Nearly half a million liters of chemical warfare agents destroyed in two-year operation.

The UN Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament, set up under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) concerning the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, reported that it had completed in June an important part of its mandate--the elimination of that country's declared chemical weapons stockpile.

In a two-year operation involving some 100 experts from 23 countries, the Commission oversaw the destruction of more than 480,000 litres of chemical warfare agents, including mustard agent and the nerve agents sarin and tabun, and over 28,000 chemical munitions, involving eight types of munitions ranging from rockets and artillery shells to bombs and ballistic missile warheads. it also destroyed nearly 1.8 million litres, over 1.04 million kilograms and 648 barrels of some 45 different precursor chemicals for the production of chemical warfare agents.

Two inspection teams had been deployed to Iraq between 31 May and 14 June to confirm that the destruction of declared chemical warfare agents at Al Muthanna was complete and that those areas used for destruction had been left in a safe and acceptable manner. At the end of the inspection activities, responsibility for the site had been formally handed back to the Iraqi authorities. The Commission would, however, continue to visit the site as part of its ongoing monitoring and verification activities under Council resolution 715 (1991).

High-level talks

Rolf Ekeus, Executive Chairman of the Special Commission, in a joint statement issued at the conclusion of high-level talks held in Baghdad from 24 to 26 April, reported (S/1994/520) that issues relating to the implementation of relevant Council resolutions had been discussed.

The two sides reviewed the considerable progress made since the last round of high-level talks in New York from 14 to 19 March, and noted that many actions had been undertaken, including inspections to establish the baseline for, and phase in, ongoing monitoring and verification.

In conducting the intensive inspections, the Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed their appreciation for Iraq's expeditious and positive responses to their requests for assistance and support. This enabled them to conduct inspections efficiently and effectively, and had contributed significanfly to the ongoing monitoring and verification.

Iraq made assurances that it would respect the rights and privileges of the Commission and the IAEA which, in turn, reiterated their commitment to exercise those rights and privileges in a manner that respected Iraq's legitimate concerns relating to sovereignty, independence, security and dignity, in accordance with the UN Charter, and to conduct their activities in the least intrusive manner consistent with effective monitoring and verification.

In a 22 April report on the implementation of the plan for monitoring Iraq's compliance with resolution 687, the Secretary-General had stated (S/1994/489) that in the absence of documentation to assist in verifying the latest data provided on chemical programmes, the Commission was to send a team of experts to Iraq in May to interview former senior personnel associated with the programmes. The Commission had also continued assessing Iraq's capabilities in terms of sites, activities, equipment and materials.

Good cooperation

The ballistic-missile protocol-building team had been in Iraq since 30 March and was working smoothly with good Iraqi cooperation, the Secretary-General stated. Chemical sensors had been installed and their performance was being assessed. The biological protocol-building team had started its mission on 8 April, and a team to assess plans to set up a monitoring centre in Baghdad had arrived there on 10 April.

The Commission was conducting an in-depth investigation of documents and information supplied by Iraq on expenditure for prohibited missiles. This documentation covered the period from 1977 through December 1990, accounting for nearly three quarters of the missiles covered by resolution 687 and declared by Iraq.

The IAEA Director General reported (S/1994/490) on 20 April that as part of its twice-yearly radiometric survey of the surface waters of Iraq, a total of 15 sites along the Tigris-Euphrates watersheds had been tested.

Three inspection missions had been carried out in which monitoring activities, including short-notice inspections, had been conducted at the eight "core" sites of the former Iraqi nuclear programme. Nothing had been observed that was indicative of prohibited activities.

In the course of the most recent inspections, IAEA had installed video surveillance systems at Um Al Ma'arik, where major components of electromagnetic isotope separations modules had been fabricated. Preparations were made for future installation of surveillance systems at the Nassr State Establishment in the flow-forming machine worksh P.

IAEA was in the process of corroborating, with the assistance of Brazil, data provided by Iraq on the 20.6 tons of natural uranium in the form of UO2 declared by Iraq to have come from Brazil.

While iraq had expressed its strong wish for a specific date by which IAEA would submit to the Council the report of Iraq's compliance with resolution 687, there were outstanding actions that needed to be completed. The Agency would have to satisfy itself that it was in a position to implement fully the ongoing monitoring and verification plan: however, it was not possible or practical to provide a specific date by which that would happen. The Iraqi authorities' positive attitude since the second half of 1993 was bearing fruit and should be encouraged. That would permit the acceleration of the full implementation of ongoing monitoring and verification, the report stated.

Compensation payments

The UN Compensation Commission has paid more than $2.7 million to 600 individuals and families to settle claims for death and serious injuries resulting from Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990, it has been reported.

The Security Council agreed with the Secretary-General's proposal to facilitate the transfer to the Commission of Iraq's oil-related frozen funds or proceeds from the sale of its oil. In a 13 May letter (S/1994/566), the Secretary-General said that in the weeks immediately preceding the imposition of the Council sanctions, Iraq had exported substantial volumes of oil for which payment would not have been completed when the sanctions took effect on 6 August 1990. He added that while he had no independent information, oil industry reports indicated the amounts due for those shipments might be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Secretary-General asked for Council permission to seek information from oil companies to identify those funds and arrange their transfer to the escrow account.

RELATED ARTICLE: Libya withdraws from Aouzou

In a successful conclusion of a 21-year-old territorial dispute between Libya and Chad, Libyan personnel and forces were withdrawn on 30 May from an area along its southern border, commonly known as the Aouzou Strip.

The withdrawal--agreed upon the the two sides on 4 April--was monitored by the UN Aouzou Strip Observer Group (UNASOG), established on 4 May under Security Council resolution 915 (1994). In that text, the parties had been called upon to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General and grant UNASOG freedom off movement and all the services it required to fulfil its functions.

Earlier, in adopting resolution 910(1994) on 14 April, the Council had recognized that sending a reconnaissance team to the area to survey conditions on the ground would require an exemption from resolution 748(1992), which had imposed an air and arms embargo against Libya. It stipulated that the text's provisions should not apply in respect of UN aircraft flying to or from Libya for the purpose of conveying such a team.

On 31 May, the Secretary-General said that UNASOG's nine military observers and six international civilian support staff had carried out the mandate "to the satisfaction of the two parties".

The International Court of Justice on 3 February had ruled that the boundary between Libya and Chad was defined by the 1955 Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness between France and Libya.