Sunday June 13 12:50 AM ET

Iraq, N.Korea, Russia May Have Smallpox Stocks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iraq, North Korea and Russia are probably hiding the deadly smallpox virus for military use, according to a secret U.S. government report, Sunday's New York Times reported.

The Times, quoting government officials, reported that the intelligence assessment was completed last year and was based on evidence that includes disclosures by a senior Soviet defector, blood samples from North Korea soldiers that show smallpox vaccinations and the recent manufacture of the vaccine in Iraq.

The warning was an important factor in President Clinton's decision in April to reverse course and delay destruction of American stocks of the virus, the Times said. A panel of the World Health Organization had recommended in 1996 that the smallpox virus be destroyed, officials told the Times.

Only the United States and Russia retain openly declared stocks of the virus now, the Times says. The intelligence assessment concludes that Russia most likely is hiding additional stocks of the virus at military sites, the Times says.

Last month, U.S. Health Secretary Donna Shalala defended the U.S. decision to seek a delay in the global destruction of smallpox virus stocks at a World Health Organization meeting, saying the ``threat of bioterrorism has sharpened the debate over smallpox destruction'' in recent years.

About 56,000 U.S. troops are stationed near Iraq and North Korea, but officials told the Times that there did not appear to be an imminent military threat involving the virus.

Both Iraq and North Korea have repeatedly denied having programs to develop germ weapons.

A Russian Embassy spokesman in Washington also denied to the Times that his country had secret military stocks of smallpox.