Global Policy Forum

By Sarah Left and Mark Oliver

In a plain-speaking and detailed speech, the head of the UN weapons inspection team, Hans Blix, today provided no "smoking gun" that would indicate Iraq has built up an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, but said that obstructions, inconsistencies and unanswered questions showed Iraq was not fully cooperating with inspectors.

Mr Blix admitted that despite twelve years of international demands, Iraqi cooperation has been intermittent and incomplete, in stark contrast to the attitude South Africa had taken in destroying its nuclear arsenal.

"Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it," he told the security council.

Indicating that his teams required more time, Mr Blix referred to today's report as an update and said it represented only the "results so far". The US has argued that UN resolution 1441 - which paved the way for the resumption of inspections after a four-year break - did not envisage reports beyond the two months the inspectors have already had.

The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, immediately responded that he saw no evidence that Iraq will comply with UN resolutions.

"They are not cooperating unconditionally," he said, warning that this approach to the UN weapons inspections was "back to business as usual" for Saddam Hussein and that the security council had to face its responsibilities.

Report unlikely to convince doves

Mr Blix's findings will probably not be enough to provide security council members China, France and Russia with a casus belli. They have all publicly favoured allowing more time for weapons inspections.

He reported that Iraq had been cooperative on the process of inspections, particularly on providing access to the more than 230 sites already visited by UN personnel.

"Access has been provided to all sites we wanted to visit and on the whole it has been prompt," Mr Blix stated.

He also pointed out a number of obstructions and omissions by the Iraqi regime, including the possible production of VX nerve agent and proscribed Scud missile delivery systems. He said the Iraqis have refused to guarantee the safety of U-2 spy planes that inspectors want to use, and added that Iraq had failed to account for some 6,000 chemical rockets and stockpiles of anthrax.

Inspectors plead for more time

Making a diplomatic plea to continue his work, Mr Blix noted that the previous inspection regime destroyed more weapons of mass destruction that the first Gulf war. He ended the speech by reiterating to the coun c il that the inspectors now had access to eight helicopters and more inspection personnel.

"The capability which has been built up over a short time and is now operational is at the disposal of the security council," he said.

Mohamed El Baradei, the head o f the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke just after Mr Blix to state categorically that his teams had found "no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons programme". He also made a more direct plea for time.

"Our work is steadily progressing and should be allowed to continue its natural course," Mr El Baradei told the council. "With our verification system now in place, barring exceptional circumstances and providing there is sustained, proactive cooperation by Iraq, we should be able in the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapon programme.

"These few months in my view would be a valuable investment in peace because it would help us avoid a war," he said.

US takes tough line on Iraqi compliance

Just before Mr Blix stood up to speak, the White House reiterated that it was looking for a pass or fail from the report.

"The United States will read the Blix report to see one thing and one thing very simple. Is Iraq complying yes or no? ... If the answer is only partially yes then the answer is no," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Mr Fleischer said that, under the terms of a UN resolution passed in November, Iraq must provide a "full, final and complete" accounting of its weap ons.

He said: "It must comply in all regards, not in some regards, not in half regards, not in some areas but not other areas."

In December, Iraqi officials handed the UN a 12,000 page dossier on Iraq's weapons programmes, in line with the UN re solution. However General Hasam Amin, of Iraq's national monitoring directorate, said at the time: "Iraq is empty of weapons of mass destruction. I reiterate Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction. This declaration has some activities that are dual-use."

Both the US and Britain have insisted that the country does have weapons of mass destruction.

The security council is due to debate the reports on Wednesday.

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