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UN inspectors continue investigations into Iraq’s weapons programmes

UN inspectors continue investigations into Iraq’s weapons programmes

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United Nations inspectors today continued their visits to Iraqi facilities, on the look out for evidence that the sites may be involved in programmes to produce weapons of mass destruction.

According to a spokesman for the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a team of chemical experts went to inspect the Al Hadar State Company, formerly known as the Ash Sharqat Uranium Enrichment Facility, a chemical plant that produces nitric acid and ammonium nitrate.

UNMOVIC missile inspectors returned to the Al Fatah State Company – which was previously inspected on 14 December – to hold technical talks with key personnel associated with the Iraqi Solid Propellant Missile Programmes, spokesman Hiro Ueki said in Baghdad. Biological experts, meanwhile, inspected the Technical Military Depot for the Air Force Al Taji, which is part of a large military site and houses spare parts for a variety of aircraft.

In the meantime, an multidisciplinary team from UNMOVIC inspected the Ibn Firnas State Company, which is owned by the Military Industrialization Corporation and is an engineering and procurement entity supporting the Iraqi air force, according to Mr. Ueki. The team then visited the Al Fatah State Company to verify information on aviation-related matters.

As for the IAEA, inspectors visited the Falluja Lead Recovery Plant and a storage site at Khan Dari, both located approximately 60 km west of Baghdad. The Lead Recovery Plant operates gas-fired furnaces and the storage site contains an array of materials as well as equipment.