U.N. to 'freeze' Iraq sites
cnn.com
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.N. weapons inspectors preparing for their first day of work in Iraq after a four-year break say they will "freeze" the buildings they enter to prevent any evidence being smuggled out.
Inspectors are preparing to use state-of-the-art equipment when they begin their search for alleged weapons of mass destruction on Wednesday .
Inspectors believe that in previous inspections Iraqi officials may have smuggled documents or evidence out as inspectors went in offices and factories and say they will now prevent anyone moving in or out of the buildings.
The 17 inspectors include 11 from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), who will focus on chemical and biological weapons, and six from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who will investigate any nuclear weapons capability.
Demetrius Perricos, head of the atomic team, told reporters Tuesday that state-of-the art equipment was necessary "because the eyes can fool anybody."
"You can enter a room which is empty, but that room might have a history and only if you are taking samples or doing some measurements you can find out that the room is not as empty as you thought it was," he said.
Inspectors have showed reporters some of the high-tech equipment they will use -- including devices that allow for rapid detection of the presence of chemical, biological, or nuclear substances that may indicate a facility has been used for developing weapons capability.
Inspectors will take air samples and "swipes" of objects within a site, as well as other types of samples, and examine them for things such as radioactive isotopes. They will also seal up some objects.
Information will be sent immediately to laboratories in New York and Vienna.
Information collected from the inspections will be cross-referenced against files showing what substances should be present given the site's official purpose.
"Technology of today is having much progress in terms of what it provides for a rapid detection of biological or chemical substances," Perricos said.
Pointing to the relatively small size of the detection devices, he said: "Thank God they made it portable and not just transportable."
Perricos was asked whether the arms monitors would be looking for suspected mobile biological weapons laboratories in lorries. "We have some plans," he said.
Perricos said ground-penetrating radar would be used to locate possible buried storage or production sites.
Jacques Baute, head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC) said: "We are fully conscious of the responsibility we have on our shoulders.
"We have an access anywhere and access anywhere is translated into inspections to any type of facilities.
"Anytime is one of the key parameters regarding the credibility of the conclusions, and another translation is immediate access.
"If we have access immediately to a site the credibility of our conclusion if we find nothing there is far higher than if there is any notice, even of one or two hours."
Under the terms of Resolution 1441, passed this month, the Iraqis must provide a list of their weapons of mass destruction to the Security Council by December 8.
Iraq has vowed to meet the deadline and has said inspectors will be given complete access to all sites.
The U.N. inspectors are to report to the Security Council by late January on their initial round of inspections, including whether the Iraqis have been fully cooperative.
Iraq has assailed the resolution and called it a result of the desire of the United States and Britain to launch military attacks on Iraq.
Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler has rejected Iraq's claims.
"Iraq has lied to the world for a very long time about its weapons program," he told CNN's American Morning with Paula Zahn.
Butler said Iraq has a history of lying to the U.N. "This is a long- standing Iraqi approach, but they can't take that approach this time," he said.
"This current resolution of the Security Council is black and white, it makes very clear, you will tell the truth or else, and I hope they get that." (Full story)
Meanwhile, CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr said the US Navy will have four aircraft carriers within striking distance of Iraq at some point in mid-December -- but U.S. military officials have emphasized they have no reason to believe the congregation of warships could mark the beginning of any war against Iraq.
The assembling of such a large number of carriers is said to be an accident of a deployment schedule and the overlap should only exist for a few days.
It will happen as the USS George Washington begins to exit the Mediterranean at the same time the USS Truman enters that area. At the same time, the USS Abraham Lincoln, now deployed in the Persian Gulf, will begin a return to the west coast of the U.S., while the USS Constellation arrives for its assignment to the Persian Gulf region. |
