Tracking Inspections in Iraq

RFE/L

20 FEBRUARY 2003

      The Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated that a U-2 reconnaissance plane spent six hours over Iraq on 20 February, surveying several areas. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) did not mention the U-2 flight in its inspection report.
      A team of four International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors visited the Al-Izz State Company, affiliated with the Iraqi Military Industrialization Organization (MIO), located in Al-Taji. Inspectors verified the buildings at the site against maps in their possession, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC stated that the company produces printed circuit boards and telecommunications equipment.
      A second team of seven IAEA inspectors attempted to travel by air to an undisclosed site, but turned back due to bad weather, according to both UNMOVIC and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
      A third team of four IAEA inspectors returned to the Al-Sumud (Abu Gharib) Ibn Al-Haytham (Al-Taji) sites belonging to the Al-Karamah State Company. The inspectors "examined the flow operation machine and inquired about the date the machine had been moved to the site and the purpose of its use," the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors checked a new flow-operation machine at Ibn Al Haytham also, and asked about the date of the machine's arrival as well as the procurement source. UNMOVIC stated that its inspectors inspected flow-forming equipment at several facilities: Al-Karamah (a state company), "The Sumud Company," (Abu) Gharib, and Ibn Al-Haytham.
      The same team of inspectors proceeded to the Al-Shaykhali Stores in Al-Tuwaythah to inspect a store. Inspectors took two aluminum tubes from that store, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC stated that the purpose of the inspection was to "inspect materials from Iraq's past centrifuge program."
      Three IAEA inspectors conducted a car-borne radiation survey at "several companies, offices and military units" in Al-Nahrawan, including the Al-Basil State Company, 7 Nisan State Company, and the Truck Maintenance Division of the Oil Products Distribution Center, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC confirmed the inspection of the sites named by the Foreign Ministry and specified that a residential complex for oil workers and an air defense unit were also inspected.
      A team of four missile inspectors visited the Al-Quds Factory of the Al-Karamah State Company (MIO affiliated) to question factory officials about the types of guidance systems used in the Al-Sumud rocket, as well as the method of assembly, and the number of rockets in which guidance systems are used, according to the Foreign Ministry. Inspectors toured all factory buildings and inventoried the guidance systems present there. They also verified tagged equipment, the ministry added. UNMOVIC noted that "research and development, assembly and testing of guidance and control systems for the Al-Sumud missile" are all carried out at Al-Quds.
      A second team of four missile inspectors visited the Al-Ishaqi Site, which the Foreign Ministry states is an affiliate of the Ministry of Defense. It is located 55 kilometers north of Baghdad. Inspectors tagged missiles at the site, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC stated that it tagged missiles in warheads in the Baghdad area.
      A third team of three missile inspectors visited the Al-Sumud Factory and the Ibn Al-Haytham Factory. At the Al-Sumud site, inspectors verified tags and tagged new equipment; at Ibn Al-Haytham, inspectors tagged "a machine that has not been in operation for 10 years," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that "significant equipment" related to the manufacture of the Al-Sumud 2 missile was tagged.
      Another team of three inspectors also went to Ibn Al-Haytham to question officials about the subsidiary systems of the Al-Sumud rocket. The team also inspected workshops and "looked at the main components of the Al-Sumud rocket," the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that the purpose of the inspection was to determine the status of Al-Sumud missiles being assembled there.
      A fifth team of three inspectors went to the Al-Sumud site and its parent company, Al-Karamah State Company. At Al-Karamah, inspectors tagged machines and questioned officials about the number of manufactured warheads located at the site, the Foreign Ministry noted. UNMOVIC referred to this site as Al-Waziriyah in its daily briefing because the company is located at the Al-Waziriyah Complex. UNMOVIC stated that "significant equipment" used in the production of the Al-Sumud 2 missile was tagged at the site.
      At the Al-Sumud Factory, inspectors asked about company procedures for inspecting the turbine pump of the Al-Sumud rocket, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry reported.
      Five chemical inspectors went to the Al-A'ilah Plant for the Production of Detergents, located in Al-Karamah, 40 kilometers west of Baghdad, the Foreign Ministry stated. Inspectors questioned an "employee" about personnel and their educational levels, as well as the "method of procuring detergent equipment" and the plant's production capacity, the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors toured the laboratory, a sulfonic acid production unit, the sulfur warehouse, the bottle-making unit, and a scrap site, the ministry added. Inspectors used a metal-detection device during the inspection. UNMOVIC referred to this site as the Al-A'ilah Plant for the Production of Sulfochemicals and stated that it is a privately-owned company located 70 kilometers west of Baghdad.
      A team of five biological inspectors surveyed the Abu Gharib area by helicopter, including the College of Agriculture, the State Organization for the Protection of Crops, potato warehouses, the Al-Kindi State Company for the Production of Veterinary Vaccines, as well as the Saddam State Company in Amiriyat Al-Falluja, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC acknowledged the aerial reconnaissance of two sites by biological inspectors. However, UNMOVIC did not specify the areas surveyed, they only gave their geographic location.
      A second team of four biological inspectors visited the Alcoholic Beverages Plant, located in Misan. The inspector entered the Maruk Plant for Beer Production and verified tagged equipment inside the plant, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC noted that the inspectors flew to the site, which it referred to as an alcohol-producing factory located 30 kilometers south-southwest of Al-'Amarah.
      A helicopter reconnaissance team of two biological inspectors photographed the Al-Bakr Airbase and adjacent areas around Balad, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC stated that it reconnoitered several sites along the Tigris River "up to the city of Tikrit." UNMOVIC added that this was a joint UNMOVIC inspection.

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Tracking Inspections in Iraq