Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, giving a report which could be crucial to whether war is waged on Iraq, said yesterday that banned Iraqi weapons still were unaccounted for and Baghdad must detail the status of anthrax and VX stocks and long-range missiles.
Blix also told a tense meeting of the UN Security Council that two versions of Iraq's al Samoud 2 missile exceed the maximum range of 150km set by the UN.
"The issues of anthrax, the nerve agent VX and long-range missiles [are] ... perhaps the most important problem we are facing. Iraq itself must squarely tackle this task and avoid belittling the questions," he said.
But Blix, reporting to the council on the progress his inspectors have made in Iraq since last November, said he had no convincing evidence that Iraq had advance knowledge that the inspectors were coming and that his teams were "effectively helping to bridge the gap in knowledge."
Just hours before the report was delivered, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein decreed a ban on importing or making weapons of mass destruction, in at least a symbolic gesture to meet one of the demands that Blix and nuclear weapons inspector Mohamed ElBaradei made when they visited Baghdad in mid-January.
"Individuals and companies in private and mixed sectors are banned from importing and producing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," the presidential decree read. Saddam also reiterated that Iraq was free of any such weapons, a claim the US rejects.
As the inspectors reported, the US military said aircraft taking part in US-British patrols attacked Iraqi missile systems in the southern "no-fly" zone yesterday, the fifth strike on Iraqi targets in a week.
After inspectors had examined evidence found in the search for chemical and biological weapons, including analyzing earth samples from some sites, Blix said in his report: "The results to date been consistent with Iraqi declarations."
But he said Iraqi cooperation "means more than opening doors" and Baghdad was obliged to actively present "convincing evidence" that they have eliminated all biological and chemical weapons programs and materials.
Iraq had accepted an offer by South Africa to send a group of experts for further talks on how to disarm, Blix said.
At issue is whether the US and Britain can follow up yesterday's meeting with a fresh UN resolution explicitly or implicitly authorizing war amid deepening rifts not only on the Security Council, but also within NATO and the European Union.
Millions of people were expected to take to the streets of towns and cities around the world at the weekend to demonstrate against a looming US-led war on Iraq in the biggest peace protests since the Vietnam war. More than 100,000 anti-war activists turned out in Melbourne to kick off the protests.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at odds with major European partners France and Germany and in danger of alienating many within his own ruling Labour Party, is anxious to give any use of military force international legitimacy.
France, Russia and China, who also wield a veto on the 15-member Council, as well as Germany, Syria and other members, want to beef up inspections, triple the number of arms experts and send in UN security guards to "freeze" suspected sites.
UN inspectors travelied to at least four military and industrial installations outside Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
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