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Tracking Inspections: 12 January 2003

A team of six International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors flew in three helicopters from Al-Rashid Airport to the Al-Hadher State Company, owned by Iraq's Military Industrial Organization (MIO), 270 kilometers north of Baghdad in Al-Shurqat. Chemical inspectors visited this site on 2 January. Inspectors toured the plants and photographed and inquired about the factory producing nitric acid. Buildings and streets around the site were checked for radiation. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) calls this site the Sharqat EMIS Facility, and states that it was "originally designed to house an Electromagnetic Isotope Separation Facility (EMIS)" but that a factory belonging to the Al-Hadher State Company produces nitric acid at the site.

A group of eight biological inspectors went to the College of Medicine at Baghdad University, located in the Al-Bab Al-Mu'azzam area of Baghdad. Inspectors met with a representative of the National Monitoring Directorate as well as the college dean and asked about the Microbiology Department, specifically the number of undergraduate and postgraduate students, the organizational structure of the department, research projects, names of professors and their specialties, tagged equipment, asked about any changes made since 1998 and the department's budget, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

Inspectors also toured the laboratories and "the animal home affiliated to it." UNMOVIC noted that the Microbiology Department's principal activity is to teach third-year medical students basic microbiology and parasitology.

A group of 11 biological inspectors traveled to the College of Pharmacy at Baghdad University (also in Al-Bab Al-Mu'azzam). This group of inspectors divided into three teams. The teams, according to the Foreign Ministry, questioned the dean about the college's activities; scientific departments and the research conducted there, particularly the Microbiology Department; research in the field of mycotoxins and antibiotics; queried about experiments conducted on laboratory animals; and which buildings were used by the College of Pharmacy, the ministry stated. All buildings and laboratories were inspected and tagged equipment was checked.

A third team of two biological inspectors returned to the warehouses of the Air Force Technical Armories at Al-Taji, located 35 kilometers north of Baghdad (see inspection report for 2 January). Inspectors photographed and then removed the seals and tags on one of the warehouses.

A team of 11 chemical inspectors went to the National Company for Chemical and Plastic Industries, a public/private venture located in the Al-Za'faraniyah area of Baghdad, the ministry stated. Inspectors divided into three groups, meeting with the site manager, technical manager, and the liaison officer. The company officials were questioned on its affiliations, products, funding, sections, production lines, personnel, including the number of advanced degree holders, raw material sources, imports, end users, the water treatment plant at the site, export practices, and cooperation with other organizations, the ministry noted. All facilities at the site were checked.

A group of 10 missile inspectors went to the Al-Rafah Liquid Engine Test Facility belonging to the Al-Karamah State Company (owned by the MIO) located in Amiriyat Al-Fallujah, 70 kilometers west of Baghdad, according to the Foreign Ministry (or 130 kilometers south of Baghdad, according to UNMOVIC). Inspectors watched and photographed a static test firing of the Al-Sumud missile and questioned scientists on the experiment, the ministry stated.

A second team of seven inspectors went to the Al-Mutasim Factory belonging to the Al-Rashid State Company 75 kilometers south of Baghdad to witness a static test firing of the Al-Ubour missile engine. UNMOVIC noted that the Al-Ubour motor is a solid propellant motor that Iraq will use in a ground-to-ground missile system.

A team of four missile inspectors went to the missile range at the Al-Qurnah district, located 25 kilometers north of Basra to tag Al-Fatah missiles.

A joint team of 16 UNMOVIC inspectors based in Mosul went to the Jabir bin-Hayyan State Company (MIO) and divided into three groups, questioning the manager about products, marketing practices, and financing. Inspectors also inquired as to changes made at the company since 1998, production increases, military and civilian components, sources of procurement for activated carbon, and the types of inspections done on it, according to the ministry. Tagged equipment was checked, a gas sensor was checked and replaced, and buildings were inspected. UNMOVIC noted that this company produces chemical protection 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