Tracking Inspections in Iraq

RFE/L

26 FEBRUARY 2003

       A team of three International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors conducted a car-borne radiation survey in the area of Al-Za'faraniyah. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) added that the inspection included several large industrial sites.
      A second team of three inspectors from the IAEA visited Project 404, associated with the Iraqi Military Industrialization Organization (MIO), the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors questioned the manager about the project's activities and the number of employees and technicians, the Foreign Ministry noted. The team also toured buildings and workshops. UNMOVIC did not refer to this inspection.
      The inspection team then toured the Ibn Al-Bitar site, belonging to the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals (MIM), to acquaint themselves with the site's facilities, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that the facility is a research center for raw materials for the medical industry.
      A two-person UNMOVIC missile-inspection team went to the Al-Amin Factory belonging to the Al-Rashid State Company (MIO-affiliated). Inspectors tagged machines at the site, the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC stated that mechanical machining and hydrostatic testing of the Al-Fatah and Al-Abour motor cases are performed at the factory. It also produces the warhead body for the Al-Fatah cluster-type warhead, UNMOVIC added. Inspectors checked and tagged equipment that had been rehabilitated by Iraq after the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) had destroyed it, UNMOVIC reported.
      The same team of inspectors also went to the Al-Nahrawan Site of the Al-Basil State Company (MIO-affiliated) to tag a drying machine, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC stated that the company produces oil, salt, and detergents for civil industries. Inspectors checked and tagged "one additional piece of equipment that had been destroyed by UNSCOM but repaired by Iraq," UNMOVIC noted, adding that the tagged pieces of equipment were related to a proscribed missile of the past and "some of them are currently being used to produce parts for the Al-Fatah missile."
      Another team of four missile inspectors went to the Al-Shimah Commercial Company, which the Foreign Ministry states is a private-sector company. The inspectors asked the manager about "items supplied to the companies affiliated with the MIO," the Foreign Minsitry reported. The inspectors also reviewed contracts made between the company and the MIO, and other company documents, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC referred to this site as the "Al-Shika Company" and said it is "involved in supplying support equipment for missile research and development." Inspectors verified declarations on the site in an effort to establish a comprehensive monitoring mechanism, UNMOVIC added.
      Twelve chemical inspectors returned to Al-Muthanna to continue with the destruction of munitions at the site, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC confirmed the resumption of artillery-shell destruction, stating that new procedures for drilling the shells were implemented.
      A team of seven chemical inspectors went to the Al-Asil Sulphonic Acid Production Facility, which is a private firm. The Foreign Ministry stated that this firm is not operating at the moment. Inspectors toured the facility, the ministry added. UNMOVIC referred to the site as the "Al-Naif Sulphonic Acid Facility," adding that the inspectors also went to the Dar Al-Salam Sulphuric Acid Facility to ask follow-up questions from a previous inspection. The facilities are located next to each other, UNMOVIC reported.
      A team of six biological inspectors returned to the bomb destruction site in Al-Aziziyah to tag and number bombs, the Foreign Ministry reported. Inspectors also reportedly requested that fragments found during the excavation be collected and weighed. UNMOVIC stated that the inspectors observed the excavation of a pit thought to contain R400 aerial bombs destroyed by Iraq in 1991. Inspectors also checked excavated munitions and fragments. An aerial survey of the site was also performed, UNMOVIC added.
      Four biological inspectors went to the Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Unit affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Health in Mosul. The team asked the manager about the clinic's date of operation, the tests which it performs, the number of infected cases, and its relationship to other clinics, before touring the facilities, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that this was a joint biological and multidisciplinary inspection.
      A Mosul-based, joint-inspection team visited the Badush Cement Factory belonging to the Northern Cement State Company, an MIM affiliate. The inspectors asked the manager about the factory's activities, its production lines, personnel, and funding sources, the Foreign Ministry reported. The inspectors also toured the factory and inspected equipment import records, the ministry added. UNMOVIC acknowledged this inspection but did not provide details.
      The Iraqi Foreign Ministry reported that a Mirage reconnaissance plane entered Iraqi airspace for two hours on 26 February. UNMOVIC did not comment directly on the flight.
      The IAEA interviewed two Iraqi "experts" on 26 February, according to the Foreign Ministry. It did not state whether the interviews were recorded. UNMOVIC reported that the interviews were with engineers formerly associated with Iraq's former gas-centrifuge enrichment program.

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Tracking Inspections in Iraq