Iraq Notebook
Inspector cites signs of interest in weapons

	GETTY IMAGES L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, speaks yesterday at al-Nahrain law school in Baghdad in front of a relief of Babylonian ruler Hammurabi, who created one of the earliest legal codes. Bremer was announcing the latest in a series of measures aimed at helping Iraq govern itself.
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"We do not know whether Saddam was concealing (weapons of mass destruction) or planning to resume production once sanctions were lifted," weapons chief Charles Duelfer said in written testimony made public after he testified in secret to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Duelfer's statement was his first since taking over from David Kay, who resigned as chief U.S. weapons inspector in January.

Kay concluded that the intelligence on Saddam's alleged weapons before last year's invasion was "almost all wrong." His comments drew wide notice at the time because they appeared to undermine one of the Bush administration's chief rationales for the invasion of Iraq.

While Duelfer did not contradict Kay's conclusions, he appeared to inject a tone more in line with White House statements that the hunt is still going on and that searchers could find weapons.

Duelfer said he was not ready to say there were no weapons. Credible reports of their existence continue to arise and must be checked out, he said.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee's senior Democrat, challenged Duelfer's remarks as vague and accused him of releasing selective information and "suspicions" not based on fact.

In the closed-door committee session, Levin said, Duelfer and another witness provided classified information that cast doubt on any suspicion that weapons exist.

Duelfer said he has been surprised by the lack of cooperation from former members of Saddam's regime. He speculated that even though Saddam is in custody, some scientists fear retribution if they give away secrets.

Delays in police hiring spark violence in Najaf

NAJAF, Iraq — Iraqis, protesting delays in processing their applications for police jobs, hurled stones at Spanish soldiers and Iraqi police yesterday in the southern city of Najaf. Witnesses reported gunfire, and at least three police and two protesters were wounded.
 
Fifteen people were detained in the three-hour confrontation.

U.S. appoints team to probe corruption, monitor ministries

BAGHDAD — U.S. authorities in Iraq have appointed a team of inspectors to probe corruption by the former regime and to oversee the workings of an Iraqi government when it takes power later this year.

L. Paul Bremer, the U.S.-appointed governor of Iraq, said the inspectors will be part of an independent Inspector General's office, which will be responsible for monitoring the functioning of each of Iraq's 25 ministries.

Bremer has appointed several bodies in recent weeks which he hopes will survive after a fully elected government takes over by the end of next year.

"Fighting government corruption is important in any country, but doubly important today in Iraq," Bremer said in an address to students at Baghdad's al-Nahrain law school.

He said the inspectors would be able to probe claims that the former regime of Saddam Hussein systematically embezzled billions of dollars via the U.N.-sponsored oil-for-food program.

International group finds flaws with oil system

UNITED NATIONS — The U.S.-led authority in Baghdad is failing to meter Iraq's oil production, leaving a door open to smuggling, an international watchdog agency said yesterday, calling urgently for steps to address the problem.

The International Advisory and Monitoring Board, set up by the U.N. Security Council to watch over Iraq's oil production in the postwar era, said the Coalition Provisional Authority informed it two weeks ago that crude oil was unmetered.

Metering production, referred to by the monitoring board as a standard oil-industry practice, allows the producer to verify that no oil is diverted between the time it is taken out of the ground and the time it is marketed.

Iraq has exported more than $6.9 billion in crude oil since Saddam Hussein's government fell nearly a year ago, the coalition authority reported.

Beyond the weekly figures on oil proceeds deposited in the development fund, the CPA provides no public information on sales of Iraqi oil.

Under a resolution adopted by the Security Council in May, the authority is required to deposit all the proceeds of Iraqi oil exports into the fund.

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