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UN experts gifted case of whisky at Iraqi distillery
A group of UN arms experts on their 61st day of field inspections Thursday were gifted, for the first time, 12 bottles of whisky at a suspect distillery. The manager of Al-Awali distillery in Baghdad's eastern outskirts gave the case of "Canari special whisky" to a team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) after it had inspected stills and assembly lines. "Yes, they offered them a gift: a case of 12 bottles. It shows the generosity of the Iraqi people," inspectors' spokesman Hiro Ueki said. "It was a generous sign and the inspectors did not refuse the gift because they want to be nice also," Ueki said.Guess UN inspectors don't have any of those messy conflict of interest rules they have to follow. The factory, which also produces arak and gin, had already been visited twice since UN inspections resumed on November 27 after a four-year break. Can't find any weapons, but they sure know where to find a drink. Memo to Air Combat Command, you might want to mark this distillery down as a "No Bomb" zone. Our guys will want a drink to toast Sammy's lynching. Posted by: Steve 2003-01-30 |
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