UN weapons inspectors and senior diplomats have ended their first round of inspections of Iraq's highly sensitive presidential sites and plan to leave Baghdad today, a UN official said yesterday.
"We have terminated the initial round of the visits to the eight presidential sites," said Mr Jayantha Dhanapala, UN Undersecretary-General for Disarmament. Asked why his mission had wrapped up 10 days early, the Sri Lankan diplomat said: "Sometimes things work out better than you expect." Another diplomat said the palaces had been devoid not only of weapons but even of furniture.
Mr Dhanapala said he would submit a report next week to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the findings of the first `baseline' inspections.
Asked if the initial inspections of the sites had been successful, Mr Dhanapala said: "That had been conveyed. . .The report itself will expand on that." He said the Unscom-diplomatic team would also meet Iraqi officials yesterday to conclude their discussions.
Iraq hailed the completion of the first inspections yesterday, saying the results proved its "credibility" and the "falsehood" of charges it has mass destruction weapons.
UN Special Commission (Unscom) inspectors, who have been overseeing the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, had been barred from entering the eight presidential sites where they believed Iraq could have concealed material related to banned weapons programmes.
The crisis over access to the sites was defused when Mr Annan struck a deal (`memorandum of understanding') with Iraqi leaders in February, allowing UN teams full access to all sites.
"We are glad to also report that the memorandum of understanding has stood the test," Mr Dhanapala added. "After the memorandum of understanding, we have opened a fresh chapter in relations between the United Nations and the government of Iraq, and this successful implementation is the first round of visits that has helped to bring that process forward," he added.
Mr Dhanapala has made it clear that the weapons experts will return to make follow-up inspections of the sites. Since arriving in Baghdad nine days ago, the team has visited the eight presidential sites.
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, welcomed the development. "It is our joint assessment that that agreement is sticking," he said after talks with Mr Annan in London yesterday.
The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tareq Aziz, said the inspections exposed the "brazen lies. . .that these sites have plants" for weapons of mass destruction. He added: "Such a result makes it imperative for the UN Security Council to seriously work for the lifting of the eight-year-old unjust embargo on Iraq."
Meanwhile, a five-year-old Iraqi girl, Amal Saeed, brought to the Netherlands for treatment after her plight was highlighted by CNN on Christmas Eve, died in an Amsterdam hospital on Thursday night of complications from a lymphatic disorder. Her father said Iraqi doctors were unable to treat her because of a lack of medical facilities. The Iraqi government says UN sanctions have shattered its medical care system.