UN Arms Experts Search 10 Iraqi Sites on Saturday

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 22, 2002

UN Arms Experts Search 10 Iraqi Sites on Saturday

UN arms inspectors on Saturday visited ten suspected sites in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction, their spokesman Hiro Ueki said in a statement.

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UN arms inspectors on Saturday visited ten suspected sites in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction, their spokesman Hiro Ueki said in a statement.

A team of arms experts from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) paid their unannounced visit to the Samoud Scrap Yard in Tarmiya, some 54 km northwest of Baghdad.

The multi disciplinary team of chemists, toxicologists and missile experts inspected "all areas of the site," which belongs to the Samoud Company, Ueki said.

"The scrap in the site is sent to the Al Samoud factory to be reprocessed into steel in its heavy foundry," he added.

Some UNMOVIC chemical experts went to the Research and Analytical Centre for Pesticides, some 20 km northwest of Baghdad.

The center, which used to be part of the Tariq State Company, was moved in 2001 to Falluja III and merged with the Quality Control Department there.

The chemical inspection team also visited the Al Furat State Establishment for Chemical Industry, about 80 km southwest of Baghdad, to "update information about the site and verify data provided in the last semi-annual declaration," Ueki said.

An UNMOVIC biological team went to the Samara Drug Industry (SDI), a pharmaceutical company owned by the Ministry of Industries and Minerals, some 140 km northwest of Baghdad.

The UN experts inspected the large complex with over 50 structures, and "confirmed all the tags and inventories" at the site. They also "discussed site activities and declarations with the site representatives."

Meanwhile, two UNMOVIC teams of missile inspectors separately visited the Al Qa Qaa double base propellant plant and the Al-FedaaHydraulic Plant, according to the statement.

The Al-Fedaa facility "is actively engaged in the manufacture of missile and rocket launchers as well as the refurbishment of tank transporters." In addition, the plant produces a wide range of parts for hydraulic systems.

Also on Saturday, two teams of nuclear experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited a total of four sites suspected of developing prohibited nuclear weapons.

They are the 14 Ramadan Factory, the Binwalid Factory, the Al Raya State Company and the Al Zahef Al Kabeer company.

Currently there are 115 inspectors in Iraq, 94 of whom are from the UNMOVIC and 19 from the IAEA.

By Jan. 27, the inspectors must give their first report to the UN Security Council about Iraq's weapons programs.

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