Alexander Coker (born 1969) was formerly a Chief Inspector of the Chemical Weapons team in Iraq, while working for the United Nation’s Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). Prior to that he held various other posts at UNMOVIC and had been seconded from the British Government to carry out work for UNMOVIC’s predecessor, the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM). [1] [2]
Iraq, officially known as the Republic of Iraq, is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians and Kawliya. Around 95% of the country's 37 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish.
He holds a Ph.D from King's College London, [3] where he published work on the stability of particular chemical systems. [4] [5]
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, and a founding constituent college of the federal University of London. King's was established in 1829 by King George IV and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, when it received its first royal charter, and claims to be the fourth oldest university institution in England. In 1836, King's became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London. In the late 20th century, King's grew through a series of mergers, including with Queen Elizabeth College and Chelsea College of Science and Technology, the Institute of Psychiatry, the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery.
It is believed Dr. Coker was a leading contributor to the chemical section of UNMOVIC’s working document on Iraq’s Unresolved Disarmament Issues [6] and to the revision of the list of dual-use chemical items subject to notification by Iraq, under the Export/Import Mechanism approved by Security Council Resolution 1051. [7]
United Nations Security Council resolution 1051, adopted unanimously on 27 March 1996, after reaffirming resolutions 687 (1991), 707 (1991) and 715 (1991) on the monitoring of Iraq's weapons programme, the Council approved a mechanism for monitoring Iraq's imports and exports of "dual use" items.
Under Dr. Coker’s leadership, what is now known to have been the last remnants of chemical weapons (artillery shells containing mustard gas) were destroyed at Al Muthanna State Establishment (Iraq's former chemical weapons facility) - the shells were apparently part of an old stock pile remaining from prior to the first Gulf War. [1] [6] [8]
The Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Shield for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes. The war is also known under other names, such as the Persian Gulf War, First Gulf War, Gulf War I, Kuwait War, First Iraq War or Iraq War, before the term "Iraq War" became identified instead with the 2003 Iraq War.
Dr. Coker is mentioned in the evidence of the Hutton Inquiry investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. David Kelly [9] and by the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC). [10]
The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.
David Christopher Kelly was a Welsh scientist and authority on biological warfare, employed by the British Ministry of Defence, and formerly a weapons inspector with the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq. He came to public attention in July 2003 when an unauthorised discussion he had off the record with BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan about the UK Government's dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was cited by Gilligan and led to a major controversy. Kelly's name became known to the media as Gilligan's source and he was called to appear on 15 July before a parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee investigating the issues Gilligan had reported. Kelly was questioned aggressively about his actions. He was found dead two days later.
VERTIC is a non-governmental organization established in 1986 to promote effective verification of international agreements. VERTIC is primarily concerned with arms control and disarmament, peace, and environmental agreements. VERTIC has an international outlook, and is based in London.
