International weapons inspectors probed the al-Tuwaitha site, the former heart of Iraq's nuclear program, a UN statement said.
It was the seventh inspection of the large complex, 25 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, since UN arms experts resumed inspections in Iraq on November 27th after a four-year break.
"Even though it was a Muslim day of rest and there was only a guard at the center, the site was made available to full inspection," said Hiro Ueki, spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).
An UNMOVIC chemical team inspected the al-Tuwaitha Industrial Chemical Research Center and two IAEA teams requested access to a facility during non-standard hours at the former al-Tuwaitha nuclear complex, he said.
"The complex now conducts civilian research in the non-nuclear field. The IAEA team observed work-shift levels during this non-work day period," Ueki said.
Iraq insists it has no weapons of mass destruction or long-range missiles, and that it has given up and dismantled its nuclear, biological and chemical warfare programs.
But the United States charged Iraq yesterday with trying to procure uranium used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons from Niger.
AFP