ĦĦĦĦBAGHDAD, Dec. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- UN weapons inspectors on Thursday visited at
least six suspected sites in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction as
Iraq's chief liaison to the UN mission praised their "professionalism."
ĦĦĦĦA team of UN arms experts went to the Nida General Company in Zafaraniya,
some 20 km south of Baghdad, according to Iraqi officials at the Press Center of
the Information Ministry.
ĦĦĦĦThe Nida facility, affiliated with Iraq's Military Industrialization
Commission and reportedly engaged in developing medium and long-rang missile in
the past, is now a production base for molds and tools, the Iraqi officials
said.
ĦĦĦĦAt a press conference Thursday evening, Gen. Hussam Mohammed Amin, chief of Iraqi
National Monitoring Directorate, expressed his appreciation of the
inspectors' work.
ĦĦĦĦ"We appreciate the professionalism with which the inspections are
undertaken," the Iraqi official told reporters.
ĦĦĦĦ"The Iraqi side has shown cooperation, and there has not been any problem,"
Amin said, adding that a total of 58 inspections had been carried out so far.
ĦĦĦĦOn Thursday, another group of weapons experts paid a return visit to the
huge Ibn Sina Company complex in Tarmiya, some 40 km north of Baghdad.
ĦĦĦĦThe day's field inspections also include searches of the Mu'tassim factory
in Jurf Sakhr, 35 km south of Baghdad, a missile test pad near Ramadi, 110 km
northwest of Baghdad, and the Al-Rasheed factory, whose location was not
disclosed by the Iraqi officials.
ĦĦĦĦThe Arab Company for Antibiotics in Suweirah, 55 km southeast ofBaghdad,
was also inspected by UN biological warfare experts.
ĦĦĦĦThe UN inspectors have sped up their operations in Iraq after two more
batches of arms experts arrived here on Sunday and Tuesday.
ĦĦĦĦA new group of 28 UN weapons inspectors arrived here on Thursday to
reinforce the current inspection team searching for Iraq's alleged weapons of
mass destruction.
ĦĦĦĦ"All of the 28 inspectors are from the UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission) and the total number now in Iraq is 98,"
the UN inspection group spokesman Hiro Ueki told Xinhua by telephone, adding
that "we are expecting another group."
ĦĦĦĦThe 98 inspectors, 71 of whom are from the UNMOVIC and 27 from the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will continue their new round of
searches for banned weapons in Iraq, which resumed on Nov. 27.
ĦĦĦĦBy Jan. 27, the inspectors must give their first report to the UN Security
Council about Iraq's weapons programs.
ĦĦĦĦIraq has been under sweeping UN sanctions since its August 1990 invasion of
Kuwait and the embargo will not be lifted until the UN has verified that Iraq
has eliminated all of its weapons of mass destruction and means of launch them.
ĦĦĦĦContinuous spats about alleged espionage activities between Iraqand the
previous UN arms inspectors led to crisis in 1997 and 1998,and eventually the
airstrike against Baghdad on December 17-19, 1998. Enditem
ĦĦĦĦ
ĦĦ
ĦĦ