According to Global Times published Monday, Mr. Li Junhua with the International Dept. of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in an exclusive interview that a batch of Chinese have been ready to set out to Iraq for the UN weapons inspection mission at the request of this world organization.
In a vote on Friday, the UN Security Council passed unanimously a resolution to send inspectors back to Iraq to ensure it has no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has until December 8 to make a full declaration of its weapons of mass destruction programs, according to the resolution.
Since China dispatched its first batch of weapon inspectors to Iraq in January 1998, altogether 26 Chinese had participated in the UN weapons inspection in Iraq by July that year. And this time, China shows a more active attitude toward settlement of the Iraq issue. Not only special personnel were sent to receive UN training, but also a high-level training course on chemical weapons was held in Beijing this September.
More than 220 persons from over 40 countries have so far been trained by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission. Among them, seven are Chinese, who are now awaiting orders at home.
(People’s Daily November 12, 2002)
