Posted on 02/22/2003 12:01:45 PM PST by kattracks
Feb. 22? By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.N. ballistic experts worked on an inventory of Al-Samoud missile components on Saturday, a day after chief arms inspectors Hans Blix ordered Baghdad to destroy dozens of the missiles and component parts.
A biological team destroyed out-dated bacterial growth material previous inspectors had monitored in the 1990s.
Iraqi officials made no comment on Blix's letter, sent on Friday, which set a March 1 deadline for Iraq to destroy not only the missiles but their SA-2 engines, auto-pilots, guidance and control systems and all equipment for their production and testing.
The request will test Iraq's willingness to cooperate fully with the inspectors at a time the destruction of the missiles could deprive Baghdad of a key weapon against any U.S.-led invasion.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a U-2 spy plane flew a six-hours surveillance mission over Iraq on Saturday. It was the third U-2 flight since Iraq agreed under U.N. pressure to the high-altitude missions.
U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said in a statement that ballistic teams carried out three separate inspections. One team worked on an inventory of Al- Somoud 2 components and sub-assemblies at Ibn al-Haitham factory where the final assembly of the projectile is made.
A second team inspected the remains of a liquid engine propellant test stand and placed tags on two pieces of manufacturing equipment. A third team inspected Al Nasser facility involved in the production of Al-Somoud components.
Ueki said a multi-disciplinary team visited a military laboratory in Baghdad. Another team went to a site in the northern city of Mosul to locate and tag two pieces of equipment related to the development and testing of missile parts.
A biological team visited a research center and a testing laboratory, both in Baghdad, and observed the destruction "of a relatively small amount of out-of-date bacterial growth media" previously monitored by inspectors, Ueki said.
A second team inspected the College of Medicine and the College of Pharmacy at Mosul University.
A nuclear team made a radiation survey by car of an area 40 km (25 miles) from Baghdad. Two more teams inspected two other sites near the capital.
Iraq's state-run media did not report Blix's written request on the missiles, but the Al-Jumhuriya newspaper kept up the government line on Saturday that Iraq was not in breach of U.N. resolutions.
The missiles' range, U.N. inspectors have said the range of the missiles exceed the 150 km (90 mile) limit imposed by U.N. resolutions passed after the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraq said any excess range was accidental and caused by lack of a guidance system during testing, but it has not ruled out destroying the missiles if asked to do so.
There's more than one pea in this game and God only knows how many shells.
No one is saying boo about "the case of the missing chemicals".
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