Statement by Spokesman of Ministry of Foreign
Affairs on Inspection Activities

IRAQI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

March 4, 2003

1. UNMOVIC Inspection Team (Chemical):

The team headed by the British inspector Mr. Steve ,set out from Al-Qanat Hotel at 9:00 a.m., and arrived at Al-Basil State Company which belongs to Military Industrialization Commission. It inspected one of the pioneering new units and other departments. The inspection took an hour, and then the team returned to the Hotel.

2. UNMOVIC Inspection Team (Biological):

The team headed by the British inspector Mr. Martin set out from Al-Qanat Hotel at 10:30 a.m., and arrived at Ibn Firnas State Company, which belongs to Military Industrialization Commission. The team inquired about the Company’s activity in the field of drone planes, their types, and their sizes. Afterwards, the team inspected the factories and special departments of manufacturing these planes. The inspection lasted for three hours and forty minutes, after which the team returned to the Hotel.

3. UNMOVIC Inspection Team (Missiles):

Group I: The group, headed by the French inspector Mr. Chorine, set out from Al-Qanat Hotel at 8:40 a.m., and arrived at the Technical Battalion at Al-Taji area. It obsereved the destruction of three missiles of Al-Soumoud /2, five missile engines, and a launching pad. The destruction  lasted for five hours, and then the group returned to the Hotel.

B. Group II: The group, headed by the French inspector Mr. Key , departed Al-Qanat Hotel at 8: 30 a.m., and arrived at Al-Ma’moun Factory, which belongs to Al-Rasheed State Company. The group obsereved the destruction of the second founding mold of solid fuel. Later, another group headed for Al-Qaqa State Company to put some tags on warheads of Al-Soumoud /2 missiles. The inspection lasted for seven hours, and then the group returned to the Hotel.

4. The U2 Reconnaissance Plane:

The U2 reconnaissance plane entered Iraq airspace at 9:45 a.m., reconnoitered  many areas of the country and left at 4: 10 p.m. Reconnaissance lasted for six hours and twenty-five minutes.

5. UNMOVIC Joint Inspection Team (Baghdad):

A helicopter, on board of which were two inspectors headed by the Romanian inspector Mr. Alexander Douglas , took off from Al-Rasheed Airport at 8:10 a.m. It reconnoitered the North Oil Company / Ministry of Oil, and photographed  all the sites . The reconnaissance lasted for an hour, and then the helicopter returned to Al-Rasheed Airport.

6. UNMOVIC Joint Inspection Team (Mosul):

The team, headed by the Russian inspector Mr. Roman Avamenov , departed Nineveh Palace Hotel at 9:00 a.m., and arrived at the Customs Directorate of the North / Ministry of Finance. The team held a meeting with the officials and inquired about the number of the stores and kinds of goods, the number of laborers,  the records and the computers . The inspection lasted for two hours, and then the team returned to Nineveh Palace Hotel.

7. The Interviews:

The UNMOVIC requested to conduct individual interviews with three Iraqi specialists at one of Baghdad’s hotels. The National Monitoring Department informed two of them and could not inform the third one as he lives abroad. The NMD also encouraged them to go through the individual interviews. The UNMOVIC interviewed the first one , and did not interview the second one because he insisted on documenting the interview by a recorder.