BAGHDAD, Dec 15: UN weapons experts probed factories linked to Iraqi military programmes as they prepared to step up the pace of disarmament checks in Iraq with new reinforcements of staff and equipment.

Nine sites were inspected by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said UN spokesman Hiro Ueki.

The inspections covered chemical and biological sites, missile factories and an engineering company that had previous links to Iraq’s nuclear programme, he said.

Under UN Security Council resolution 687, which set out terms of the Gulf war ceasefire, Iraq is obliged to declare and place under UN supervision any equipment that could be of dual civilian and military use, in addition to dismantling its non-conventional weapons and long-range missiles.

According to a British government report released in September and based on intelligence sources, Iraq has worked to extend the range of locally-made missiles to at least 200 kilometres, beyond the 150-kilometre limit set by resolution 687.

Iraq formally denied possessing any banned weapons in a 12,000-page inventory delivered to the United Nations on Dec 8 and has challenged the US to prove its contention that the document contains gaping holes.

UN arms inspectors carried out a record 11 site visits on Saturday, and their pace was to accelerate further as 15 more inspectors arrived on Sunday, raising the total to 105, said Ueki.

“Fifteen UNMOVIC inspectors arrived and some IAEA inspectors left. Consequently, the current strength of inspectors is 105, 86 from UNMOVIC and 19 from the IAEA,” he said.

The UN spokesman had said earlier the UN mission was waiting for equipment, communications gear, vehicles and helicopters. Inspectors have “one Bell 212 helicopter ready for operations and others will arrive later this month”, he said.

The United Nations has also given Iraq until the end of this month to provide a complete list of scientists involved in its banned arms programmes.

“What we expect from the list is from the top to the level of scientists and engineers. We are not talking about the sweepers,” Ueki said, when asked how far down the chain of involvement the UN request went.—AFP