Global Policy Forum

U.N. inspectors found no evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction but had many questions and leads to pursue when their searches were suspended just before the U.S.-led invasion, chief inspector Hans Blix said in his final report yesterday at the UN.

The United States and Britain have barred U.N. inspectors from returning to Iraq. Instead, Washington and London have deployed their own teams, and Blix said they have not requested any information or assistance from U.N. inspectors.

In the report to the Security Council, Blix said U.N. inspectors "did not find evidence of the continuation or resumption of programs of weapons of mass destruction or significant quantities of proscribed items."

The inspectors had many questions, however, about Iraq's chemical and biological programs when they left shortly before the March 20 invasion. Inspectors also didn't have time to follow up on some late information provided by the Saddam Hussein government, including interviews with Iraqis who helped destroy anthrax after the 1991 Persian Gulf war, he said.

The United States and Britain used the claim that Iraq had illegal weapons programs as a major reason for the war that toppled the Hussein government. The failure of U.S. and British teams to find any nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in the 11 weeks since combat ended has become a major issue in Washington, London and other international capitals.

President Bush said over the weekend that weapons had been found. As evidence, he pointed to two suspected mobile biological laboratories, which the Pentagon and U.S. weapons inspectors have said do not constitute arms.

Blix said in his 40-page report that Iraq denied the existence of any such units and had provided U.N. inspectors "with pictures of legitimate vehicles, which, they suggested, could have led to the information." He noted, however, that "none of the vehicles in these pictures look like the trucks recently described and depicted" by the U.S.-led teams hunting for weapons.

Blix is retiring after his contract as executive chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission ends June 30. His report detailed the efforts of his inspectors, who were allowed to return to Iraq in late November after a four-year absence. Their searches for banned weapons were suspended March 18.

U.N. inspections uncovered "a small number of undeclared empty chemical warheads which appear to have been produced prior to 1990," he said. Those were destroyed, along with a few other proscribed items and about 70 Al Samoud 2 missiles with a range beyond the 92-mile U.N. limit.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.