Times
In the most comprehensive assessment to date of Saddam Hussein's nuclear, biological and chemical arsenal, the International Institute for Strategic Studies has said that Iraq may be very close to building a nuclear bomb. The institute has examined all evidence in the public domain.
Paul Beaver, of Jane's Defence Weekly, said: "This report is a very good document, the best compilation of the facts I have seen. But there's nothing new here, no killer-fact that makes me believe that we should go to war tomorrow."
The institute has not been able to examine any recent reports by Western intelligence agencies on Saddam's latest military technology. It did, however, study all reports made by the United Nations weapons inspectors, as well as recently declassified CIA files. Its researchers also interviewed experts around the world.
The institute has only recently developed from a small, obscure think-tank into one of the world's most respected centres of the study of international relations. Three years ago it was housed in run-down offices next door to a clothing shop in the West End of London. Today its home is Arundel House, a listed building overlooking the Thames that has been renovated at a cost of £4 million.
The institute was founded in 1958 by Denis Healey, then a backbench Labour MP; Alastair Buchan, son of the novelist John Buchan, later Professor of International Relations at Oxford University; and the military historian Sir Michael Howard. At the height of the Cold War these men were convinced of the need for a forum on debate on strategy that was entirely independent of direct government funding. It was hoped that the institute would ease tension between the superpowers.
For the past nine years the organisation has been run by John Chipman, the author of yesterday's report.
An avid traveller and polyglot, Dr Chipman, 45, has established a global reputation for his insight into international strategy and diplomatic and security emergencies. He is known as a vigorous public speaker. His critics claim that his enthusiasm for talking verges on the monopolistic.
