IAEA Media Advisory

Media Advisory 2002/2711 (27 November 2002)

News Update on Iraq Inspections

UNMOVIC/IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq, 27 November 2002

For full coverage, see the pages on IAEA and Iraq.

27 November 2002 -- The UNMOVIC and IAEA inspection teams conducted their first weapons inspections today. They left the Canal Hotel, the operations base for the weapons inspectors in Baghdad, at 8:30 a.m. They were accompanied by their Iraqi counterparts. The IAEA team returned to the operations base at about 12:30 p.m. The UNMOVIC team returned shortly after 5:00 p.m.

At the subsequent press briefing, Jacques Baute, the IAEA Iraq Action Team Leader, said that his team had visited a facility in northern Baghdad called Al Tahidi (Science Research Centre). His team was able to complete the inspection work it had planned to carry out.

Dimitri Perricos, the UNMOVIC inspection team leader and Director of the Division of Planning and Operations, UNMOVIC, said that his team had visited two sites at Al Rafah, approximately 130 km south southwest of Baghdad. One was a graphite plant and the other a missile engine testing facility.

In response to a question, Mr. Baute said that the site his team had visited today was a site previously visited. Asked about a plane, which might have caused an air raid siren to go off in Baghdad, Mr. Baute said that he had not seen any plane during his inspection, and that it was not related to his inspection.

Also in response to questions, Mr. Perricos said that the monitoring equipment at the site his team visited had been all taken away. Some were destroyed, but the rest was available at the National Monitoring Directorate. "We would be collecting them. Before we reinstall new equipment, we will need to rebaseline the site," he added.

Asked about the reason for his interest in graphyte, Mr. Perricos said that graphyte could be used for pencils as well as for missile batteries, and that it could be used in the cone of a missile during re-entry.

The UNMOVIC team currently has 11 inspectors and the IAEA 6 inspectors.

Hiro Ueki
Spokesman for UNMOVIC and the IAEA in Baghdad

About the IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Established as an autonomous organization under the United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA carries out programmes to maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology to society while verifying its peaceful use.

Press Contacts

Marc Vidricaire
Director and Spokesperson
Division of Public Information
[43-1] 2600-21270
m.vidricaire@iaea.org

Ayhan Evrensel
Acting Head, Media and Outreach Section
Division of Public Information
[43-1] 2600-21271
[43] 699-165-21271 (mobile)
a.evrensel@iaea.org

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit the IAEA's Press Section, or call the IAEA's Division of Public Information at (431) 2600-21270.