Senior UN and Iraqi officials resolve problems

Senior UN and Iraqi officials resolve problem at inspection site

United Nations inspections teams continued their work in Iraq on Friday, with officials from both the UN and Baghdad working to resolve a problem at the Communicable Diseases Control Centre.

When a team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) arrived at the site, which was included in the Iraqi declaration of 1 October, they were unable to enter. "As today is a Muslim holy day, the site had only one guard and a duty officer, who is an assistant technician," the UN spokesman in Baghdad, Hiro Ueki, explained. "The duty officer did not have the keys to the rooms and could not locate the central key holder."

The team then decided to tag seals on several rooms it wanted to inspect later, according to Mr. Ueki. "In the process, question arose on the procedures for tagging," he said. "At this point, decision was made to get the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate (NMD) involved."

The Director of the Baghdad Ongoing Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Centre, Miroslav Gregoric, and Gen. Hossam Amin of the NMD arrived at the site, and the matter was "resolved quickly," the spokesman said. Seals were tagged on several rooms before the team left the site.

Another UNMOVIC team "accomplished the inspection objectives" at the Al Mussaib Pesticide Store, which sells ready-to-use pesticides.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today undertook hydrological sampling at three Major Iraq Surface Water Drainage Basins of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Several samples were taken at each site, including water, sediment and vegetation.

A separate IAEA team conducted a wide-area gamma survey of the Baghdad area, which included the Karama Sumood missile facility, Mr. Ueki said.

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