March 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 30, 1423

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BAGHDAD, March 3: Iraq scrapped six more banned Al Samoud 2 missiles and two warheads on Monday in line with UN disarmament demands, raising the total number of destroyed rockets to 16 in three days.

Hiro Ueki, the spokesman for UN inspectors in Baghdad, said the operation was carried out under UN supervision.

The director-general of Iraq’s information ministry, Uday al-Tai, had said earlier that six out of at least seven missiles scheduled to be destroyed had been disposed of by midday (0900 GMT). Mr Ueki said two warheads, which were empty, had been scrapped too.

Mr al-Tai also said a casting chamber used in the manufacturing process would be dismantled on Monday ahead of its destruction, but there was no news on that. Two similar chambers were scrapped over the weekend.

Baghdad says there are about 100 Al Samoud 2 missiles, which UN experts say are banned because they breach the 150km (93-mile) range limit set by UN resolutions. Diplomatic sources said 73 had already been delivered to the army and these are to be scrapped first.

Compliance with the order to destroy the rockets was seen as a key test of whether Iraq was cooperating with the UN inspectors sent in late last November to investigate its alleged programme of weapons of mass destruction.

The United States and Britain charge Saddam Hussein continues to hide such weapons, and have together massed more than 200,000 troops in the region ready to oust the Iraqi president.—AFP