IAEA Ready to Resume Iraq Inspections as Nuclear Equipment Vanishes

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday it stands prepared to resume inspection work in Iraq, pending Security Council authorization and adequate security conditions on the ground. Agency spokesman Mark Gwozdecky confirmed the readiness.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has informed the Security Council that equipment capable of contributing to weapons development is vanishing from Iraqi sites, in some cases entire facilities. His concern centers on systematic dismantlement at locations formerly tied to Iraq's nuclear program under Saddam Hussein.

ElBaradei's 1 October letter to the Security Council, published on the IAEA website Tuesday, flags the disappearance of dual-use equipment that serves both civilian and military purposes. Without physical access to Iraq, the agency now relies on open-source reporting and commercial satellite imagery.

IAEA inspectors departed before the US-led invasion in March 2003 and have not returned for formal verification. Two brief visits to the Tuwaitha nuclear complex south of Baghdad addressed looting concerns rather than the agency's weapons mandate. A Western diplomat noted the letter focused on other sites, not Tuwaitha.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.