Tracking Inspections: 16 DECEMBER 2002

Fifty-five UNMOVIC and IAEA inspectors visited 13 sites on 16 December, according to a statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. A group of nine IAEA inspectors visited the Hittin State Company, a subsidiary of the MIO located 50 kilometers south of Baghdad. Inspectors questioned the general director of the company regarding aluminum pipes manufactured there and conducted a gamma survey of the facilities. They also took a sample of aluminum, the Foreign Ministry stated. Inspectors verified all machines and equipment that were listed in the Iraqi declarations to the UN. The same team inspected the Iskandariyah Foundry and State Enterprises for Mechanical Industries at Hittin, where they took environmental samples, inspected machine tools, and conducted a radiological survey, UNMOVIC reported.

The group then proceeded to the Al-Quds State Company, which it inspected on 7 December with UNMOVIC. According to the statement, the inspectors "made general visits to the company's facilities" and took samples of wastewater, drinking water, and soil. Inspectors then traveled to the State Company for Mechanical Industries, a subsidiary of the Industry and Minerals Ministry that is located 50 kilometers south of Baghdad. It specializes in "mechanical industries and the production of tractors and their accessories," according to the Foreign Ministry. Inspectors "visited all the main sites to verify the old and recently imported machines and equipment. It conducted a radiological survey with portable equipment."

A second group of three IAEA inspectors on 16 December visited the Sa'd State Company in Karradat Maryam (Baghdad), where they met with the director and "toured all sections, including the administrative, financial, and computer departments, and visited the Al-Rafidayn Bank branch at the site," according to the Foreign Ministry statement. UNMOVIC noted that Sa'd State Company is an engineering firm involved in design work, construction, and commissioning of projects.

A third group of inspectors returned to the Al-Qa'qa Company. The Foreign Ministry did not provide details of the inspection. The group later visited the Al-Musayyib Ammunition Store to inspect 81-millimeter rockets. The Foreign Ministry said the rockets "have a range of 10 km and are fired from rocket launchers" made from aluminum pipes manufactured by the Hittin State Company. The inspectors also returned to the Al-Mutasim Factory to inspect mechanical and assembly workshops. Inspectors then went to the Hittin test range to perform a test launch of an 81-millimeter rocket. UNMOVIC stated that these four sites "work as a unit in the Iraqi military armaments structure to produce and test munitions." Inspectors monitored the production of "small rockets" according to UNMOVIC.

A UNMOVIC team of 13 chemical inspectors visited the Al-Nasr Al-Azim (Great Victory) Company in Baghdad, which is an affiliate of the MIO. Inspectors checked tagged equipment and toured the company's workshops, vehicles, and various departments, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC says Al-Nasr Al-Azim was formerly known as the Heavy Engineering State Company, a main processing equipment production facility.

A second team of seven biological inspectors visited Baghdad University's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute in Al-Jadiriyah. The ministry reported that inspectors "asked the dean of the institute about the goals of the institute, even though it has only recently been instituted and has been declared in the latest Iraqi declaration." Inspectors also toured rooms and laboratories at the institute, "photographed the machines, equipment and books found in the library," and checked a computer. UNMOVIC stated that the institute is a new site that is involved in training, teaching, and research in biotechnology and genetic engineering.

Inspectors then returned to the Health Ministry's Serum and Vaccines Institute in Al-Amiriyah to examine "storage-inventory cards" and, according to UNMOVIC, "seek clarifications from the former director of the institute. Inspectors also took samples and physical inventory, UNMOVIC stated.

A team of 10 UNMOVIC inspectors visited the Dhat Al-Sawari State Company, which belongs to the Industry and Minerals Ministry and is located 20 kilometers north of Baghdad, to question a company representative and tour "a dairy plant, a pipes plant, a warehouse, and a drinking-water station" at the site. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry noted, "The group interrupted its visit to the site and did not visit the other plants, for the site is within the jurisdiction of the Chemical Team and not the Missile Team." UNMOVIC specified that it visited the Taji Fiberglass production plant at Dhat Al-Sawari, adding, "When last inspected in 1998, the fiberglass plant employed very few people. Today it employs over 200 people. The plant is principally involved in the production of fiberglass tubing."

A group of eight UNMOVIC inspectors did, however, visit the Sa'd State Company, where they questioned the director-general about the company's activities and its affiliate centers, its budgets, and "the designs it prepares and the parties that benefit from these designs." The group then toured the facility, reviewed documents and drawings, and checked three computers. IAEA inspectors assisted in the inspection. The company "includes a number of personnel from the former nuclear weapons program organization Petrochemical Complex-3 (PC-3)," UNMOVIC stated.

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Tracking Inspections: 16 DECEMBER 2002