A week after suspect chemical substances were discovered in a United Nations archive, a panel was set up on Friday to investigate the bizarre circumstances that brought them to New York, according to DPA. The material was found in an archive operated by former UN weapons inspectors. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation removed the two vials last Friday, at the UN request, which were found in the archive of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, whose weapons experts scoured Iraq for years without discovering any weapons of mass destruction. The New York Times reported this week, however, that what was thought to be potentially dangerous and deadly to New York City residents appeared to be just commercial solvent that can be obtained over the counter in any drug stores. One vial was said to contain the poisonous gas phosgene suspended in oil, and the other had nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) reference standards, which were used to calibrate chemical analytical equipment. Phosgene is a poisonous gas used extensively during World War I, causing high death toll. A spokeswomen said last week upon discovery of the two vials that there was no immediate risk or danger to the staff of 19 remaining weapons inspectors working at their office outside UN headquarters in New York. Their commission has been disbanded. The three-member investigative panel, which was decided by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, is tasked to study the circumstances under which the chemical substances were brought to New York in 1997 and the reasons why the substances had been in the archive in the past 10 years. The panel will investigate also whether procedures about transporting and storing chemicals had been respected, and report its findings by the end of October.
