BAGHDAD (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Iraq on Thursday denied U.S. accusations that it has developed and produced biological weapons and said it is Washington that has been researching germ warfare.
``Iraq ended its biological program in 1991 in compliance with the Convention that it has joined in the same year,'' a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
``The United States has unleashed in the past few years a new program for secret researches for biological weapons and not Iraq,'' he added.
The spokesman said U.N. weapons inspectors affirmed that Iraq no longer possessed biological weapons or any other banned weapons.
On Monday, the opening day of the three-week conference in Geneva aimed at strengthening the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, the United States accused Iraq and North Korea of having such weapons.
``The U.S. official has affirmed double standards adopted by America by directing false accusation against a group of states, the majority of them are Arab and Muslim countries, without presenting any evidence to these accusations,'' the Iraqi spokesman said.
``The U.S. official exempted the Zionist entity (Israel) from any criticism or accusation, though it has refused to sign the Biological Weapons Convention and despite that evidence indicating its possession of mass destruction weapons were known to the whole world,'' the spokesman added.
Iraq has said it once had a program to develop germ warfare weapons, but says that all stocks have been destroyed.
But it has refused to allow access to United Nations inspectors since 1998. Washington says it has since strengthened its biological arsenal.