Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said on Friday Iraq had failed to account for many proscribed weapons and must explain what happened to suspected stocks of anthrax, VX gas and long-range missiles.
Two versions of Iraq's al Samoud 2 missile exceed the maximum range of 150 kilometers set by the United Nations, Blix also told the U.N. Security Council.
Blix said that an arms declaration submitted by Iraq in December 2002 omitted data needed to account for past stocks of anthrax, the nerve agent VX as well as on long-range missiles.
"Although I can understand that it may not be easy for Iraq in all cases to provide the evidence needed, it is not the task of the inspectors to find it," he said. "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.
Blix said he could not say how many weapons of mass destruction, if any, Iraq had, saying he had only found so far a small number of empty chemical munitions.
"One must not jump to the conclusion that they exist," Blix said. "However, that possibility is also not excluded. If they exist, they should be presented for destruction. If they do not exist, credible evidence to that effect should be presented."
But Blix, reporting to the council on the progress his inspectors have made in Iraq, 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."
He said Iraq had accepted an offer by South Africa to send a group of experts for further talks on how to disarm.
Blix also cast doubt on some intelligence submitted by Secretary of State, Colin Powell. He also questioned a section of Powell's evidence to the Security Council on Feb. 5, saying that two satellite images shown in his presentation did not prove that Iraq was clearing the site of forbidden munitions.
"The reported movement of munitions at the site could just as easily have been a routine activity as a movement of proscribed munitions in anticipation of an imminent inspection," Blix said.
On his part, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said his inspectors have found no evidence prohibited nuclear activities in Iraq but urged Baghdad to cooperate fully and actively to speed up the inspection process.
"We have to date found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear-related activities in Iraq," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the U.N. Security Council.
"However ... a number of issues are still under investigation," he said.
ElBaradei said the agency may never be able to reach a final conclusion on 32 tons of the high-explosive HMX, which Iraq said was for use in quarrying.
He also said documents on Iraq's post-1998 nuclear program which Iraqi officials handed over last week contained no new information that would help clarify inspectors' questions related to Iraqi nuclear weapons design.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin immediately told the Council inspections needed more time. "The use of force is not justified at this time. There is an alternative to war -- disarming Iraq through inspections," he said. (Albawaba.com)
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