UN considers spy satellites over Iraq

Iraq might still have two long-range scud missiles

By Mark Devenport at the United Nations

United Nations arms inspectors say they are exploring the use of satellite surveillance to monitor Iraq's weapons capability.

They say satellite images cannot replace on-site inspections, which are forbidden by Iraq, but they could complement work on the ground.

More than a year has passed since the UN Security Council created the Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic), but it has yet to carry out a single inspection because of Baghdad's refusal to let it continue the work of its controversial predecessor, Unscom.

In the meantime, the monitoring commission has been busy training inspectors and going through Unscom's files to establish exactly what areas it should concentrate on.

Scud missiles

At a recent meeting in Vienna, the commission provided a new assessment of what it sees as Iraq's unresolved disarmament issues.

UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998

Drawing on the intelligence gleaned by its predecessors, it circulated an internal paper which said that Iraq could still have two imported long-range Scud missiles as well as some of its own Scuds and launchers.

It said Baghdad could also still have mustard gas and may have produced a greater quantity of anthrax spores than had previously been suspected.

Given the lack of inspections on the ground, Unmovic is looking at the possibility of expanding its use of satellite imagery to gather intelligence on Iraqi activity.

'No substitute'

The commission says overhead imagery cannot be a substitute for on-site inspections but could complement its work on the ground.

It's discussed its requirements with several governments and commercial satellite companies. Unmovic says it is also exploring other, unspecified new technologies with regard to sensor equipment which it might be able to install in Iraq at a future date.

Whether the commission will ever be able to operate on the ground in Iraq, however, remains very much a moot point, and is the subject of what promises to be a long and tortuous series of negotiations between Iraq and the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.