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Tracking Inspections: 10 DECEMBER 2002

An UNMOVIC team visited the site of the National Project for Controlling Brucellosis and Tuberculosis (NPCBT), which belongs to the State Veterinary Company/Agriculture Ministry located west of Baghdad. According to UNMOVIC, the site has "limited equipment for small batch production of animal vaccine and diagnostics" and was declared and monitored before 1998. The team also visited the Saddam Center for Research on Biological Technologies (SCB), which is part of Baghdad University and is listed in the 7 December Iraq declaration as containing "dual-use" equipment. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that the center was founded in 1999 "for building scientific laboratories in the field of biological technologies," according to a report by the Iraq News Agency on 11 December. Inspectors also visited the center for infectious-disease control in Baghdad, which was a newly declared site.

According to the Foreign Ministry statement, an IAEA team visited the Ibn al-Haytham site north of Baghdad, which belongs to the Al-Karamah State Company. The site specializes in producing missile parts "within the range allowable." IAEA inspectors also visited the Al-Karamah facility, which contains a complex of sites, including Ibn al-Haytham, the associated stores of the Military Industrialization Committee (MIC), the Al-Fatah Company, and the Al-Sumud factory. UNMOVIC spokesman Hiro Ueki noted, "The primary aim of the inspections was to carry out a review of current activities of the site as well as the activities since 1998, and also to ascertain the disposition and use of various machine tools and items of equipment that were previously known to the IAEA." The IAEA also revisited the Atomic Energy Organization in Al-Tuwaythah to resume testing and complete a physical inventory of nuclear materials from Iraq's past nuclear program.

The Al-Furat State Company for Chemical Industries, located in Siddat al-Hindiyah, 80 kilometers south of Baghdad, was also inspected. It produces liquid chlorine, concentrated sulfuric acid, and diluted sulfuric acid for use in batteries and chemical products for domestic use, the ministry reported. Inspectors also visited the Al-Siddah cement factory's water-pumping station, and checked for dual-use capabilities. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry briefing also noted that inspectors inquired about HOMOX, an explosive substance used in the factory's quarries. UNMOVIC also noted that a team investigated an outlying site of the Al-Qa'qa explosives plant called Sumud-4, located near the Al-Siddah cement factory.

Inspectors also visited the State Phosphate Company in Al-Qa'im, 400 kilometers west of Baghdad, which produces agricultural fertilizers and houses stored uranium, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC reported, "Al-Qa'im was previously associated with Iraq's production of uranium from ores found in the area. The team is tasked with verifying the status of destroyed equipment at this site and an inspection to determine that no uranium extraction activities have been resumed."

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