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Tracking Inspections: 27 DECEMBER 2002

A reported 49 Inspectors visited two sites on 27 December. A team of 23 biological inspectors visited the Al-Assriya (Modern) Chemical Refining Industries in Al-Masbah, which is a private sector company that produces medicinal-grade and industrial alcohol, according to the ministry. Inspectors checked production lines and rooms, tagged equipment, filling lists, storage facilities, and laboratories as well as a distillation unit, the ministry stated. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) stated that the company also produces arak, whiskey, and gin from dates. It is a declared and previously monitored site because it contains dual-use equipment.

A team of 16 chemical inspectors returned to Al-Nasr Al-Adheem State Company in Al-Dawra (Baghdad) to inspect "utilities" and inquire about machinery, workers, and production at the site, the ministry reported. UNMOVIC stated the site is a heavy engineering facility, adding, "The purpose of this inspection was to continue re-baselining." A team of 10 missile inspectors also visited the site and inspected factories, technical workshops, and storage areas there. UNMOVIC added that the company is a metal works for both civilian and military purposes.

The Foreign Ministry noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requested a meeting through the National Monitoring Directorate with Dr. Kadhim Mijbil from the Al-Raya Company (affiliated with the Military Industrialization Organization), which was held on 27 December. Mijbil is a "specialist that has a connection with the use of aluminum tubes used in the production of 81-millimeter missiles with a range of 10 kilometers," according to the ministry. A representative of Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate also attended the meeting.

UNMOVIC later confirmed on 28 December that Mijbil is a metallurgist and said he was questioned because of previous statements he made about nonclassified information which was of interest to inspectors. UNMOVIC spokesman Hiro Ueki stressed in his statement on 28 December that the IAEA team "was aware that he [Dr. Mijbil] was not involved in Iraq's past nuclear program."

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