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An a
dvance team of United Nations arms inspectors has travelled to
Iraq to prepare for the arrival of the full complement of monitors
and the restart of investigations into the country’s weapons
programmes.
Hans Blix, Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and
Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and Mohamed ElBaradei,
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
arrived Sunday afternoon in Larnaca, Cyprus, on their way to
Iraq.
Speaking to the press at the airport, Mr. Blix said, “We are
going there (Iraq) to initiate cooperation with the Iraqis and to
talk with the representatives of the Iraqi Government.” The
first inspectors would arrive a week later and they planned to
start weapons inspections from 27 November onwards.
Mr. Blix added that he would report to the Security Council two
months after the resumption of inspections, and that the Iraqi
declaration to be submitted no later than 8 December would be
analyzed by UNMOVIC and serve as an important basis for
verification.
Dr. ElBaradei said that this was a new phase in IAEA inspections in
Iraq and that they were fully backed by the Council to verify the
disarmament of Iraq through inspections. “This is an
opportunity for peace,” he said, adding that he hoped that
Iraq would make full use of this opportunity and cooperate in the
implementation of Security Council resolutions, which would
“open the way for them to come back as a full member of the
international community and suspend and eventually eliminate
sanctions.”
Dr. ElBaradei stressed that IAEA inspectors were going to do
thorough and objective inspections, and indicated that the Agency
would report to the Council two months after the resumption of
their inspections.
The question of “war and peace” was first of all in the
hands of the Iraqis and the Security Council, Mr. Blix said in
response to reporters’ questions. “We will inspect and
report on cooperation or a lack of cooperation. I will do so
objectively to the Security Council,” he said, noting that it
was for the Council to assess Iraqi cooperation - UN News.
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