Blix orders Iraq to destroy missiles
From Michael Okwu
CNN
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Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix has ordered Iraq to destroy the "illegal" missiles, U.N. officials said Friday.
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix has sent a letter ordering the Iraqi government to destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles, which weapons experts have determined violate a range limit imposed by the Security Council, by March 1.
Blix handed the letter to Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, Friday evening at the group's headquarters, a U.N. official said.
A U.N. official said no deadline was given for the destruction of the missiles, although the letter says the destruction process -- under the guidance and supervision of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) -- must begin by March 1.
No other details regarding the contents of the letter were revealed. However, a U.N. source told CNN Wednesday that the missiles would have to be destroyed under the supervision of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission [UNMOVIC].
Aldouri has consistently denied that the missiles violate U.N. resolutions, which prohibit Iraqi missiles with a range greater than 93 miles [150 kilometers].
In an interview with CNN last weekend, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz indicated that the Iraqi regime would oppose an order to destroy the missiles.
"They should not be destroyed because they are practically within the range we are allowed to have," he said. "It would be quite unfair and unacceptable by any scientific and security standards ... Destruction should be based on a reason, a reason linked with questions of security and peace."
Aziz said the missiles exceeded the U.N. limit during testing by less than six miles because they lacked guidance systems.
UNMOVIC had previously said that 13 out of 40 recent tests of the Al Samoud 2 missile went about 18 miles [30 kilometers] beyond the permitted range. UNMOVIC told Iraq to stop testing the two missile systems until the U.N. analysis was completed.
Six missile experts -- from France, Germany, Britain, the United States, China and Ukraine -- were commissioned by Blix to examine the range of two missiles, the Al Samoud 2 and the Al Fatah. A diplomatic source told CNN that Blix brought in the experts to give a "third voice" on the issue of a possible Iraqi arms violation.
The experts' report found that the Al Samoud 2 "went beyond" the 150-kilometer range and the Al Fatah needed further study, diplomats said.
--CNN correspondent Alessio Vinci contributed to this report.
