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Tracking Inspections in Iraq

RFE/L

8 FEBRUARY 2003

      The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) noted in its 8 February daily briefing that it had requested a private interview with an Iraqi biological scientist. The scientist made the appointment, but "did not agree to the mode of the interview as proposed by UNMOVIC." The interview was thus canceled. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted a private interview with an Iraqi chemical engineer to discuss "technical matters," according to an UNMOVIC/IAEA statement.
      A team of four IAEA inspectors carried out a motorized-radiation survey of the Al-Dawrah Oil Refinery belonging to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, as well as the Al-Nasr Al-Azim Company, affiliated with the Iraqi Military Industrialization Organization (MIO), as well as an air defense military unit and three private farms, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC did not provide details on this inspection.
      A second IAEA team of three inspectors installed mobile air-sampling equipment "in the region" of the Al-Jadiriyah Science Complex and the 17 Nisan Company in Baghdad, the Foreign Ministry stated. "This deployment constitutes a field trial of the mobile units as another step in the reinstallation of both fixed and mobile air samplers as part of wide-area environmental monitoring in Iraq," UNMOVIC stated.
      A team of six chemical inspectors went to the Al-Rashid Water Project belonging to the Baghdad Municipality where they questioned a worker at the site because of the absence of the site manager. Inspectors asked about changes at the site since 1998 as well as the number of new pumps, and the number of "full, empty, and discarded chlorine canisters," the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors also toured the facilities and photographed the sedimentation basins and pumps, the ministry added. UNMOVIC did not provide details on this inspection.
      A group of 12 biological inspectors went to the Jarf Al-Naddaf Warehouses belonging to the Ma Bayn Al-Nahrayn State Company for Seeds and located 25 kilometers south of Baghdad, where they asked the director about the site's activities and the end-users of the site before the Ma Bayn Al-Nahrayn State Company used it. The inspectors also asked about the ownership of the warehouses and the method used for dusting seeds, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry noted.
      The same team of inspectors then proceeded to the Seeds Technological Factory belonging to the Atomic Energy Agency. Inspectors checked the contents of a storage area that contained barley seed, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC acknowledged the above inspections, but did not provide details.
      A team of 11 missile inspectors visited several locations in the Al-Waziriyah area of Baghdad, including the Workers Printing Press of the General Federation of Trade Unions, the Al-Tahrir Institute, the Al-Amin Institute, the Al-Mutasim Center, the Environment Protection and Improvement Directorate, and the Qatr Al-Nada school nursery, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, which added that inspectors checked "all the buildings of the nursery except for some buildings because the keys were not available." Stickers were placed on the doors of the unsearched buildings to ensure they would not be opened until inspectors return on 9 February. The Foreign Ministry did not offer details on the inspection of the other sites mentioned. UNMOVIC stated that inspectors went to the Al-Mutasim Training Institute, which works on the "machining of mechanical components."
      A joint Mosul-based inspection team traveled to the Mosul Technical Institute, which the Foreign Ministry states is affiliated with the Technical Education Organization. Inspectors questioned the dean of the institute about the institute's name and its relationship to other Iraqi universities, institutes, and industrial projects. Inspectors also inquired about research studies at the institute, equipment procurement, and financial matters, before inspecting classrooms, laboratories, storage areas, and workshops. UNMOVIC stated that the institute specializes in practical training instruction.

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