Tracking Inspections in Iraq

RFE/L

16 FEBRUARY 2003

      A team of four International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors returned to the Saddam State Company and the Al-Yarmouk State Company on 16 February. The inspectors removed an air-sampling device that was installed at the Saddam State Company on 12 February. Inspectors then installed the sampler at the Al-Yarmouk State Company, according to the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). Al-Yarmouk is an ammunition factory. Inspectors toured the facilities at Al-Yarmouk and inquired about new-programmed machines, the Foreign Ministry reported.
      A second team consisting of three IAEA inspectors visited the liquid-nitrogen plant at the Ibn Sina State Company to remove an air sampler from the site, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC did not comment on this inspection.
      The Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated that two IAEA inspectors conducted a radiation survey from a helicopter over the following areas: Al-Tuwaythah site; Saddam International Airport; Al-Wahdah area; Al-Radwaniyah area; Al-Zaydan Khan Dari area; Amiriyat Al-Falluja; Al-Mada'in; Al-Yusufiyah; Al-Amir Factory at Al-Falluja; Saddam Company in Al-Amiriyah; and desert areas around Al-Falluja. UNMOVIC stated that inspectors performed an air-borne gamma survey by helicopter, "to the south and west of Baghdad."
      A fourth team consisting of eight IAEA inspectors conducted a radiation survey around the Al-Ramadi Electric Plant in order to "track the electric cables," the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC described this inspection as one to inspect "power-generating capabilities" for the Al-Ramadi area.
      The same team of inspectors inspected a grain silo in Al-Ramadi, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
      The team then traveled to the College of Engineering at Al-Anbar University and an elementary school for the children of university staff located at the college. UNMOVIC stated that inspectors visited the Mechanical, Building and Civil Training Departments at Al-Anbar University.
      Seven chemical inspectors from UNMOVIC visited the Pesticide Factory at the Al-Tariq State Company, an affiliate of Iraq's Military Industrialization Organization (MIO). Inspectors verified equipment in an open-storage area and equipment located in warehouses "using a hand-held device to determine the metal type," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that inspectors visited Falluja III to verify items declared by Iraq.
      A team of seven biological inspectors inspected the Diyala Company for Canned Foodstuff and Dates, which the Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated is a private company. Inspectors asked about personnel, production at the plant, and about the plant's relations with the Al-Miqdadiyah Dairy Company.
      The same team of biological inspectors also visited the Diyala Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Center belonging to the Iraqi Health Ministry, according to UNMOVIC, which did not elaborate on the inspection. Inspectors inquired about the number of tuberculosis cases at the clinic, its methods for diagnosing these cases, and about diagnostic devices at the site, according to the Foreign Ministry.
      A team of six biological inspectors visited the Ba'qubah Company for Canned Foodstuff and Dates, also a private firm, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. Inspectors questioned the manager about the company's date of establishment, its structure and affiliations, personnel, the number of personnel with postgraduate degrees, products produced at the site, funding sources, and sources of raw materials, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC did not provide details on this inspection.
      The same team inspected the College of Science at Diyala University and questioned the dean on the college's activities, its staff and students, and curricula, the ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that inspectors went to Ba'qubah University.
      Two UNMOVIC missile inspectors went to the Al-Ma'moun Factory belonging to the Al-Rashid State Company, where they questioned the manager and placed "stickers on the forming tanks that were repaired," the Foreign Ministry noted. UNMOVIC stated that the inspection was related to the casting chambers destroyed by UNSCOM and later reconstituted by Iraq.
      Seven UNMOVIC missile inspectors visited the Technical Library, the Al-Ishaqi and Al-Dajil sites belonging to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, where they tagged Al-Sumud missiles, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC did not provide details on this inspection, except to say that the missiles were newly produced.
      A team of four missile inspectors returned to the Ibn Al-Haytham Factory to tag imported SA-2 missile engines, according to UNMOVIC and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
      Five missile inspectors visited the Al-Kindi State Company (affiliate of the MIO) in Mosul to question company officials on the change of the company's name and the types of inspections conducted on the Al-Sumud and Ababil missiles, as well as the types of valves manufactured there, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC stated that the company is involved in the research, development, and testing of missile systems.

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Tracking Inspections in Iraq