The ease with which UN inspectors have conducted inspections of Iraqi suspected weapons of mass destruction facilities has worried
U.S. and British officials.
UN officials said the inspection teams reported unfettered
access to facilities visited last week in Iraq. So far, at least six
sites have
been inspected by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspections
Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Middle East Newsline reported.
Western intelligence sources said London and
Washington suspect that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein has
long spirited WMD equipment out of military and dual-use facilities and
placed them in underground bunkers and the homes of Iraqi civil servants.
Officials acknowledged that Iraq was notified in advance of several
inspections. They said this included a facility where the Al Hussein
medium-range missile was suspected of being produced. The officials had
responded to an official Iraqi assertion that the inspectors were notifying
Baghdad in advance of visits.
"They had no difficulty gaining immediate access to the sites, as well
as any locations within the sites," a UN statement said.
The UNMOVIC team inspected two sites relating to biological weapons. One
was the Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Plant in Al Dawrah, located about 15
kilometers south of Baghdad.
Iraq declared the Al Dawrah plant as having been used for the production
of biological weapons agents starting in 1990. In 1996, UN inspectors
destroyed equipment declared to have been in the biological weapons program.
But officials said significant dual use production equipment remains.
UN official said the UNMOVIC team of 14 weapons inspectors and support
staff completed the inspections tasks and took samples from Al Dawrah. They
said the team learned that some equipment had been transferred to another
facility.
The second UNMOVIC inspection was that of a small veterinary medicine
facility about 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. No additional details were
reported.
The IAEA team, comprising nine inspectors and support staff, inspected
two sites known for their dual-use capabilities as of 1998. They were
identified as the Dhu Al Fiqar and Nassr Company located in the Taji area,
north of Baghdad.
UN inspectors have also visited a missile facility in Al Yusifiya, 15
kilometers south of Iraq. Another inspection took place at Al Milad, the
site of Iraqi testing of centrifugal equipment designed to enrich uranium
for nuclear weapons. The facility for the centrifuges was completed over the
last few years.
On Dec. 8, Iraq is expected to submit a declaration on its WMD programs.
The declaration is said to be crucial in the Bush administration plans
concerning whether to launch war against Iraq.
