covering an area of over 28 km², the site comprises 116 separate factories and over 1,100 structures of various kinds. It is now disused and many of the buildings have been destroyed by bombing, looting and accidental explosions. In October 2004, the facility became the centre of international attention after a UN agency reported hundreds of tonnes of stored explosives "missing" (see Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy
Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy
The Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy concerns the possible removal by Baathist insurgents of about 377 tonnes of high explosives HMX and RDX after the 2003 invasion of Iraq....
).
Origins of Al Qa'Qaa
Al Qa'Qaa was built in the 1970s with most of the equipment coming from GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. It was completed in 1981, just in time to meet the demands of the Iran–Iraq War. Under the regime of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
the facility was a key agency of the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization. It included plants for producing solid-propellant rockets and ammunition. The complex also included factories producing steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, aluminum, and centrifuge
Centrifuge
A centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor , that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis...
s. It was Iraq's principal production facility for specialist explosives, notably RDX
RDX
RDX, an initialism for Research Department Explosive, is an explosive nitroamine widely used in military and industrial applications. It was developed as an explosive which was more powerful than TNT, and it saw wide use in WWII. RDX is also known as cyclonite, hexogen , and T4...
and HDX
HDX
HDX may refer to:*Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX, a U.S. school bus*Sky Sports HDX, a defunct Sky Sports HD channel brand*Half-duplex, a type of duplex telecommunications system*Several models of the HP Pavilion range*A Naim Audio hard disk player...
.
The facility was named after a distinguished soldier in the army of the 7th century Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Umar ibn al-Khattab, of whom it was said "the voice of Al Qa'qaa in an army is better than one thousand fighters." By analogy, as Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
explained in a visit on May 23, 2001, the workers at Al Qa'qaa were equivalent to a far greater number of their enemies:
- "Every Iraqi works in the same way Caliph Umar Ibn-al-Khattab used to work with when the commander, who led the Muslims' army on Iraq's front, to back him with several thousands of fighters. So, he sent him four fighters only, including Al-Qa'qaa. He considered each one of these fighters equal to 1,000 fighters. Had the Iraqis not worked in this way and with spirit now, they would not have achieved, with this small number, what was not achieved by others who outnumber them."
Al Qa'qaa and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
The Al Qa'qaa plant was heavily involved in Iraq's clandestine program to produce weapons of mass destructionWeapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
, with its workers' expertise in explosives being used to develop explosive lenses for nuclear weapons. Iraq's program suffered serious setbacks due to the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i destruction of the experimental reactor at Osirak in June 1981 and a massive accidental explosion at Al Qa'Qaa in August 1989, which severely damaged the plant and was heard hundreds of miles away. British-Iraqi journalist Farzad Bazoft
Farzad Bazoft
Farzad Bazoft was an Iranian-born journalist who settled in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s. He worked as a freelance reporter for The Observer. He was arrested by Iraqi authorities and executed in 1990 after being convicted of spying for Israel while working in Iraq.Bazoft relocated to the...
attempted to investigate the incident by disguising himself as a medical technician in order to infiltrate Al Qa'qaa. However, he was caught and executed on charges related to his visit.
In March 1990, customs officials at Heathrow Airport in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
seized a case of military electrical capacitor
Capacitor
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by a dielectric ; for example, one common construction consists of metal foils separated...
s - key components of triggers for explosive lenses - which was bound for Al Qa'qaa. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
subsequently charged five people and two British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
companies with violations of export regulations.
During the 1991 Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
the facility was severely damaged by bombing. After the war, the UN weapons inspectors UNSCOM further destroyed and sealed weapons and facilities at the base. However, part of the base was rebuilt and attracted concern from Western countries. In September 2002, the plant was named by the British Government in Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (the "September Dossier
September Dossier
Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government, also known as the September Dossier, was a document published by the British government on 24 September 2002 on the same day of a recall of Parliament to discuss the contents of the document...
") as being the site of a rebuilt phosgene
Phosgene
Phosgene is the chemical compound with the formula COCl2. This colorless gas gained infamy as a chemical weapon during World War I. It is also a valued industrial reagent and building block in synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. In low concentrations, its odor resembles...
production facility. Although phosgene has industrial uses in small quantities, there are no legitimate nonmilitary uses for such large scale production, and it is capable of being used as a chemical weapon, as was done by Germany in World War I. The British and Americans also alleged that a large consignment of 81 mm aluminium tubes delivered to the plant were to be used as rotors in centrifuge
Centrifuge
A centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor , that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis...
s to produce enriched uranium
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
.
IAEA officials inspected the site at least ten times in 2002 and 2003 but discovered no weapons of mass destruction. The aluminum tubes did exist, but they were determined to be for short-range artillery rockets (which Iraq was allowed to possess). The inspectors left the country in mid-March 2003 shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. They sealed the bunkers where explosives were stored, but were not permitted to return after the United States took control.
The Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy
Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy
The Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy concerns the possible removal by Baathist insurgents of about 377 tonnes of high explosives HMX and RDX after the 2003 invasion of Iraq....
is over the question of when the IAEA-sealed explosives were removed from their bunkers; whether it happened before, during or after the invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.
List of facilities at al Qa'qaa
- Qa Qaa Stores (former location of HMX explosives)
- Al Mamoun (missile production)
- Sumood Explosives Plant
- Al Qaid Warhead-Filling Factory
- Static Test Stands
- Research and Development Centre
- Latifiyah Explosives and Ammunition Plant
- Latifiyah Phosgene and solid propellant production facility
- Latifiyah Missile and Rocket facility
- Sulfuric Acid plant
- Nitric Acid Factory
External links
- Global Security pages http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al_qa_qaa.htm http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/1998/qaqaa.htm
- GlobalSecurity.org / Public Eye satellite imagery of Al Qa'qaa
- Federation of American Scientists page (includes coordinates)
- Nuclear Threat Initiative - Al Qa-Qa State Establishment