Tracking Inspections in Iraq

RFE/L

4 FEBRUARY 2003

      The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) noted in its daily briefing for 4 February that it had requested an interview with a scientist. The scientist made the appointment but requested that two witnesses be present during the interview. UNMOVIC declined to proceed with the interview. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry also recounted this event, but added that two interviews were requested and that neither of them took place.
      An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team of three visited the Al-Ma'moun Factory of the Al-Rashid State Company approximately 50 kilometers south of Baghdad. This site has been visited several times by UNMOVIC chemical and missile inspectors. Inspectors checked the central warehouses, as well as "the received batches of insulators" and took samples from insulators, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC did not provide details on this inspection.
      A second team of 10 IAEA inspectors visited the Al-Salam Plant, which was visited on 3 February by UNMOVIC biological and missile inspectors. The plant is abandoned, according to the Iraqis, and an Iraqi military unit is currently occupying it. Inspectors carried out a radiation survey in the site's buildings and roads, the ministry reported. UNMOVIC noted that UNMOVIC inspectors gave support to the IAEA on this inspection and noted that the site is "formerly associated with biological weapons development."
      A group of 11 biological inspectors visited Al-Nasr Al-Adheem State Company in Baghdad. The company is affiliated with the Military Industrialization Organization (MIO). Inspectors questioned the director-general of the company about personnel and the university degrees they hold as well as about company activities and "the technologies used in welding operations," the Foreign Ministry stated. Inspectors also asked if the plant is "specialized in the manufacture of padded reservoirs" before they searched, videotaped, and photographed equipment and products at the company's factories and warehouses, the ministry added. UNMOVIC referred to this site as the "State Establishment for Heavy Engineering Enterprises" plant. It added that the facility "designs and manufactures a range of equipment, including large storage and mixing tanks used by food processing, chemicals, and petroleum industries."
      A team of five missile inspectors went to the Al-Milad Factory belonging to the Al-Harith State Company (of the MIO). Inspectors tagged some ground-to-air missiles and removed tags from others, the Foreign Ministry noted.
      A team of four missile inspectors visited the Al-Ma'moun Factory of the Al-Rashid State Company, where they questioned the director about the manufacturing and insulation process of the Al-Fatah missile. The workshop where the insulators are manufactured was inspected, as well as the rubber workshop and the chemical storage area, the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors also checked tagged equipment.
      A third team of four missile inspectors traveled to the Al-Rafah site belonging to the Al-Karamah State Company in Amiriyat Al-Falluja. Inspectors were briefed and then observed a static test of the Al-Sumud missile. The test was also videotaped, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry noted.
      Regarding the three above-mentioned missile inspections, UNMOVIC noted that Al-Harith is a missile maintenance facility, while Al-Ma'moun manufactures composite solid propellant. Al-Rafah is a static-test site for missile engines. "These inspections were conducted to verify Iraq's declarations and to establish a comprehensive monitoring mechanism," UNMOVIC stated.
      A group of nine chemical inspectors visited the Agricultural Equipment State Company in Baghdad, which belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture. Inspectors questioned the director-general on his background and work history, as well as the number of workers and their degrees. Inspectors also asked about the number of warehouses storing pesticides, the types of pesticides stored there, and about various agricultural diseases. The finance, import, and marketing departments, as well as the warehouses and company computer were checked, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC called this inspection site the "ASCO Commercial Center," and stated that the company deals with agrochemicals and noted that it is "one of the main distributors for pesticides in Iraq."
      A second team of seven chemical inspectors went to the Al-Dawrah water-purification plant belonging to the Baghdad Water Department, where they questioned specialists on the purification process and about a water quality-testing laboratory. "The group inspected the analysis laboratory, the pumps that draw the water from the river, and the sedimentation and purification basins," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC acknowledged but did not elaborate on this inspection.
      A joint team of 15 UNMOVIC inspectors visited the Mosul Sugar and Yeast Factories, located near the Mosul Airport. The factory belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Minerals (MIM). Inspectors questioned staff about the factory's organizational structure, products manufactured, and changes made at the site since 1998. Inspectors also wanted to know whether sugar was produced at the factory during the last four years. They also asked if there is a "specific mechanism" to gather beet sugar and the average annual supply of beet sugar for the factory, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that the purpose of the inspections was to ascertain the present status of the site.
      A second joint UNMOVIC team of 11 inspectors visited a privately owned agricultural farm, which is adjacent to the Al-Taji Gas Factory, some 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. After checking the agricultural land, inspectors went to the Al-Taji Ammunition Depot, approximately 15 kilometers away, and searched warehouses there, recording the types of ammunition present in the warehouses, the Foreign Ministry noted. UNMOVIC noted that in addition to the farm, a "helicopter support facility" was inspected.
      Another joint team of six inspectors also visited the Al-Taji Ammunition Depot to question the "custodian" of the site about the organizational structure and names of personnel working at the site. Inspectors also asked about four empty warheads of the Karrar 122-millimeter missile which were recently declared by Iraq before inspecting warehouses using chemical-detection equipment, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC stated that an empty Sakr-18 chemical warhead was found at the site. Inspectors tagged and "secured" the warhead. "The same type of chemical warhead was found at the Ukhaydir Ammunition Storage area on 16 January," UNMOVIC noted.
      The Foreign Ministry also noted that UNMOVIC performed aerial reconnaissance over the Al-Rashid and Al-Yusufiyah regions south of Baghdad, as well as Amiriyat Al-Falluja, and a road that "runs parallel to the Euphrates River from the Al-Falluja bank."

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Tracking Inspections in Iraq