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Posted by MAC (Member # 47) on :

UN presses ahead with Iraq mission

Blix: Aims to get down to work quickly

The United Nation's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, has said the hunt for Iraqi arms could be under way by 27 November - just a week after his arrival in Baghdad.

Our job is to report and the decision whether there is war or peace or reaction, that is for the [Security] Council and its members

Hans Blix
Briefing journalists before he set off for Paris - his first stopover on his way to Iraq - he said "cat and mouse" games by Baghdad would not be tolerated.

He said he wanted an "effective" inspections regime and that would mean intrusive inspections due to fears that Iraq could conceal weapons of mass destruction underground or in mobile units.

The green light for inspections came earlier this week when Iraq said it would comply with a tough new UN Security Council resolution on disarming Saddam Hussein's regime.

Arms declaration

Mr Blix said an expected statement by Iraq of the weapons it holds, which is due on 8 December, would be of particular importance.

"Iraq's declaration is a very important document that we hope they take very seriously," he said.

Iraq is mostly desert, made up of broad plains. There are reedy marshes along the southern part of its border with Iran, with large flooded areas. Mountains stretch along Iraq's northern borders with Iran and Turkey.

'No-fly zones' were set up to protect minority groups from reprisals by Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War. US and British aircraft continue to patrol them, and mount sporadic raids against Iraqi targets.

Any omissions or false statements made in the declaration could provoke "serious consequences", the resolution threatens.

Mr Blix said he would report factually any obstruction he encountered from the Iraqi side.

But he emphasised that, it would be the Security Council - not the inspections team - that decided whether Iraq had breached the terms of the resolution and any action that should follow.

Mosques will not be off-limits

"I think we still have to use our common sense in judging whether something is a way of preventing us, hindering us, in the inspections or if it is not," he said.

"Our job is to report and the decision whether there is war or peace or reaction, that is for the Council and its members," he said.

Inspections countdown

The strict timetable for inspections laid out in the resolution means that the inspectors will carry out their work during the Muslim holy period of Ramadan.

Mr Blix said that although there were no "sanctuaries" from the inspections, including mosques, his team was "aware of the religious sensibilities".

He said his team had been trained to be polite and proper when carrying out inspections, but that did not mean they would be timid.

The inspectors have 60 days to report their findings to the Security Council.

Mr Blix flies to Paris on Friday, then moves on to Cyprus before arriving in Baghdad on Monday.