03 June 2003
Blix Says U.N. Weapons Inspections "Produced Little" Prior to War
(Chief weapons inspector submits final report to the Security Council) (650) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Sending his last report to the Security Council, the chief U.N. weapons inspector for Iraq said that the inspections launched four months prior to the war in Iraq did little to solve the mystery of Baghdad's unaccounted for weapons of mass destruction. Hans Blix, executive chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), said in a report released June 2 that, despite more than 730 inspections covering 411 sites and numerous conferences with Iraqi officials, "little progress" was made in the effort to certify that Iraq no longer had chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons or long-range missiles or programs to produce such weapons. Blix will give an oral report to the council on June 6. Earlier this year, he informed Secretary General Kofi Annan that he would not consider staying on as UNMOVIC head when his contract expires in June. Both UNMOVIC inspections and documents submitted by Iraq "contributed to a better understanding of past weapons programs," Blix said in the report. "However, the long list of proscribed items unaccounted for and as such resulting in unresolved disarmament issues was neither shortened by the inspections nor by Iraqi declarations and documentation." "From the end of January 2003, the Iraqi side, which until then had shown cooperation on process but not in equal measure on substance, devoted much effort to provide explanations and propose methods of inquiry into issues such as the production and destruction of anthrax, VX, and long-range missiles. Despite these efforts little progress was made in the solution of the issues during the time of UNMOVIC's operations in Iraq," he said. UNMOVIC ended operations in Iraq on March 18 after Secretary General Kofi Annan ordered all U.N. staff to withdraw from Iraq just prior to the start of hostilities. The war started on March 19. Coalition forces are fielding special units to identify weapons of mass destruction and WMD production facilities in Iraq. UNMOVIC has not received any reports from the coalition teams nor have the coalition forces requested any information or assistance from UNMOVIC, Blix said. After leaving Iraq in March, UNMOVIC weapons inspectors were sent back to their homes, and their aircraft units were re-assigned to other U.N. operations. Headquarters staff has been analyzing the data from inspections performed between the time UNMOVIC began work in Iraq in late November 2002 and March 2003 as well as updating files and other documentation, he said. Citing biological weapons inspections as an example of how WMD issues remain unresolved, Blix said that while inspectors found that a large number of R400 bombs containing biological agent were unilaterally destroyed in 1991, they could not verify the quantity of biological agent destroyed, much less the total quantity produced. Although it had strong indications that not all anthrax quantities were destroyed, UNMOVIC was not able to conclusively prove they were not, he said. UNMOVIC also had determined that the range of Iraq's Al Samoud 2 missiles violated the weapons ban set by the council at the end of the Gulf war. "Some 70 missiles and associated equipment were destroyed under commission supervision before its operations were suspended. At that time, a decision by the commission was pending as to whether the Al Fatah missile system, too, exceeded the ranges set by the council," Blix reported. Blix said that UNMOVIC stands ready to go back to Iraq either to confirm the findings of coalition teams or conduct long-term monitoring and verification to ensure that the banned weapons programs are not re-started. In recent weeks, coalition forces have increased the number of personnel assigned to search out weapons of mass destruction and have given no indication that UNMOVIC services would be needed. (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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