Tracking Inspections: 1 DECEMBER 2002
A team of seven International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors visited the Ibn Firnas State Company north of Baghdad which the ministry says "specializes in air industries." The company belongs to the Military Industrialization Organization (MIO), a government body associated with weapons manufacturing. The Ibn Firnas site was included in the list of nuclear-inspection sites, according to the ministry, because it "contains measurement equipment of interest to the IAEA. Since 1996, the company has been entrusted with the task of manufacturing drones for air-reconnaissance purposes for the armed forces." Inspectors checked all buildings, workshops, warehouses, and laboratories and verified biannual declarations on this site, the ministry noted. The site was also tested for radiation. Inspectors apparently also questioned the presence and purpose of drones at the site, according to the ministry's statement.
A second team of 14 inspectors from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) inspected an agricultural air base in Khan Bani Saad, east of Baghdad, belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture. The ministry stated that this site, previously inspected by UNSCOM, was inspected because it "contains planes for combating agricultural diseases," meaning they are capable of spraying pesticides. Inspectors tagged, photographed, and inventoried sprayers, and inquired as to the number of operational planes and the types of sprayers used. All buildings, warehouses, and plane hangars were inspected, according to the ministry.
UNMOVIC did not release a statement on 1 December inspections.
Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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