IAEA inspectors begin working in Iraq

On Saturday inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency have begun security checks at the Iraqi nuclear facility Tuvait, the IAEA Vienna-based secretariat says in an official report on Saturday.

The nuclear material - 1.8 tonnes of slightly enriched uranium and 500 tonnes of natural uranium - is to have been kept with the IAEA seals since 1991. For the last time, IAEA inspectors had access to the fissionable material in Iraq during their inspection last February.

Seven IAEA inspectors arrived in Baghdad from Kuwait on board the plane offered by the American air force, says the report of the IAEA secretariat. The mission will take about two weeks.

Inspections are held in Iraq according to the Iraq-IAEA nuclear safety agreement and in fulfillment of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The mandate for the conduct of inspections in Iraq has been issued by the IAEA security council.