Date : 15/04/2004
KUN0097 4 GEN 0286 KUWAIT /KUNA-FKO0
POL-UN-IAEA-COUNCIL
IAEA warns council nuclear material removed from Iraq after war
UNITED NATIONS, April 15 (KUNA) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency
IAEA) on Thursday expressed concern that nuclear material have been removed
from Iraq lately and warned against the proliferation risk associated with
their disappearance to unknown destinations.
In a letter to the Security Council, the IAEA chairman Mohamed Elbaradei
said the agency's review of satellite imagery over the past few months showed
that there has been "extensive removal" of equipment and, in some instances,
"removal of entire buildings."
He said other information available to the Agency, confirmed through visits
to other countries, indicates that large quantities of scrap, some of it
contaminated, have been transferred out of Iraq, from sites monitered by the
IAEA.
"It is not clear whether the removal of these items has been the result of
looting activities in the aftermath of the recent war in Iraq, or as part of
systematic efforts to rehabilitate some of the locations," he noted.
"In any event," he added, "these activities may have a significant impact
on the Agency's continuing of knowledge of Iraq's remaining nuclear-related
capabilities and raise a concern with regards to the proliferation risk."
He said the US government has been informed of the agency's findings and
"clarifications are expected."
In the meantime, he said, member states, including the US, are expected to
provide to the Agency any information relevant to prohibited programmes in
Iraq with a view to enabling it to fulfill its responsibilities under council
resolutions and Non-Proliferation Treaties. IAEA representative in New York Gustavo Zlauvinen told
KUNA that "we don't know exactly when the nuclear material was moved, who
moved it, because we only looked at the satellite pictures. We are comparing
the pictures - past and present - and see some machinery have been moved and
some equipment have been found in scrap".
He added that some four tons of radio-active contaminated scrap, apparently
coming from Iraq, were found in the Netherlands and the Government there is
conducting an investigation.
"Somebody is selling that metal. The question is whether some of the people
are removing the nuclear equipment out of Iraq for the black market. We have
to investigate this," he said.
UNMOVIC spokesman Ewen Buchanan also told KUNA that half a dozen of missile
engines were found in a scrap yard in the Netherlands recently and we are
trying to investigate.
"We are talking to governments and we may send a team there to look because
it is difficult to identify things from photographs.
He sent UNMOVIC sent a note to the council president recently keeping them
informed. (end)
sj.rk