National News

Blix critical in U.N. report, says Iraq has not genuinely cooperated

U.N. weapons inspectors announced Jan. 27 that Iraq has failed to completely cooperate with them, but also called for at least a "few months" to give the process time to avert a war.

In his toughest criticism yet, chief inspector Hans Blix said that Iraq has never genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding its disarmament, and warned that "cooperation on substance" is "indispensable" for a peaceful solution.

"Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it," Blix, a Swedish diplomat, told the U.N. Security Council.

Speaking next, Mohammed ElBaradei, an Egyptian who heads the U.N. nuclear control agency, said inspections of 106 sites had turned up no evidence so far that Iraq was restarting its nuclear program. He said that, with Iraq's cooperation, the U.N. inspectors should be able within a few months "to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons programs."

"These few months would be a valuable investment in peace because it could help avoid a war," ElBaradei said.

Diplomats noted the difference in tone between the two reports, Blix stressing Iraq's failure to cooperate and ElBaradei focusing on Baghdad's cooperation.

Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri insisted Iraq "has actively cooperated ... We open all doors to Mr. Blix and his team. If there is something, he will find it. We have no hidden reports at all."

Shukan ST: Feb. 7, 2003

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