UN inspectors visit Iraq missile plants
United Nations weapons inspectors today visited two sites in Iraq involved in producing and testing the Al Samoud 2 missile, which Baghdad has been ordered to destroy.
The inspectors went to the Al Fatah facility on the north-west outskirts of Baghdad, which makes components of Al Samoud 2 guidance and control systems, as well as parts of the engine and airframe, said the Iraqi Information Ministry.
They also visited the Al Rafah facility, 80 miles south of Baghdad, which tests engines of the Al Samoud 2 and other missiles.
On Friday, chief UN inspector Hans Blix said: "UN-supervised destruction of all Al Samoud 2 missiles, warheads, fuel, engines and other components must begin by March 1 because they rockets the 93-mile range limit set by UN resolutions adopted at the end of the 1991 Gulf War."
No Iraqi official has commented publicly on the order.
Missiles inspectors tagging the rockets for destruction at the Ibn al-Haithem company yesterday were met by factory director Owayed Ahmed Ali, who pleaded with them to let Iraq keep its weapons so it can defend itself in the face of war.
He said: “I asked (the inspectors) ‘You would destroy a defensive weapon now that we are threatened by the Americans, who might strike at any moment?’
“Some said ‘You are right, but we have orders’, while others said ‘You have other means to defend yourself’.”
Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the UN’s nuclear agency and one of the leaders of the UN inspection team, said yesterday that peace was still possible, but he wanted to see more co-operation from Iraq.
“We have not finished our work in Iraq. We are not getting full co-operation from Iraq but we hope to get it next week. We’d also like to see active co-operation in freely interviewing Iraqi scientists,” he said as he finished a two-day trip to Iran.
“We still believe that war is not inevitable.”
In addition to the missile-related installations, UN inspectors also visited a military engineering facility south of Baghdad, an electronics research company and a deodorant factory in Baghdad, the Information Ministry said.
A team visiting the northern city of Mosul went to a veterinary college and a company that makes soft drinks, it said.
Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who currently heads the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, flew into Baghdad last night, a source in Baghdad said.
Primakov, who forged close ties with Baghdad as a former Soviet minister, has mediated in Iraq on several occasions.
But his mission to Baghdad in a bid to prevent the 1991 Gulf War ended in failure.
The source did not give details of Primakov’s mission, but Russia’s respected Echo of Moscow radio, citing a source in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration, called Primakov’s trip a confidential mission at Putin’s request. Russia’s ITAR-Tass news agency carried a similar report.
