Arms inspectors find chemical hazard in office

The UN in New York yesterday said weapons inspectors may have been exposed to hazardous chemical agents.

UN WEAPONS inspectors who had been in Iraq discovered potentially hazardous chemical agents in their office near UN headquarters as they were wrapping up their operation, a UN spokesman said last night.

“There is no immediate risk or danger,” said UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe.

She said one of the substances identified on Wednesday was phosgene suspended in oil, “whose present state is unknown, but which could be potentially hazardous”.

Phosgene can be used as a chemical warfare agent.

The material was immediately secured by experts at the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission known as UNMOVIC and the UN sought assistance from US authorities in having the material safely removed, she said.

UNMOVIC staff are still working on the premises.

“The office was screened using UNOMVIC’s chemical weapons detection equipment. No toxic vapours were found. There is no immediate risk or danger. UNMOVIC staff are still working on the premises,” Ms Okabe said.

The material in a sealed plastic bag includes “unknown liquid substances contained in metal and glass containers ranging in size from small vials to tubes the length of a pen in one of the sealed plastic bags,” she said.

“The only information we have of the contents of that bag is from an inventory of a 1996 inspection which indicates that one of the items may contain phosgene, an old-generation chemical warfare agent.”