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Tracking Inspections: 23 DECEMBER 2002

A total of 42 inspectors visited six sites on this day. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) stated that as of 23 December, there are 102 UNMOVIC inspectors and six International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in Iraq.

A team of six IAEA inspectors visited the Al-Razi State Company of the Military Industrialization Organization (MIO), located 10 kilometers north of Baghdad. Inspectors checked the research centers of the company, checked tagged equipment, and inspected documents and computers. UNMOVIC noted that the Al-Razi Company was founded in 1997 and many of its employees and equipment were formerly employed in Iraq's nuclear weapons program. UNMOVIC added that it is declared as a site involved in laser development and military projects.

The IAEA inspectors then returned to the Ibn Al-Bitar Center where they toured the main buildings and conducted radiological testing. Al-Bitar is a storage site for equipment salvaged from former nuclear facilities, according to an UNMOVIC statement.

A team of nine UNMOVIC biological inspectors visited the baby milk factory in Abu Gharib, located 15 kilometers west of Baghdad. Coalition forces bombed this plant in 1991, according to the ministry. The factory was rebuilt, and inspectors inquired as to the reasons why production is no longer under way. (UNMOVIC stated that the factory, owned by the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, used to produce dried baby milk but has not operated for the last three years.) Inspectors checked tagged equipment at the site, according to the Foreign Ministry. It is labeled a dual-use site because it contains equipment such as dryers, a filter press, and an autoclave. All equipment was accounted for, according to UNMOVIC.

A team of 10 chemical inspectors also inspected Ibn Al-Bitar, and asked about changes at the site since 1998. Inspectors also requested a production list and inspected buildings and laboratories, as well as checked the site against the December 2002 Iraqi declaration.

A joint team of 11 inspectors returned to the Al-Fao General Engineering Company, which the ministry says is "specialized in building bridges, causeways and constructions." Inspectors asked about the structure of the company and its projects before touring the departments of the company.

A team of seven missile inspectors returned to the technical missile battalion site at Al-Taji to continue tagging equipment.

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