SPIES' DRUG PROBE

U.S. Agents Fear Saddam Anthrax Link

AMERICAN secret service agents have been called in to investigate the
mysterious illness that has killed more than 30 junkies in Britain.

Pentagon officials ordered the probe after reports that a deadly batch
of heroin may have been contaminated with the killer disease anthrax.

U.S. security chiefs monitor all unexplained outbreaks of deadly
anthrax.

They fear Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could unleash devastating germ
warfare on the West to get revenge for the Gulf War.

In the last month, the mystery illness killed 14 drug addicts in
Glasgow and seven have died in Dublin. It emerged on Friday that seven
addicts in England and Wales have also died.

Some of the Glasgow victims who died showed the symptoms of the
horrific livestock disease.

Security officials in Washington contacted Greater Glasgow Health
Board after reports that the heroin they used may have been infected
with anthrax spores.

At their request, a senior Strathclyde police officer took samples of
the victims' infected tissue to the Centre for Disease Control in
Atlanta, Georgia. Anthrax was later ruled out.

It's now feared that an entire new type of micro-organism may have
killed the heroin addicts.

Last night, the Scottish Health Board said: "US Air Force experts
apparently learned of the Glasgow outbreak over the internet. We have
given them as much information as we can."

Saddam is thought to have stockpiled 30,000 litres of chemical weapons
after hiding his biological arsenal from UN inspectors.

In 1998, Customs officers at ports and airports were put on maximum
alert after reports that Saddam planned to send anthrax into Britain
concealed in duty-free perfume and spirits.