NIMA is source of Iraq imagery

NIMA provided the satellite imagery that Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the U.N.

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency provided the declassified satellite pictures of Iraq that Secretary of State Colin Powell presented today to the United Nations Security Council, according to sources close to the situation.

Powell presented images that he said were of 15 munitions bunkers, four of which had active chemical munitions inside. A senior U.S. official told the Associated Press that the pictures were cleared for Powell's use just before his presentation to the council.

Powell used them to show that Iraq has been moving weapons stockpiles from one site to another in order to keep them hidden from U.N. weapons inspectors, according to the AP report.

NIMA provided the satellite images to CIA Director George Tenet, who declassified them for Powell's presentation to the U.N., a source close to the situation told Federal Computer Week.