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News :: Peace |
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Inspectors Find Undeclared Iraq Warheads |
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by rummy
Email: rummy (nospam) defense.mil (unverified!) |
17 Jan 2003
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.N. inspectors on Thursday found 11 empty chemical warheads in ``excellent'' condition at an ammunition storage area where they were inspecting bunkers built in the late 1990s, a U.N. spokesman reported.
The weapons components found Thursday were not part of Iraq's declaration given to the U.N. in December under which Baghdad was required to itemize its doomsday weapons. |
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.N. inspectors on Thursday found 11 empty chemical warheads in ``excellent'' condition at an ammunition storage area where they were inspecting bunkers built in the late 1990s, a U.N. spokesman reported.
The weapons components found Thursday were not part of Iraq's declaration given to the U.N. in December under which Baghdad was required to itemize its doomsday weapons.
``It was a discovery. They were not declared,'' Hiro Ueki, the spokesman for U.N. weapons inspectors in Baghdad, told The Associated Press.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, traveling with President Bush in Scranton, Pa., said the administration was ``aware of the reports and we look forward to receiving information from the inspectors.''
McClellan would not comment on how significant the find was.
At the United Nations, however, a U.S. official said the discovery only raised more questions.
``It's something that's going to have to be looked at really closely,'' said U.S. deputy ambassador Richard Williamson. ``It raises a lot of questions from the declaration and other things.''
Inspectors found a 12th warhead, also of 122 mm, that requires further evaluation, Ueki said in a statement.
The inspectors used portable X-ray equipment for a preliminary analysis of one of the warheads and collected samples for chemical testing, Ueki's statement said.
``The warheads were in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq during the late 1980's,'' the statement said.
The weapons components were found during a visit by inspectors to the Ukhaider Ammunition Storage Area, 75 miles south of Baghdad. It was one of several sites inspectors checked on Thursday.
Inspectors do not usually report specific discoveries, which made Thursday's announcement unusual. It is up to the U.N. Security Council to determine whether Thursday's find would amount to a breach of U.N. resolutions.
On Dec. 7, a chemical team secured a dozen artillery shells filled with mustard gas that had been inventoried by inspectors in the 1990s before the program was halted.
The mustard gas shells were the first batch of weapons of mass destruction brought under their control in the current round of inspections in Iraq.
U.N. inspectors have said Iraq's final weapons declaration made in December failed to support its claims to have destroyed missiles, warheads and chemical agents such as VX nerve gas.
The United States and Britain doubt Iraq is committed to giving up its weapons of mass destruction and have dispatched thousands more troops to the Gulf region for a possible military showdown.
Washington has cited nine areas in which it said Iraq's declaration fails to give a complete picture of weapons holdings. These include thousands of pounds of unaccounted-for materials for producing anthrax, and the chemical precursors for manufacturing mustard gas.
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See also:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2326855,00.html
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