NEW YORK - Een kantoor van de Verenigde Naties in New York is donderdag ontruimd nadat er flessen met gas waren aangetroffen. De gasflessen bevatten materiaal dat ooit in Irak is gevonden tijdens de inspecties van de missie Unmovic die naar chemische en biologische wapens zocht in Irak.
ANP
De ontruiming van het pand van de inspecteurs van Unmovic was een voorzorgsmaatregel. De gasflessen leverden volgens de autoriteiten geen direct gevaar op.
Raadsel
Wel is het nog een raadsel hoe en waarom de flessen in het pand, niet ver van het hoofdkwartier van de VN op Manhattan, zijn terechtgekomen. De Amerikaanse federale recherche onderzoekt de zaak. .
Dangerous chemicals found at UN
The vials were found in an office building near the UN's headquarters
Several vials of potentially dangerous chemicals have been found at a United Nations building in New York.
The material, said to include phosgene, is said to have been removed from Iraq during inspections of chemical facilities a decade ago .
The UN said the vials had been found by inspectors as they cleared out an office near the UN's headquarters.
The material "could be potentially hazardous", a UN spokeswoman said, but did not pose any immediate risk.
UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the substances had been secured by experts at the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic).
The office area had been screened, she said, and no toxic vapours were found.
Choking agent
The metal and glass vials, stored in a sealed plastic bag, were discovered in the process of emptying Unmovic's office building in Manhattan.
"The only information we have of the contents of that bag is from an inventory of a 1996 inspection which indicates that one of the items may contain phosgene, an old generation chemical warfare agent," Ms Okabe said.
The US authorities have been called in to assist with the safe removal of the material.
Phosgene, a yellow-green gas smelling of swimming pools or newly-mown hay, was widely used during World War I as a choking agent. The Russian military has also claimed that it has been used in Chechnya.
Unmovic's inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq in March 2003 and in June this year the UN decided to end its mandate
bbc.co.uk
Coolassprov MC
31-08-07, 06:26
Geplaatst door observer
Geheime bergplaats irakse WMD's eindelijk gevonden
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