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UN ADMITS TIPPING OFF IRAQ FOR ARMS INSPECTION
straitstimes Asia ^ | Updated Dec 1, 6.21 am (Singapore time)

Posted on 12/01/2002 4:25:52 AM PST by Bad~Rodeo

-- Serious doubts surfaced over the surprise nature of new arms inspections in Iraq when a United Nations spokesman admitted the head of a suspected weapons site had been given advance warning of the visit by the UN experts to his facility on Saturday.

'He was informed the day before, on Friday, that the team was coming to remove an air sampler and install a new one,' UN spokesman Hiro Ueki told AFP by phone shortly after denying at a press briefing that the UN had tipped off the Iraqis.

'That is all there is to it,' the spokesman added in an apparent bid to quash a possible controversy about whether UN inspections of suspected weapons sites, which resumed on Nov 27 were really on no-notice basis.

Reporters had pressed Mr Ueki earlier about remarks by Iraqi official Hussein Hammudeh who told journalists he had prior notice of a visit to his facility by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts.

UN weapons inspectors arrive at a former military post in Balad, some 70 km north of Baghdad on Nov 30, greeted by Iraqi soldiers. -- AFP

UN under scrutiny

THE United Nations' revelation could pose fresh trouble for the inspectors who have come under criticism from conservatives in Washington who believe the UN team might be too soft on Iraq and allow the regime to hide its suspected programme for weapons of mass destruction.

The first two days of inspections on Nov 27 and Nov 28, all covering sites visited previously by disarmament experts before 1998, had gone ahead 'without incident', according to UN

spokesmen. The apparent failure of inspectors to announce the discovery of anything untoward has led Iraq to trumpet that the 'lies' of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had claimed the inspected sites would produce banned weapons, had been exposed. -- AFP

Mr Ueki had told the press briefing that 'the inspectors arrive unannounced' and that the UN does 'not notify Iraqis' of planned visits.

But he added that it was not surprising if officials at specific sites expected visits since such sites had been marked for inspection by the former UN experts who pulled out of the country in 1998 ahead of US and British air strikes on Iraq.

Later to explain his apparent flip-flop, Mr Ueki issued a statement elaborating on what he told AFP. He defended the advance notice given to Iraq as purely a matter of logistics, but added the UN had also given prior notice to a second inspection site.

He said: 'Um al-Maarik Company, which the IAEA team visited on Nov 30, was notified by the IAEA team in advance that two of their technicians would review the status of the remaining video surveillance.

'Al-Qa Qaa Company, which the IAEA team visited, was also requested on Thursday afternoon to provide assistance to facilitate removal of sampler.

'This type of advance notification is sometimes given to facilitate their work on monitoring equipment. It happened to the above two cases. Except for these types of cases, our inspection teams do not provide advance warning to the Iraqis, as we have emphasised time and again.' -- AFP


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 12/01/2002 4:25:53 AM PST by Bad~Rodeo
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To: Bad~Rodeo
Can we start bombing?
2 posted on 12/01/2002 4:29:47 AM PST by Dog
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To: Bad~Rodeo
he UN admits they're impotent and incompetent. What a big surprise!
3 posted on 12/01/2002 4:31:46 AM PST by Vigilanteman
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To: Bad~Rodeo
bttt
4 posted on 12/01/2002 4:33:02 AM PST by kcvl
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To: Dog
It's all been a crock since the beginning and this is proof positive. But we'll still find a way.
5 posted on 12/01/2002 4:38:37 AM PST by Peach
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To: All
German TV study finds others filling shoes of Iraqi leader

An undated image shows a group of men, one of whom is likely Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and others who may be his body doubles, on the Tigris river

http://www.lb.msnbc.com/news/813837.asp

6 posted on 12/01/2002 4:40:41 AM PST by Bad~Rodeo
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To: Bad~Rodeo
@#$@! (And now I need to wash my mind out with soap.)
7 posted on 12/01/2002 4:42:56 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: Peach
Sounds like the UN Inspectors want to be onsite when the bombing begins. That way everone will know there was NO PRIOR NOTICE.. OOOPS
8 posted on 12/01/2002 4:43:26 AM PST by beaware
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To: All
Oops, if anybody is wondering, he's in Hiding in Habanyia, according to confirmed Iraqi reports.

http://www.albayan.co.ae/albayan/2002/11/30/ola/18.htm

9 posted on 12/01/2002 4:44:40 AM PST by Bad~Rodeo
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To: Bad~Rodeo
The inspection process is a load of Al-Qa Qaa.
10 posted on 12/01/2002 4:46:16 AM PST by RWG
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To: mewzilla
NO! No! You're a freakin' visionary! You're just unaware of it! Suffice it to say, that the American mind is not suited to a "united nations!" These people are lemmings!
11 posted on 12/01/2002 4:48:49 AM PST by old school
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To: Dog
Can we start bombing?

No.

If one of the bombs misses the U.N. Building, it will land on some poor New Yorker.

12 posted on 12/01/2002 4:53:19 AM PST by Polybius
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To: Bad~Rodeo
'That is all there is to it,' the spokesman added in an apparent bid to quash a possible controversy about whether UN inspections of suspected weapons sites, which resumed on Nov 27 were really on no-notice basis.

Q: What part of "no notice" doesn't the U.N. understand?

A: It depends on what the definition of "no notice" is......

U.N. Weapons Inspectors in Iraq !


13 posted on 12/01/2002 5:04:49 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
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To: Polybius
If one of the bombs misses the U.N. Building, it will land on some poor New Yorker.

ROTFLMAO!!! As I wipe coffee off the monitor....

14 posted on 12/01/2002 5:06:43 AM PST by cardinal4
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To: Bad~Rodeo
The source is apparently a Singapore newspaper. It will be interesting to see if this story is picked up and confirmed by US news outlets and discussed on this morning's talk shows.
15 posted on 12/01/2002 5:06:56 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
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To: Bad~Rodeo
Until Dec. 8th when Iraq must declare any evidence of WMD, this is all just going through the motions. That is why they are not inspecting the sites that they have strong suspicions about violations. After 12-8, the games will begin.
16 posted on 12/01/2002 5:10:12 AM PST by doosee
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To: governsleastgovernsbest
Here's a link to another FR thread sourced to AFP discussing the same story.
17 posted on 12/01/2002 5:10:43 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: Bad~Rodeo
material breach
18 posted on 12/01/2002 5:11:24 AM PST by Maedhros
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To: MeeknMing
~LOL~...looks like Barney Fife(?)..L~
19 posted on 12/01/2002 5:11:44 AM PST by Bad~Rodeo
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To: Bad~Rodeo
You just know that there are enough people out there that want to see GWB and the US end up with egg on their faces, that they will be tipping off the Iraqis on an hourly basis.


20 posted on 12/01/2002 5:12:39 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts
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