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Tracking Inspections: 31 DECEMBER 2002

A reported 85 inspectors visited eight sites on 31 December. A team of six International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors returned to the Chemical Engineering Design Center at the Ibn Younis Complex belonging to the Al-Saad General Company, located 10 kilometers south of Baghdad, where they met with the director and a National Monitoring Directorate representative. Inspectors inquired about the activities of the center, its budget, and any purchases and tenders, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. They also asked about postgraduate degrees held by engineers at the facility, before touring and photographing technical and administrative buildings, the ministry stated.

A group of 13 biological inspectors visited the National Center for Pharmaceutical Research and Monitoring at the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Baghdad's Al-Andulus Square. Inspectors met with the director of the chemical department to inquire as to the activities of the center and the kinds of medicines analyzed there, before meeting with the center's director, who was asked about personnel and funding. Inspectors also checked tagged equipment, the ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that the facility analyzes imported and locally manufactured drugs.

Another team consisting of 11 biological inspectors returned to the Ibn Sina Research Center in Baghdad to inquire of the center's activities and research and its relationship to other research centers in Iraq, as well as Iraqi declarations regarding the center. Inspectors requested a list of those who lead scientific departments at the center, asked for minutes from the center's board meeting, as well as the center's research plan for 2002, according to the Foreign Ministry. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) stated that Ibn Sina "conducts research and testing into new pharmaceutical formulations."

A group of 13 UNMOVIC chemical inspectors went to the Oil Development and Research Center 15 kilometers northeast of Baghdad (the center belongs to the Ministry of Oil), the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors requested the names of professors who act as consultants for the center, as well as those of personnel holding postgraduate degrees. In addition, all facilities, labs, and storage areas were toured and computers were checked, the ministry reported.

A second group of 14 chemical inspectors returned to the Chemical Engineering Research Design Center of the Al-Saad General Company, to which the Iraqis said: "It seems that the purpose of this visit is to verify that this site has not changed the nature of its work [in the last] 48 hours." The ministry reported that the head of the inspection team "went directly" to the fourth floor of the building and asked about computer disks seen there on the previous visit. One disk was copied by inspectors, according to the ministry. In addition, an employee was questioned "on the purgation operation concerning civil defense." Inspectors also questioned the director of the Al-Zahrawi Center about his appointment and qualifications.

UNMOVIC stated that both chemical inspections on 31 December focused on verifying all activities undertaken at the facilities from 1998 until the present. vInspectors also visited the Al-Wadah Center at the same site and "got acquainted with the dossiers of the designing centers," according to the ministry. Inspectors also requested a list of projects of the Al-Saad Company. The Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party Rehabilitation and Training Office was also inspected.

A joint inspection team of 13 visited the Noncommissioned Officer School of the Chemical System in the Al-Amiriyah region of Al-Falluja, according to the ministry. The commander of the school was questioned on the number of yearly training courses and types of chemical gas used in training, and whether radioactive substances are used, according to the ministry, which also reported that inspectors took samples from a "smoking missile" during their inspection. UNMOVIC referred to this site as the "Chemical Corp's Training Center" in its daily statement. It added that the center contains classrooms, warehouses, workshops and administrative buildings, as well as training ranges "where live training is conducted."

A group of 10 missile inspectors returned to the Al-Mansour General Company in Baghdad, where they questioned the director of the company about materials produced there. Inspectors visited workshops which produce gas and inquired as to who uses the materials produced there, the ministry stated.

A second team of five missile inspectors observed the casting process of a solid-propellant motor for the Al-Ubour missile at the Al-Mamoun Plant, located 60 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, according to UNMOVIC. Inspectors also asked about the stages of casting and quality checks performed on samples taken from the mix, according to the Foreign Ministry. Incidentally, the ministry reported that this inspection took place at the Al-Mansour General Company and made no mention of the Al-Mamoun plant.

The ministry also noted that UNMOVIC personnel traveled to Mosul to establish a northern headquarters in that city.

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