This page has been listed for deletion .
Please see this page's entry on the votes for deletion page for justifications and discussion. If you don't want the page deleted, read the deletion policy and vote against its deletion. You may first wish to review some of the common deletion phrases. Please do not remove this notice or blank this page while the question is being considered. However, you are welcome to edit this article and improve it.

The Al Qa Qaa controversy timeline documents the events surrounding the loss of the high explosives HMX and RDX during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The explosives, considered dangerous by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), were under United Nations seal at the Al Qa Qaa industrial complex in Iraq prior to being lost in 2003.

Background

340 tonnes of high explosives were stored under the supervision of the United Nations due to their sensitive nature and dual use in WMDs. The stores consisted of:

194.741 tonnes of HMX,
141.233 tonnes of RDX, and
5.8 tonnes of PETN.

These explosives were stored in solid crystalline form and could be used to make powerful plastic explosives, are safe to transport and do not detonate on impact. The total quantity, 341.744 tonnes, would require approximately 40 large trucks to convey. The quantity is equivalent to 753,269 US pounds.

The explosives were stored at the Qa Qaa Store, one of a number of facilities at the Al Qa Qaa complex in Iraq. The complex is located roughly 48 km south of Baghdad near the city of Iskandariya, and is very large. Due to the size of the complex - 28 square km and consisting of over a thousand structures - most accounts of Al Qa Qaa in fact only deal with a small portion of the facility.

Events

1991

Al Qa Qaa complex severely damaged during Gulf War.
June 9 - UNSCOM weapons inspectors begin inspections in Iraq, beginning the first inspection regime. This includes finding and sealing the HMX, RDX and PETN explosives at Al Qa Qaa.

1998

December 16 - UNSCOM withdraws its staff from Iraq, ending the first weapons inspection regime.

2001

October 1 - Space Imaging Eurasia captures extensive satellite imagery of Al Qa Qaa, published by GlobalSecurity.org's Public Eye project

2002

November 27 - UNMOVIC weapons inspectors resume inspections in Iraq, beginning the second inspection regime.
December 9 - first new UN inspection of Al Qa Qaa facility. "An IAEA team at Al Qa Qaa began inventorying known explosive materials from the past nuclear programme that were previously under the control of the IAEA." [1]

2003

January

January 9 - Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA director, reports publicly [2] on Al Qa Qaa's HMX stores to the Security Council.
January 14 - IAEA inspectors visit Qa Qaa Stores, the location of the high explosives, located 60 km south of Baghdad [3].

February

February 14 - Mohamed Elbaradei reports to the Security Council that 32 tonnes of the HMX, previously under IAEA seal, were moved by Iraq between the two inspection regimes. They were apparently used for industrial purposes. [4]

March

March 8 - most recent visit [5] by UN weapons inspectors to Al Qa Qaa, one of many visits prior to the war.
March 15 - The seals on the doors of the explosive stores are verified by IAEA inspectors.
March 15 to March 20 - Iraq is under heavy surveillance to detect the potential movement of WMDs pending the US invasion.
March 18 - UNMOVIC inspectors pull out of Iraq, ending the second inspections regime. They have not been allowed to return to date.
March 20 - US led invasion of Iraq begins.

April

April 5 - first visit by US troops to Al Qa Qaa complex, by US 3rd Infantry Division.
- The troops find white powder and atropine in a section of the Latifiyah Explosives and Ammunition Plant, itself part of Al Qa Qaa
April 7 - US 3rd Infantry Division departed Al Qa Qaa by this time.
April 9 - US forces secure Baghdad.
April 10 - US 101st Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade arrives at Al Qa Qaa. They do not search the site. [6] [7]
April 11 - 2nd Brigade leaves Al Qa Qaa.

May

Paul Bremer reportedly warned by Iraqi officials that Al Qa Qaa has probably been looted.
Internal IAEA memorandum reportedly warns that terrorists might be helping "themselves to the greatest explosives bonanza in history."
US Weapons Inspector David Kay visits Al Qa Qaa complex. He later says: "I saw it in May and it was heavily looted at that time. Sometime between April and May most of the stuff was carried off. The site was in total disarray."
May 27 - US 75th Exploitation Task Force reportedly visit Al Qa Qaa and finds the high explosives IAEA seals broken.

2004

June

June 28 - Iraqi Interim Government takes control of Al Qa Qaa.

October

October 10 - Iraq Ministry of Science & Technology writes to IAEA: "We would like to inform you that the following materials ... registered under the IAEA custody were lost after 9-4-2003, through the theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security." [8]
October 15 - IAEA warns the US mission in Vienna that the materials are missing.
(within days) - Condoleeza Rice learns of the missing explosives, according to Scott McClellan
October 25 - IAEA confirms to the UN Security Council that the explosives are missing.

External links

Global Security page on Al Qa Qaa [9]
New York Times article, 2004/10/25 [10]
UNMOVIC chronology [11]