31/1/2003
UN Inspectors Continue Arms Probe In Iraq

UN experts on the ground continued their probe this week into the country’s illegal arms programmes. United Nations officials also attempted, on several occasions, to conduct interviews with Iraqis but the sessions fell through after the individuals insisted on having a witness present.

The Commission currently has 100 inspectors in Iraq, while the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has 11. The remaining 140 UN personnel in the country are support staff, including 50 aircrew and 31 local staff.

On Friday 24 January, the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) requested "further interviews with Iraqi personnel in private" but "two individuals concerned did not agree to it without the presence of a witness," said Hiro Ueki. As a result, those interviews were not held.

"UNMOVIC will continue to seek interviews in private, as allowed in Security Council resolution 1441," Mr. Ueki stressed, referring to the landmark text which paved the way for resumed inspections following a four-year suspension.

Meanwhile, inspectors continued their inspections at the Al Rasheed State Company at Al Mamoun, the Sumaykah surface-to-surface missile support facility, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Education at Quadisiyah University, the Al Qa Qaa complex, the North Oil Company and the Colleges of Education and Engineering at Tikrit University.

On 27 January, a biological team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) inspected the National Project to Control and Combat the Cattle Plague while another inspected the Chest and Respiratory Diseases Institute, both in Baghdad. “This Institute was formerly known as Tuberculosis Institute,” said spokesman Hiro Ueki in Baghdad. “The Centre undertakes diagnosis and primary treatment of respiratory diseases.”

Meanwhile an UNMOVIC chemical team went to the Al Basil Centre, Nahrawan, which develops the projects of the Al Basil Centre, Jadriyah (Headquarters) to the pilot plant stage.

Missile inspectors visited the Kadhimiya Plant of the Karama State Company, located in northern Baghdad, to hold technical discussions with the leaders of the Al Samoud missile project, as a second team inspected the Hittin State Establishment.

About 200 kilometres south of Baghdad, an UNMOVIC multidisciplinary team visited the Al Kut Military Hospital, a military hospital that serves active duty military and their families. “The facility is moderately large with 70 military officers assigned to the base,” said Mr. Ueki.

In Mosul a multidisciplinary team inspected the Baiji underground refinery located between Mosul and Baghdad.

As for the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), teams conducted inspections at the Um Al Maarik industrial machining and foundry facility; the Salman Pak area, where a motorized radiation survey was performed; and the College of Science, the College of Education and the College of Engineering at the University of Mosul.

A missile team – accompanied by members of the chemical team – flew by helicopter to the Az Zubayr Naval Complex, 300 kilometres south of Baghdad. A second team, meanwhile, witnessed a static test of the Al Samoud missile engine at the Al Rafah Liquid Engine Test Facility.

A second UNMOVIC chemical team went to the Al Majd Centre in Amiriyah, which is principally a store but also produces simple equipment with simple machine tools at the side. “The team used a metal analyzer to check sheets of alloy at the site,” UN spokesman Hiro Ueki said in Baghdad.

IAEA teams also performed inspections today, with the first visiting the Al Sumood industrial manufacturing plant in the Taji area north of Baghdad as a second performed a motorized radiation survey in the Taji area. That team later joined the first at Al Sumood and carried out a manual radiation survey of buildings and stores.

A third IAEA team inspected the Al Kindi Research and Development Company near Mosul and the North Refinery Company (NRC) in the Baji area, en route to Baghdad.

On 28 January, a planned interview of an Iraqi by United Nations officials did not take place after the individual insisted on having a witness present during the questioning, a spokesman for the UN said in Baghdad. UNMOVIC has so far requested private interviews with 16 Iraqi individuals, but none has taken place so far.

Meanwhile, a UNMOVIC multidisciplinary team returned to the Ukhaider Ammunition and Missile Storage area, where 12 chemical rocket warheads had been discovered on 16 January. The team took a sample from the twelfth warhead for further analysis.

A biological team inspected the Saddam Centre for Biotechnology Research at Baghdad University, which focuses its research effort on DNA and reproductive technologies. A second team inspected the 7 Nissan stores, where a range of agricultural equipment, including sprayers, is kept. A third team inspected the Grain Board of Iraq’s main depot at Taji.

About 90 kilometres south of Baghdad, a chemical team visited the Furat State Company, which is designed to principally manufacture rayon and chlorine products.

A team of missile inspectors went to the Al Harith Missile Maintenance Workshop in Taji to re-tag SA-2 surface-to-air missiles, from which tags had been removed the week before for maintenance. The team also removed tags from other SA-2 missiles that will go through a maintenance cycle within the coming week. “The SA-2 missiles are tagged to ensure that they are not converted into ballistic missiles capable of proscribed ranges,” Mr. Ueki noted.

As for the IAEA, teams conducted inspections at the Nassr industrial machining and foundry facility, performed a motorized radiation survey in Baghdad and inspected the College of Science, the College of Education and the College of Engineering at the University of Babylon.

On 29 January, as the Security Council met in New York behind closed doors to discuss the next steps forward on Iraq, United Nations inspectors continued their visits to various facilities around the country.

According to a spokesman for the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), biological teams inspected the University of Technology in central Baghdad, two agricultural field stations about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, and sites belonging to the State Company for Drugs Marketing Appliances.

Meanwhile, an UNMOVIC missile team went to Al Mamoun to obtain a sample of the Al Fatah propellant for analysis as a multidisciplinary team inspected the Al Fallujah Ammunition Depot.

A chemical team flew by helicopter in the direction of a site but could not continue due to weather conditions, spokesman Hiro Ueki said.

As for the IAEA, it had one team inspect the headquarters of the Geological Survey of Iraq in Baghdad, while a second performed a motorized radiation survey in the Fallujah industrial area and other areas to the west of Baghdad. A third Agency team inspected the Colleges of Science, Education, and Engineering at Kufa University.

On 30 January, United Nations officials once again attempted to interview two Iraqis but the sessions fell through after the individuals insisted on having a witness present.

Meanwhile, two UNMOVIC biological teams inspected distilleries in the area about 30 kilometres northeast of Baghdad. Both the Al Tharthar Distillery and the Al Awaaly Distillery are privately owned facilities, which produce Arak, gin and whiskey. A third biological team inspected an infectious diseases diagnostic laboratory located in the Central Public Health laboratories building in central Baghdad.

In Basra, an UNMOVIC chemical team went by helicopter to inspect the State Company for Petrochemicals Industry, which is primarily involved in the production of chlorine and polymers.

As for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), one team performed an inspection at the 17th April Facility in Baghdad, which produces precision castings for industrial purposes, while a second performed a motorized radiation survey in areas southeast of Baghdad.

In other news, air sampling equipment has been installed by the IAEA and is operating on the roof of the Canal Hotel, the operations base for the Agency’s inspections in Iraq. “This is the initial step in the re-installation of both fixed and mobile air samplers as part of wide-area environmental monitoring in Iraq,” Mr. Ueki noted.