25 November 2002
Weapons Inspections to Begin in Iraq November 27
(UNMOVIC Chairman Blix reports to U.N. Security Council) (870) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- With the basic equipment and a group of weapons inspectors in place in Baghdad, the first search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in almost four years is set to begin in two days, the chief U.N. weapons inspector said November 25. Hans Blix, executive chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), reported to the U.N. Security Council on the results of his visit to Baghdad and preparations to resume weapons inspections. However, Blix gave no hint as to where that first inspection might take place. "Any indications of where we might be going or what types of places we go to are speculations. We are not going to tell. The council authorizes us to go anywhere, anytime and we intend to do so," he said. Blix said he reminded the Iraqis that UNMOVIC "will inspect all sites on an equal basis." "The Iraqis said they are intent to cooperate in all respects. They did remark, however, that ministerial buildings, ministries and presidential sites are not the same thing as factories. That is not deniable," the UNMOVIC executive chairman said. "The essential physical infrastructure is now in place and the first team of inspectors -- 11 from UNMOVIC and eight from IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) have arrived today in Baghdad and we expect the first inspections to take place on Wednesday," Blix told journalists after his private meeting with the council. Planes are ferrying weapons inspectors from UNMOVIC's field office in Larnica, Cyprus; the offices of UNMOVIC's predecessor inspection unit in Baghdad have been reopened and cleaned, he added. "There is a lot of equipment coming in -- computers, secure telephones. We are loading up with a lot of cameras and tags and whatnot that will be placed in the field." Blix said that he expects to have a contingent of 100 personnel, 35 jeeps, eight helicopters and other supplies in Baghdad by the end of December. The weapons inspectors will be returning to Iraq with some new techniques and equipment developed in the four years since U.N. weapons experts were last in Iraq. Several of those developments, Blix said, were spurred by the inspections in Iraq in the mid 1990s. Most spectacular, he said, has been in environmental sampling, where even the smallest little particle can help, especially in the nuclear field. Another example is the satellite photos, which have a much finer resolution. Security Council President Wang Yingfan of China said, "the general view is that the work of Dr. Blix and his team in Iraq during the brief visit (is) so far so good. I think that is agreed." "We stress that we need cooperation from Iraqi authorities for the implementation of U.N. resolutions, especially the latest one adopted by the Security Council - 1441," the president said. "We expect full cooperation, full compliance." "We are going in in good faith on the instructions of the council," Blix said. "We are in the easy phase, but we do not have any illusions that it is an easy job laid upon us." Blix said his talks with Iraqi officials centered on completing the practical arrangements that he and IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei worked out during meetings in Vienna in May with the same officials. The Iraqis also brought up the declaration of its weapons programs that the Security Council wants delivered to UNMOVIC by December 8, Blix said. "They expressed some concern about what the council wanted because this was a new format -- it was not stated that it was to be the same as the full, final and complete declarations which they were familiar with in the past," the UNMOVIC chairman said. "We said we were not authorized to give any interpretation of what the council had demanded, but clearly the most important part of it was that related to the demand for anything concerning the weapons of mass destruction programs," he said. Blix said the Iraqis did not suggest that they wanted to delay or postpone the December 8 deadline. "I have the feeling that they are going to put up a very substantial report," he added. "They maintain the position they have had until now that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We simply said we think they should look into all their stores and their stocks and this was a fundamental part of the declaration," Blix said. Asked how the Iraqis can prove they have no remaining chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, Blix said that Baghdad must provide the data to back up their claims. "The production of mustard gas is not exactly the same as the production of marmalade. You do expect those who produce chemical weapons to keep some tracks of what you have produced. That is in their own interest. I'm sure they do and they have provided a lot of figures to UNSCOM in the past. These figures do not give a full account and if they want to be believed, they had better provide the weapons -- if they remain or, better, the accounts," he said. "They have the budgets. They have the archives, they have the reports of individuals. We do not. If they want to be believed they better come up with them," he said. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
