Blix raps Iraq for gaps in arms programme disclosure

With the United States escalating threats of war, the chief UN arms inspector sharply criticised Iraq yesterday for not disclosing all of its long range missile, chemical and biological arms programmes.

But Hans Blix, in addressing the UN Security Council, was not able to corroborate US claims that Baghdad had rebuilt its weapons of mass destruction arsenal, saying he could not at the moment give a verdict one way or another.

However, Blix delivered his toughest assessment yet on Iraq's cooperation, particularly on Baghdad's 12,000-page arms declaration submitted on December 7.

"It is not enough to open doors. Inspection is not a game of catch as catch can," he said. "Iraq appears not to have come to genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it."

After two months and more than 350 inspections, the reports by Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, who is in charge of nuclear teams, fuelled US arguments in favour of war but prompted China, Russia, Germany, France and other nations to argue immediately that inspections should continue.

Blix disclosed that Iraq had test-fired two new types of long-range missiles beyond the permitted range in what could be a clear violation of UN resolutions. He also said his teams found a new site containing a precursor to mustard gas.

Blix, however, did not ask for more inspection time. Elbaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, did and told the council he had "found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons programme since the elimination of the programme in the 1990s."

The UN Security Council debates the Iraq crisis again tomorrow, a day after President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, amid strong signs Washington has delayed any decision to go to war for several weeks. Bush is expected to lay out the case for possible war against Iraq in his address.

The council will hear from inspectors Blix and ElBaradei again on February 14.

But whether or not the United States will agree to another Security Council resolution authorising war remains in doubt. Diplomats said Britain had drafted such a document, which will be a subject of discussion between Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair at a Camp David meeting on Friday.

The inspectors' presentations did little to dispel the fear of war haunting world financial markets. Major stock indices, US Treasuries, the dollar and oil all weakened after the inspectors spoke.

The United States, represented by Ambassador John Negroponte, immediately said Baghdad's lack of cooperation showed Iraq was in violation of a tough November 8 Security Council resolution 1441 that threatens "serious consequences" in case of non-compliance.

"Iraq is not complying (and) it is not cooperating and it is time for the council to think about how it's going to respond and that will be the subject of this week's discussion," said another senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

To underline the Bush administration's aims, Secretary of State Colin Powell, on the eve of the report, said the United States was prepared to go to war against Iraq alone if European allies would not join the fight.

Powell on Sunday also raised anew the Bush administration's claim of links between Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, saying Baghdad had "clear ties to terrorist groups, including al Qaeda." Washington blames al Qaeda for September 11 attacks on the United States. But several members of Congress said on Sunday they had yet to see supporting evidence.

Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, told reporters his country had disclosed everything.

"We have no hidden reports at all. We gave everything and we put it in our report with the 12,000 pages and I think they have to carefully read this report," Aldouri said.

Outside UN headquarters, hundreds of people protested against the war, holding up signs reading, "Let the Inspectors Work" and "No to Bush's Oil War." Seventeen people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.

Russia, one of many nations opposed to war, was typical of opposition in the council to short-circuiting inspections.

"The main conclusion which we heard is that all these new finds ... is they don't have any evidence that Iraq has resumed its weapons of mass destruction programmes nor can they assert that all these programs have been stopped," Moscow's UN ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters.

"Flowing from this is the need for inspections to continue," Lavrov said.

And China's UN envoy, Zhang Yishan, told reporters, "I think it is the opinion of most of the members that since we have started this process and there is no clear reason to stop it, that we should continue."