Date:02/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/02/stories/2005010203931200.htm

International

"Release Iraqi woman scientist"

BAGHDAD, JAN. 1. One of Iraq's top scientists who has been in American custody since last year is dying of cancer and should be immediately released, an Iraqi lawyer has said.

Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, a biotech researcher nicknamed ``Mrs. Anthrax,'' is one of two women incarcerated by the U.S. military at an undisclosed location along with other top members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The other detenu is Rihab Rashid Taha, a scientist who became known as ``Dr. Germ'' for helping Iraq make weapons out of anthrax.

The lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said in a meeting with the former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, his jailed client, said Mrs. Ammash's health was deteriorating. ``He [Mr. Aziz] strongly urged me to do all I can regarding the case of Mrs. Huda Ammash because of her health is worsening due to cancer,'' Mr. Aref told the Al-Arabiya satellite network. He called upon the Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, and the U.S. President George W. Bush, to ``uphold their responsibilities and release her.''

— AP