Tracking Inspections: 12 DECEMBER 2002

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the activities of UNMOVIC inspectors for 12 December, Iraq TV reported. A team of 13 inspectors visited the Arab Company for Antibiotics Industry (ACAI), which the ministry described as a joint Arab company operating in Iraq that is affiliated with the Arab Company for Drug Industries and Medical Appliances (ACDEMA), located 25 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. The ministry said that the company "carries out scientific, technical, and industrial activities and conducts tests on drug products and antibiotics, including syrup, injections, and capsules. The company is subject to biological monitoring and presents biannual declarations." It was reported that the company is closed on Thursdays and Fridays, but inspectors checked the areas for which keys were available and looked through the windows of other facilities at the site. A second team of eight inspectors checked a "site for testing missile activities," 125 kilometers north of Baghdad. UNMOVIC confirmed in a 12 December statement that ACAI is a "pharmaceutical plant engaged in the formulation and packaging of antibiotics." The statement added that although the plant was not operating on 12 December, the inspection team was able to inspect all buildings to "verify the declaration."

A team of 17 UNMOVIC inspectors returned to the Ibn Sina Company north of Baghdad and questioned the director general on the company's activities since 1998, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement. The team then searched the company's facilities and computer files, and "scrutinized the declarations on the chemical equipment and material of dual usage, and the declarations on biological material that are subject to the monitoring system. The Foreign Ministry also noted that a telecommunications group went to the Al-Rashid airport where the telecommunications tower was permanently installed.

The Ibn Sina Company was also revisited by a team of three IAEA inspectors. The Foreign Ministry reported that the company specializes in researching industrial chemistry and "the manufacture of organic and nonorganic primary material needed for local industry." It also provides "chemical analysis" to universities and scientific centers. The ministry reported that Ibn Sina was visited by previous inspectors from the earlier UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) and has provided biannual declarations. The team checked equipment and their tags. The ministry said the inspection provided "conclusive evidence on the falsity of Tony Blair's allegations" against Iraq. Another team comprising two inspectors arrived at Ibn Sina soon after the first team and conducted a radiation check of "all facilities and roads in the company." UNMOVIC stated that the two teams visited Ibn Sina (formerly known as Tarmiya) "to conduct a follow-up visit to this former uranium enrichment plant" and to inspect production and laboratory facilities, "including a car-borne Gamma survey" of the site.

A third UNMOVIC inspection team visited the Al-Nida State Company outside Baghdad. Al-Nida is an "affiliate" of the State Military Industrialization Organization and specializes in manufacturing molds for the industrial sector and railways, as well as "spare parts" for pharmaceutical factories, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. The site is subject to monitoring and was bombed in 1993 and 1998, the ministry stated. The group also toured the nearby Al-Khazin site, which specializes in providing electrical engineering designs to the industrial and electricity sectors. It then visited the Al-Zawra Company, located nearby, which manufactures electronic boards for the electricity and industrial sectors. UNMOVIC stated that the inspection of Al-Nida ("an engineering facility") and Al-Zawra ("an electronics fabrication facility") was made to "review the activities and personnel at these sites since 1998 and to review the disposition and use of dual-purpose machine tools and equipment formerly known to the IAEA."

A fourth and fifth group of 11 UNMOVIC inspectors split into two vehicles headed in different directions from their hotel and met at the Al-Mutasim factory, 75 kilometers south of Baghdad. The factory belongs to the Al-Rashid State Company and specializes in testing the engines of limited-range missiles "according to Security Council resolutions." The ministry noted that it is a declared site and was visited by UNSCOM in the past. The teams reportedly conducted environmental sampling of water and soil, among other things. UNMOVIC described the Al-Mutasim site as a missile plant on the grounds of the former Al-Athear nuclear facility. Inspectors visited new and destroyed "former" nuclear buildings. UNMOVIC added that one of its specialists assisted in observing rocket production facilities at the site. UNMOVIC said it also visited the Al-Hittin firing range to inventory equipment previously monitored by the IAEA.

UNMOVIC reported that its team attended a test launch of a short-range ballistic missile. The launch took place at an undisclosed location, some 200 kilometers outside Baghdad. "The missile is a modified version of a missile already owned by Iraq," UNMOVIC stated.

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Tracking Inspections: 12 DECEMBER 2002