"U.S. used unconventional weapons"

Press tv
Tuesday April 10, 2007

The former commander of Iraq's Republican Guard has accused the U.S. of using non-conventional weapons in its 2003 war against the country.

Saifeddin Fulayh Hassan Taha al-Rawi told Al Jazeera that the U.S. forces used neutron and phosphorus bombs during their assault on Baghdad airport before the April 9 capture of the Iraqi capital.

Al-Rawi - one of the most wanted associates of Saddam Hussein is still on the run.

The bombs annihilated soldiers but left the buildings and infrastructure at the airport intact, he added.

A neutron bomb is a thermonuclear weapon that produces minimal blast and heat but releases large amounts of lethal radiation that can penetrate armor and is especially destructive to human tissue.

Al-Rawi said the Iraqi military command was surprised by the speed of the U.S. land offensive, expecting air bombardment to last much longer.

"We had not expected the enemy to launch its land offensive from the very first or second day. We expected the air raids to last at least a month," he said.

"The land offensive came at the same time as the air offensive. That was a situation we did not expect," he told Al Jazeera.

Al-Rawi, who carries a $1m bounty on his head, was the jack of clubs on the deck of cards of the 55 most wanted Iraqis distributed by the Pentagon before the invasion in 2003.