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Tracking Inspections: 10 January 2003

A total of 37 inspectors visited three sites on 10 January. A team of 16 UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) biological inspectors visited the warehouses of the State Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Appliances, located in the Al-'Adl Quarter of Baghdad (UNMOVIC states its location as 10 kilometers northwest of Baghdad). The Iraqi Foreign Ministry noted that the Civilian Defense guard at the site informed inspectors upon their arrival that not all the keys to the site were available since it was not a business day. The keys to the refrigerated rooms were available, however, and those rooms were opened and inspected, according to the ministry.

A group of 12 biological inspectors went to other warehouses belonging to the State Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Appliances, located in the Al-Dabash area in the Al-Hurriyet Quarter of Baghdad (UNMOVIC states its location as 28 kilometers northwest of Baghdad). Inspectors ran into a similar problem at this site, as only the keys of the main entrance to two warehouses were available. Inspectors checked the two warehouses and "tagged three large refrigerators that were locked," the ministry stated. In addition, three doors on one warehouse were tagged. The ministry noted that inspectors would return the next morning to remove and inspect the tags at the start of office hours.

UNMOVIC stated that the State Company for Marketing Drugs and Medical Appliances imports medical equipment and supplies.

A team of nine chemical inspectors visited the Al-Mamoun Factory of the Al-Rashid State Company, located approximately 60 kilometers south of Baghdad. Inspectors split into two groups, the first inspected, swabbed, and sampled the polyester unit, which has not operated since 1998. The second group checked chemical storage areas, the plastics workshop, and the rubber workshop, the ministry reported.

UNMOVIC also noted that missile inspectors observed the static test firing of an Al-Samud missile engine late in the afternoon of 9 January, after the scheduled morning firing had been postponed for technical reasons."

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