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IRAQI 
MISSILE FACTORY

BERLIN, Germany, 
August 25, 2000 
(Deutsche Welle)

According to an unconfined report from the German newspaper "Bild", Germany's BND intelligence service has discovered a secret Iraqi missile factory, located 40 kilometres southwest of Baghdad. "Bild" names it as the "Al Mamoun Factory" and says 250 technicians work there on projects such as the production of a solid-fuel missile named as the "ABABIL-100. It's said to have a range of 150 kilometres. "Bild" quotes BND sources as confirming the existence of blueprints and plans for Iraqi rockets with ranges of up to 3,000 kilometres. If built, central Europe would be within reach. On Wednesday, Iraqi leaders rejected the United Nations' plan to send a new arms inspection team. The U.N. withdrew its experts in December of 1998 shortly before a U.S. and British bombing campaign.