Some Iraqi nuclear facilities appear to be
unguarded, and radioactive materials are being taken out of the
country, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency reported after reviewing
satellite images and equipment that has turned up in European
scrapyards.
The International Atomic Energy Agency sent a letter to U.S. officials
three weeks ago informing them of the findings. The information was
also sent to the U.N. Security Council in a letter from its director,
Mohamed ElBaradei, that was circulated Thursday.
The IAEA is waiting for a reply from the United States, which is
leading the coalition administering Iraq, officials said.
The United States has virtually cut off information-sharing with the
IAEA since invading Iraq in March 2002 on the premise that the country
was hiding weapons of mass destruction.
No such weapons have been found, and arms control officials now worry
the war and its chaotic aftermath may have increased chances that
terrorists could get their hands on materials used for unconventional
weapons or that civilians may be unknowingly exposed to radioactive
materials.
According to ElBaradei's letter, satellite imagery shows "extensive
removal of equipment and in some instances, removal of entire
buildings,'' in Iraq.
In addition, "large quanitities of scrap, some of it contaminated, have
been transfered out of Iraq from sites'' previously monitored by the
IAEA.
[...]
The IAEA has been unable to investigate, monitor or protect Iraqi
nuclear materials since the U.S. invaded the country in March 2003. The
United States has refused to allow the IAEA or other U.N. weapons
inspectors into the country, claiming that the coalition has taken over
responsibility for illict weapons searches.