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Tracking Inspections: 9 DECEMBER 2002

An Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a statement detailing the activities of weapons inspectors on 9 December, Iraq Satellite TV reported. According to the statement, the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) visited a chlorine factory and a phenol factory at Al-Fallujah II, north of Baghdad. Both factories are connected to the Al-Tariq State Company, which is part of the Military Industrial Organization. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the chlorine factory has not operated since August due to a shortage of spare parts, and the phenol factory is used to manufacture medicine and pesticides from oil products for civilian use. UNMOVIC reported: "The Fallujah II site comprises the headquarters of the Al-Tariq Company and a factory area. Only the factory area was inspected. Two separate chemical plants are in the factory area and their major activity is the production of phenol and chlorine. The chlorine plant is currently inoperative. The site contains a number of tagged dual-use items of equipment, which were all accounted for."

The IAEA visited the Al-Tuwaythah, Al-Shaykhali, and Al-Qa'qa sites. Eighteen inspectors at the Al-Tuwaythah site (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 December 2002) inspected a warehouse containing nuclear material, and to collect water and soil samples and conduct radiation scanning around the Atomic Energy Organization.

According to a UNMOVIC press release, "Five teams were deployed to the site. They utilized a wide range of inspection techniques, ranging from visual inspections to sampling for detection of any potential radiological activity using Gamma surveys, water sampling and swipe sampling techniques. The team also started to take a physical inventory of nuclear materials from al-Tuwaythahs, which are the last known remnants of the past nuclear program." UNMOVIC added, "A detailed inspection was made of Al-Shaykhali. All buildings were inspected and sampled for the detection of radiological materials. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry did not comment on the Al-Shaykhali inspection.

Another team visited the State Al-Qa'qa Company, located 30 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, where it visited "some of the company's plants, the site where explosive material was destroyed, and the Research and Development Section," according to the Foreign Ministry. It also seized the prototype of an 81-millimeter missile. UNMOVIC reported, "An IAEA team at Al-Qa'qa began inventorying known explosive materials from the past nuclear program that were previously under the control of the IAEA. Other tasks involved inspecting a number of key buildings and outdoor sites within the huge Al-Qa'qa complex."

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