Iraq Gives UN Inspectors List of Scientists

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 29, 2002

Iraq Gives UN Inspectors List of Scientists

Iraq has handed over to the United Nations a list of over 500 scientists who have participated in banned weapons programs, a UN official said on Saturday.

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Iraq has handed over to the United Nations a list of over 500 scientists who have participated in banned weapons programs, a UN official said on Saturday.

"Today we have received from the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate a list of names of personnel associated with Iraq's chemical, biological, nuclear and ballistic missile programs," HiroUeki, spokesman for the UN office in Baghdad, told reporters duringa press conference.

Ueki said the list, which is a key demand under the UN disarmament Resolution 1441, is written in Arabic and is being translated by UN officials in Baghdad.

Ueki also tried to play down a dispute with Baghdad over the interviewing of an Iraqi scientist on Friday, who, according to Ueki's statement, had provided "technical details of a military program" to the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"The IAEA team which interviewed an Iraqi metallurgist, Dr. Kathim Mijbil, was aware that he was not involved in Iraq's past nuclear program," he said.

In Friday's speech, Ueki said Mijbil's answers "will be of greatuse in completing the IAEA assessment."

Mijbil denied his work had anything to do with the development of nuclear weapons program.

"I strongly deny this. Frankly I'm very disturbed over these statements because they don't relate to reality," Mijbil told reporters at a press conference in Iraq's Information Ministry on Saturday.

"There may be some political agenda or to escalate the situation," the Iraqi scientist added.

He only admitted that he had worked on a stock of aluminium tubes which could possibly be used in short-range missiles.

He said Iraq imported the aluminium tubes in 1987 for the production of 81-mm missiles with a range of 10 km, adding those tubes have corroded because of poor storage.

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