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[EXCERPTS] TEXT: UN SPOKESMAN'S DAILY BRIEFING, MONDAY, APRIL 13

13 April 1998
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
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"On Iraq, there is a virtual battery of reports," Mr. Eckhard said.
The biannual report of the Executive Chairman of the United Nations
Special Commission (UNSCOM) on the elimination of Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction was likely to go to the Council by the middle of the
week, perhaps late Wednesday. The report of the Commissioner of the
special group charged with inspections of presidential sites, Jayantha
Dhanapala, would be submitted to UNSCOM this afternoon. Mr. Dhanapala
had met with the Secretary-General this morning at 11 a.m., and the
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Prakash Shah, would
be arriving at Headquarters in the afternoon. That second report might
also be available Wednesday afternoon.
The report of the technical evaluation meeting on biological weapons
had come out on the racks this morning, the Spokesman said. That
report concluded that Iraq had not provided any new technical
information of substance to support its full, final and complete
disclosures (FFCD) submitted to a meeting held in Vienna in March.
That FFCD document was judged to be incomplete and inadequate by the
technical evaluation group. Iraq had recognized its need to improve
its FFCD and promised to do so.
The progress report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
on Iraq was also out on the racks, the Spokesman continued. It had
noted that the surveys by 15 IAEA experts of the eight presidential
sites had revealed no immediate indications of the presence of
prohibited materials or equipment, or of the conduct of prohibited
activities with respect to the mandate of the IAEA. The Agency's
ongoing monitoring and verification activities carried out since
October 1997 had not revealed indications of the existence in Iraq of
prohibited equipment or materials or of the conduct of prohibited
activities. The IAEA would, however, continue to exercise its right to
investigate any aspect of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme.
Mr. Eckhard said that by tomorrow it would be known when the report of
oil experts on Iraq's capacity to produce and export oil was likely to
be submitted to the Security Council. That was expected to happen
sometime this week.
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