Missing Radioactive Material Found Dumped In Iraq

Radioactive material that went missing in Iraq has been found dumped near a petrol station in the southern town of Zubair, ending speculation it could be acquired by the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL) group and used as a weapon.

Officials told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the material, stored in a protective case the size of a laptop computer, was undamaged and there were no concerns about radiation. Reuters reported last week that Iraq had been searching for the material since it was stolen in November from a storage facility belonging to US oilfield-services company Weatherford, near the southern city of Basra.

It was not immediately clear how the device, owned by Swiss inspections group SGS, ended up in Zubair, around 15km southwest of Basra. Jabbar al-Saidi, chief of the security panel within Basra provincial council, said: “A passer-by found the radioactive device dumped in Zubair and immediately informed security forces which went with a special radiation prevention team and retrieved the device.

“After initial checking I can confirm the device is intact 100 percent and there is absolutely no concern of radiation.” Iraqi forces and ISIL are engaged in battles across the western province of Anbar, especially around the urban centres of Ramadi – which is now largely controlled by government forces – and Fallujah, which is still held by the fighters.

Since being pushed from the centre of the provincial capital Ramadi in late December, ISIL has launched near-daily attacks on Iraqi forces, especially on the outskirts of the city. An Iraqi security official close to the investigation said it had been established soon after the radioactive material was stolen that it was being kept in Zubair and controls had been tightened to prevent it being taken out of the town.

Aljazeera.