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Tracking Inspections in Iraq

RFE/L

15 MARCH 2003

      UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on 17 March the withdrawal of UN inspectors from Iraq following a U.S. warning that inspectors should leave ahead of a possible U.S.-led strike on Iraq.
      A UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) joint inspection team went to an Iraqi air-defense battalion in the Al-Adl area of Baghdad, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. The inspectors asked about the number of tagged missiles at the site and checked some destroyed missiles. UNMOVIC reported this site as "Air Defense Battery No. 76."
      An UNMOVIC missile-inspection team returned to the Al-Taji Technical Battalion to oversee the destruction of two Al-Sumud 2 missiles and five warheads, UNMOVIC and the Foreign Ministry reported. UNMOVIC stated that 72 Al-Sumud 2 missiles and 47 warheads have been destroyed. In addition, UNMOVIC noted that inspectors erased software for a launching parameter calculation on a command and control vehicle for the Al-Sumud 2 at Al-Taji.
      A second inspection team returned to the Ibn Al-Haytham Factory belonging to the Al-Karamah State Company, where the inspectors videotaped Al-Husayn missile parts that had been destroyed in 1991, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC reported that "ingots of [molten] Scud parts" are stored at the Kadhimiya Plant.
      A third missile-inspection team went to the Al-Karamah State Company in Al-Waziriyah where inspectors verified that all files related to the Al-Sumud 2 missile had been deleted from the computer and that they collected and destroyed the blueprints for the missile. The inspectors also toured the Engineering Department building, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC stated that inspectors inventoried and destroyed Al-Sumud 2 missile-related components and materials.
      A UNMOVIC biological inspection team visited the Tikrit Dairy Company, which the Iraqi Foreign Ministry reported is a private-sector firm. Inspectors inquired about the company, its personnel, the types of bacteria used in producing dairy products, and the kinds of testing performed on finished products, the Foreign Ministry noted. UNMOVIC stated that the company factory produces milk and milk derivatives, but did not elaborate on the inspection.
      Chemical inspectors from UNMOVIC visited the Ibn Sina State Company, belonging to Iraq's Military Industrialization Organization (MIO). The inspectors toured the company's facilities and analyzed minerals using an X-ray device, according to the Foreign Ministry. UNMOVIC confirmed that inspectors went to the Ibn Sina Center, located 60 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. It did not provide information on the inspection.
      A Mosul-based joint-inspection team visited the Mosul branch of the Iraqi National Union of Students. The inspectors asked a union representative some questions and toured the building, the Foreign Ministry stated. UNMOVIC did not report this inspection.
      UNMOVIC stated that it held a private interview with a biological scientist, adding, "This was the eleventh private interview UNMOVIC conducted since 28 February and the fourteenth since the beginning of the process in mid-January."
      A Mirage IV conducted aerial surveillance for an hour and a half over Iraq, the Foreign Ministry reported.

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