Åke Sellström (born 2 November 1948) is a Swedish

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and expert in arms, especially in

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...

s. He has been active at the

Swedish Defence Research Agency The Swedish Defence Research Agency (, FOI; literal translation: ''Total Defence Research Institute'') is a government agency in Sweden for total defence research and development. FOI has its headquarters in Kista (Stockholm). Other FOI offic ...

(FOI).

Biography

Sellström received his Ph.D. in 1975 at

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

. He was one of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

inspectors who examined the use of chemical weapons in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in the 1990s. He returned to the country in 2002 to examine whether the government had restored the banned weapons program, for which the inspectors found no evidence. He has held various positions with the

, including as Chief Inspector with the

United Nations Special Commission United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 19 ...

(UNSCOM) and as Senior Adviser to the Chairmen of UNSCOM and the

United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was created through the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999 and its mission lasted until June 2007. UNMOVIC was meant t ...

(UNMOVIC) for the disarmament of Iraq. In March 2013, Sellström was appointed head of the UN team to investigate the possible use of chemical warfare weapons during the Syrian civil war. His team published a report on the 21 August Ghouta chemical attacks in September 2013. In Sweden, Sellström has conducted research on biological and chemical weapons at the European CBRNE Center at

Umeå University Umeå University (; Ume Sami language, Ume Sami: ) is a public university, public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present bord ...

, and before that at the

(FOI) in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

. It was through this service that he was recognized internationally, which resulted in the UN missions."Svenske Åke Sellström utsedd av FN"
by Maja Sigfeldt,

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

, 26 March 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellstrom, Ake 1948 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) University of Gothenburg alumni Academic staff of Umeå University Swedish officials of the United Nations