Missiles destroyed: Iraq

An Iraqi official said Iraq destroyed four Al-Samoud 2 missiles today, as ordered by United Nations weapons inspectors. A spokesman for UN w...

An Iraqi official said Iraq destroyed four Al-Samoud 2 missiles today, as ordered by United Nations weapons inspectors. A spokesman for UN weapons inspectors said he couldn8217;t confirm the destruction, but that it was 8216;8216;a matter of minutes.8217;8217;

The official, who only on condition of anonymity, said the destruction occurred in the Al-Taji area, 30 km north of Baghdad, which has several factories involved in missile production.

Blair says even he8217;s ready to go it alone
LONDON: British PM Tony Blair said in remarks published in Britain8217;s Guardian newspaper that he is 8216;8216;truly committed8217;8217; to disarming Iraq, 8216;8216;irrespective of the position of America.8217;8217; 8216;8216;If the Americans were not doing this, I would be pressuring them to do so,8217;8217; he said. Blair8217;s hawkish stance on Iraq has been criticised by many members of his own Labour Party and the public, many of whom accuse him of behaving like President Bush8217;s lapdog. Reuters

A spokesman for the UN weapons inspectors, Hiro Ueki, said a team of inspectors was headed to the site.

8216;8216;As soon as they arrive the destruction will begin,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;I do not believe that it has begun, but it8217;s a matter of minutes.8217;8217;

The Iraqi official insisted the destruction had begun at 1pm local time 0630 IST. Odai Al-Taie of the Iraqi Information Ministry, said a team of UN weapons inspectors also would seize a mould used to make solid fuel at the Al Rasheed company 8216;8216;in order to prepare it for destruction tomorrow.8217;8217;

Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix ordered the destruction of the finned, white rockets and all their components, fuel and design systems because tests indicated some fly farther than allowed.

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He praised the Iraqi decision to comply with his order, saying: 8216;8216;it is a very significant piece of real disarmament.8217;8217; Blix8217;s chief deputy, Demetrius Perricos, met this morning with Saddam Hussein8217;s scientific adviser Lt Gen Amer Al-Saadi to finalise details of the destruction.

Al-Taie said the two sides discussed technical points and 8216;8216;agreed on a schedule and a work plan for the coming days.8217;8217; He said they also agreed on 8216;8216;the sites of destruction, the manner of destruction and the priorities.8217;8217; Ueki also announced that the inspectors had resumed interviews with Iraqi scientists, interviewing a biological weapons expert and a missile expert yesterday 8212; the first such interviews since February 7.

8216;8216;This is positive news,8217;8217; Ueki said.