The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
{{Iraq
“conceded” in July 1998 that it had misled UNSCOM over the
previous
two years
about “unilateral destruction of components for its
indigenous
missile
engine programme”.
{{Imagery
showed that “several shipping containers had been removed”
from
the Haider
farm “shortly before” Iraq led UNSCOM to the site to hand
over
documents;
and there were “clearly defined gaps” in the records
handed
over by
Iraq in relation to WMD production techniques, the military and
the
Ministry of
Defence.
•
Iraq’s
deception and concealment activities involved a number of
Iraqi
organisations:
{{Iraq had
admitted the continued involvement of the Military
Industrial
Corporation.
{{Direct
evidence of the involvement of the Iraq General Intelligence
Service,
the
Mukhabarat, in procurement activities was provided when imports
of
equipment
for long-range missiles was discovered in late 1995.
{{Movements of
material by the Special Republican Guards.
{{UNSCOM
“assessed” that the Special Security Organisation
(SSO)
“appeared”
to provide “overall direction” for concealment
activities.
•
Iraq
claimed all concealment activities had been terminated in
1995.
•
UNSCOM had
used interviews and inspections in an attempt to elicit “a
true
picture of
concealment actions and confirmation it had or would be ended”
in
1996-1998,
but “missing files, cleansed rooms, purged computers and
other
techniques
were encountered on a regular basis at sites under
inspection”.
Convoy
movements in response to inspection activity “provided still
more
evidence
that concealment was ongoing”.
•
UNSCOM had
“recently” received information “from multiple sources”
identifying
organisations
which “direct and implement the concealment effort in Iraq”,
which
agreed
that:
{{Concealment-related
decisions were made “by a small committee of high
ranking
officials”, chaired by “The Presidential Secretary, Abed
Hamid
Mahmoud”.
{{The
committee directed a unit “responsible for moving, hiding,
and
securing
the items which are being concealed from the
Commission”.
{{The SSO
played “a key role in the operation of this unit and in the
tracking
and
surveillance” of UNSCOM’s activities.
774.
There was no
mention in the report of plague.
170