AUSTRIA: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY HEAD SAYS IT COULD TAKE A YEAR TO COME TO A CONCLUSION ON WHETHER IRAQ HAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Record ID:
648381
AUSTRIA: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY HEAD SAYS IT COULD TAKE A YEAR TO COME TO A CONCLUSION ON WHETHER IRAQ HAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
- Title: AUSTRIA: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY HEAD SAYS IT COULD TAKE A YEAR TO COME TO A CONCLUSION ON WHETHER IRAQ HAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
- Date: 13th December 2002
- Summary: (W6) VIENNA, AUSTRIA (DECEMBER 13, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN/WS: IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL MOHAMED ELBARADEI WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) 0.14 2. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL MOHAMED ELBARADEI SAYING: "Well on how long it is going to take the inspection in Iraq I cannot tell you because I always say this is like probing surgery because we are in Iraq, we do not know what to see what to expect. It depends on what we see and what we learn there. It might take a few months it might take longer. My estimation before we can come to any conclusion is it would take something like a year before we can come to any credible conclusion that the situation in Iraq has not changed." 0.50 3. CU/SV: REPORTER (2 SHOTS) 1.00 4. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL MOHAMED ELBARADEI SAYING: "Our inspectors are still in North Korea doing there functions as I said if they decide to move from their freeze to a regular safe guard operation which is their right. However if they decide to move, if they decide to operate the facility it has to be under proper safeguard which means our surveillance service, our inspectors have to be there and have to do the proper job. Obviously if we are not allowed to do that then I will have to report to our board and security council, but we are not there and as I said I hope North Korea will at the very least ensure safeguard is continued to be applied on all the nuclear facilities." 1.47 5. PAN: NEWS CONFERENCE 1.56 6. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL MOHAMED ELBARADEI SAYING: "Finally I should mention a few words on the recent report on nuclear facilities in Iran. This is not a surprise to us. We have been talking to the Iranian authorities for the last six months about the facilities which came to our knowledge. They confirmed that they have a number of nuclear facilities being built and they have indicated that they will invite me and a team of technical experts to meet with President Kim and visit these facilities." 2.35 7. WS: NEWS CONFERENCE 2.40 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL MOHAMED ELBARADEI SAYING: "They have confirmed to me that all the facilities will be declared and put under safeguard and I hope we will be in a position to do a thorough verification of all the facilities and provide credible assurances on this matter." 2.59 9. SCU: SECURITY GUARD 3.02 10. SLV: ELBARADEI LEAVING THE NEWS CONFERENCE 3.11 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 28th December 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Reuters ID: LVARU7WND3QDISAR0DSFZ21XENM
- Story Text: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said
it could take a year to come a conclusion on whether Iraq has
weapons of mass destruction and added North Korea's decision
to reactivate a nuclear power plant must be under the agency's
surveillance.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency also said it had been
invited to inspect new nuclear facilities under construction
in Iran.
Inspectors from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and
Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) continued to search sites in
Iraq on Friday (December 13).
Iraq submitted a 12,000-page dossier on its arms
programmes to the United Nations last Saturday and U.S.
officials have said the document is likely to take weeks to
analyse.
There are now almost 100 U.N. inspectors in Iraq but a key
Pentagon adviser said that was far too few to find President
Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq says it no longer has any chemical, biological,
nuclear or long-range missile programmes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director
General Mohamed Elbaradei believes it could take even longer
for conclusions to be drawn.
"Well on how long it is going to take the inspection in
Iraq I cannot tell you because I always say this is like
probing surgery because we are in Iraq, we do not know what to
see what to expect. It depends on what we see and what we
learn there. It might take a few months it might take longer.
My estimation before we can come to any conclusion is it would
take something like a year before we can come to any credible
conclusion that the situation in Iraq has not changed,"
Elbaradei said at a news conference on Friday (December 13).
On Thursday (December 12) North Korea said it would
restart a nuclear reactor that has been idled under the 1994
Agreed Framework and could be used to produce weapons-grade
plutonium.
The United States, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and
the European Union have all called on North Korea to give up
its nuclear program to little avail so far.
In fact North Korea's public attitude has been decidedly
more aggressive since it admitted in October to a nuclear
weapons program, in an apparent drive to force Washington to
the negotiating table.
On Thursday North Korea said it would restart the idled
reactor in order to generate power needed since the United
States, Japan and South Korea cut off fuel oil shipments. On
Friday Pyongyang demanded a U.S. apology for the U.S. Navy's
interception of a North Korean ship earlier this week carrying
Scud missiles to Yemen.
"Our inspectors are still in North Korea doing there
functions as I said if they decide to move from their freeze
to a regular safe guard operation which is their right.
However if they decide to move, if they decide to operate the
facility it has to be under proper safeguard which means our
surveillance service, our inspectors have to be there and have
to do the proper job. Obviously if we are not allowed to do
that then I will have to report to our board and security
council, but we are not there and as I said I hope North Korea
will at the very least ensure safeguard is continued to be
applied on all the nuclear facilities," Elbaradei said
While Bush has threatened war against Iraq for suspected
weapons of mass destruction, the United States has taken a
more low-key approach to dealing with Pyongyang, emphasising a
desire for a peaceful resolution and vowing no invasion of
North Korea.
The administration is increasingly focused on Iraq in
Bush's drive to disarm President Saddam Hussein. It has,
however, also expressed concern about recent evidence that
Iran, the third member of what Bush calls an "axis of evil"
may be trying to make nuclear weapons.
The IAEA said on Friday (December 13) it had been talking
with Iran since August about the facilities, which were made
public by a CNN report this week, and had been invited by
Tehran to inspect them.
"Finally I should mention a few words on the recent report
on nuclear facilities in Iran. This is not a surprise to us.
We have been talking to the Iranian authorities for the last
six months about the facilities which came to our knowledge.
They confirmed that they have a number of nuclear facilities
being built and they have indicated that they will invite me
and a team of technical experts to meet with President Kim and
visit these facilities," Elbaradei said at the IAEA's
headquarters in Vienna.
Iran on Friday dismissed U.S. accusations that two nuclear
sites under construction could be used to make a secret
nuclear weapon.
ElBaradei said Iran had not been specific about what kind
of facilities were being built at the two sites.
Iran is party to the non-proliferation treaty and has a
verification agreement with the IAEA to safeguard against the
diversion of civilian nuclear material for weapons.
The agency has a mandate to ensure nuclear facilities
around the world are used solely for civilian purposes as well
as coordinating global nuclear power safety.
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