Chemical warfare agents destroyed, Special Commission reports.

• Position: UN Special Commission on Iraqi Disarmament completes demolition of identifiable chemical weapon materials and equipment

The UN Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament (UNSCOM), set up under Security Council resolution 687 (1991), has virtually completed the destruction of Iraq's declared and recovered stockpiles of chemical warfare agents, it was reported on 2 5 March.

In all, the Chemical Destruction Group of the special commission destroyed some 400,000 litres of sulphur mustard at the Muthanna site, nearly 28,000 chemical munitions (rockets, missile warheads, artillery shells and bombs), nearly 83,000 litres of nerve agents, more than 1,220,000 litres of key precursor chemicals for the production of mustard or nerve agents, and some 421,000 litres, 1,035,500 kilogrammes and 197 barrels of other chemical precursors.

A small amount of other precursor chemicals remained to be destroyed at Muthanna, in addition to quantities of equipment for the production of chemical warfare agents. Thereafter, a comprehensive survey of the site was to be conducted to ensure that no chemical warfare hazard remained in the area. Any additional items for destruction discovered during this survey would be dealt with at that stage.

It was suspected that there might be 155-millimetre mustard-filled artillery shells buried at the site. Iraq agreed to assist the Commission in identifying and recovering those munitions, after which they would be destroyed.

The Commission also reported the removal on 12 February of a second and final consignment of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in the form of irradiated nuclear fuel, thus completing the removal of declared stocks of nuclear-weapons grade material from Iraq. In the course of inspections, it was revealed that Iraq had separated gram quantities of plutonium. The separated plutonium was removed from Iraq by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1991.

The irradiated fuel was removed under a contract with the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy and a United States subcontractor which supplied specially-designed casks capable of withstanding an airplane crash. The Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission provided all necessary assistance, and the fuel was removed in two shipments under close supervision of IAEA inspectors.

After dilution to lower enrichment at the Chelyabinsk facility in the Russian Federation, the residual materials will be available for sale under IAEA supervision for use in peaceful nuclear activities. Reprocessing of the fuel is expected to take six months.

No chemicals in southern iraq

The Special Commission announced...