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By William J. Broad
The New York Times
Friday 03 November 2006
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Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during
the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who said they hoped to "leverage
the Internet" to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.
But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed
accounts of Iraq's secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute
a basic guide to building an atom bomb.
Last night, the government shut down the Web site after The New York Times asked about complaints from weapons experts
and arms-control officials. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said access to the site had been
suspended "pending a review to ensure its content is appropriate for public viewing."
Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency, fearing that the information could help states like Iran develop
nuclear arms, had privately protested last week to the American ambassador to the agency, according to European
diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. One diplomat said the agency's
technical experts "were shocked" at the public disclosures.
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