Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

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IAEA Director Muhammad el-Baradei sent the Security Council a letter yesterday alerting it to a message from the Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology.

The ministry reported the theft of more than 340 metric tons of highly explosive material -- known as HMX, RDX, and PETN. HMX is powerful enough to ignite the fissile material in an atomic bomb and set off a nuclear chain reaction. HMX and RDX are also key components in powerful plastic explosives such as C-4 and Semtex. The ministry's message to the IAEA said the material was lost after 9 April 2003, "due to lack of security."

The material was sealed and tagged by the IAEA at the Al-Qaqaa military facility prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters that the whereabouts of the material is unknown.