Satellites find construction at suspected Iraqi nuclear sites

Satellite photographs show unexplained construction at several Iraqi sites of interest to UN inspectors seeking evidence that Baghdad is developing nuclear weapons, their leader said today.

The last UN inspectors pulled out of Iraq in December 1998, ahead of bombing by the United States and Britain.

But even though Baghdad has refused to let UN teams looking for nuclear or other prohibited weapons programmes back in since them, monitoring has continued through satellite photography and other intelligence gathering.

French physicist Jacques Baute, the leader of the UN nuclear inspection team, said that reviews of commercial satellite images since 1999 show “some buildings that have been reconstructed ... and some new buildings have been erected,” at sites of interest to his team.

Without identifying them, Baute, based at the International Atomic Energy Organisation in Vienna, described the sites as having potential “dual-use capabilities,” meaning they could potentially be locations for both civilian and military nuclear programmes.

The United States has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programmes and of supporting terrorism, and has called for the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

In seeking to line up international support for a military strike on Iraq, President George Bush’s administration says that Saddam’s pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in defiance of its disarmament pledge after the Gulf War is a powerful case for a regime change.

Facing opposition from traditional allies to such an attack, Bush has scheduled consultations with heads of countries sitting on the UN Security Council too establish whether new UN pressure can be brought to bear that would force Baghdad to again allow weapons inspectors in.

In a report, Hans Blix, chief inspector of the team assigned to look for chemical and biological weapons, said Iraq has not been reporting its “dual-use” imports - which can be used in peaceful and military nuclear programmes - to the United Nations.