UNSCOM poisons in Iraq to be destroyed on Sunday

The UN secretary general's special representative in Iraq, Prakash Shah, has announced that the destruction of poisons left behind by UNSCOM inspectors in Baghdad will be made next Sunday.

In a statement to the AFP, Shah added that the task of the teams provided for locking UNSCOM's laboratory and destroying the poisonous materials it contains is proceeding at a set schedule.

A high-ranking official at the UN announced on Wednesday the UN that the materials left by UNSCOM do not constitute any danger.

Iqbal Riza, a member of the general secretariat of the UN, told the UN security council that UNSCOM had asserted that these materials are not harmful and will be destroyed.

Riza noted, replying to a question asked by the Russian representative at the UN, that there is VX gas UNSCOM used in discovering chemicals in the Iraqi arsenals in the laboratory but noted that this VX gas container has a special label showing its name and content.

The deputy spokesman for the UN, Manoel de Almeida e Silva, said in a press conference that after they are determined to be non-toxic, materials which do not bear marks conducive to their identification will be kept in the laboratory, which will be sealed within the coming days.