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Inspectors begin training ahead of possible redeployment
Vienna, Oct 07: UN arms inspectors kicked off four weeks of technical training today ahead of their possible redeployment to Iraq for a fresh assessment of Saddam Hussein`s weapons arsenal.
Vienna, Oct 07: UN arms inspectors kicked off four weeks of technical training today ahead of their possible redeployment to Iraq for a fresh assessment of Saddam Hussein's weapons arsenal.
Chief inspector Hans Blix returned to Vienna to address the inspectors at the Vienna Headquarters of the international atomic energy agency, the UN nuclear monitoring group, where the Iraqis last week agreed on logistics for the inspectors' eventual return to Baghdad.
The training sessions, which run through Nov 8, involve inspectors from the UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission, known as Unmovic. The New York-based inspectors specialize in detecting chemical and biological weaponry and the long-range missiles capable of delivering such arms. The IAEA's Vienna-based nuclear inspection team is not participating in the training, said Ingrid Lehmann, chief spokeswoman for the UN complex in the Austrian capital.
Addressing the inspectors behind closed doors, Blix did not say if and when the teams would return to Iraq, but characterised the training as "new and different" from past sessions because the Iraqis have agreed in principle to their return, Lehmann told the reporters.
About 50 Unmovic inspectors from 25 different countries are taking part in the technical training, which Lehmann described as routine. Five similar sessions have been held over the past year or so, she said.
Blix, under pressure from the United States and Britain, agreed last week that new weapons inspections in Iraq should await UN Security Council action on a tough new resolution setting out terms for the search.
Bureau Report
The training sessions, which run through Nov 8, involve inspectors from the UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission, known as Unmovic. The New York-based inspectors specialize in detecting chemical and biological weaponry and the long-range missiles capable of delivering such arms. The IAEA's Vienna-based nuclear inspection team is not participating in the training, said Ingrid Lehmann, chief spokeswoman for the UN complex in the Austrian capital.
Addressing the inspectors behind closed doors, Blix did not say if and when the teams would return to Iraq, but characterised the training as "new and different" from past sessions because the Iraqis have agreed in principle to their return, Lehmann told the reporters.
About 50 Unmovic inspectors from 25 different countries are taking part in the technical training, which Lehmann described as routine. Five similar sessions have been held over the past year or so, she said.
Blix, under pressure from the United States and Britain, agreed last week that new weapons inspections in Iraq should await UN Security Council action on a tough new resolution setting out terms for the search.
Bureau Report