Iraq: UN inspectors continue probing industrial facilities suspected of military activities

United Nations experts in Iraq today pressed forward in their efforts aimed at probing industrial facilities suspected of involvement in the country's military programme.

A team of missile experts from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) inspected the Baghdad Space Research and Development Centre, a scientific group which does space technology, space optics, atmospheric studies and remote sensing. Another missile team inspected the site of the Taji Technical Battalion, a missile storage area and former Scud dumpsite.

Chemical experts from UNMOVIC inspected the Al Nahrawan site, which is part of the Al Basil Company. “This facility consists of several pilot plants involved in the production of some chemicals, mainly on request from other companies,” UN spokesman Hiro Ueki explained. “This site was previously declared to be using dual-use equipment and chemicals.”

An UNMOVIC biological team inspected the Al Kindi Company for the Production of Veterinary Vaccines which is partially owned by the Ministry of Agriculture and partially privately owned. “This was a previously declared and monitored site,” said the spokesman. “It produces a variety of viral and bacterial veterinary vaccines, using basic glassware and techniques.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspected three sites: the Mansour State Company, which is an electronics factory, the Farabi Computer Centre, and the Tahrir Institute of Welding Technology.