UN Official: No Evidence Shows Iraq Rebuilding Weapons of Mass Destruction

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 11, 2002

UN Official: No Evidence Shows Iraq Rebuilding Weapons of Mass Destruction

The UN chief weapons inspector said Tuesday that satellite photos can not prove Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or is trying to build them.

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The UN chief weapons inspector said Tuesday that satellite photos can not prove Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or is trying to build them.

Speaking to reporters after briefing the Security Council in a closed-door meeting on his latest report, Hans Blix, executive chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, said satellite photos show that Iraq has carried out rebuilding at sites that were bombed in 1998, "but this is not thesame as saying there are weapons of mass destruction."

"The satellites don't see through roofs," he said. "So we are not drawing conclusions from them but it would be an important element in where maybe we want to go to inspect and monitor."

"If I had solid evidence that Iraq retained weapons of mass destruction or were constructing such weapons I would take it to the Security Council," he said.

He said it was in Iraq's interest to invite inspectors to return, and he reiterated his readiness to hold discussions on practical arrangements for resuming inspections to avoid the conflicts that arose during past inspections.

Diplomats told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that during thebriefing, council members found basis of common interests to praise the UN inspectors for their job.

"Delegates expressed their full support for Secretary General Kofi Annan and Blix, they are encouraged to keep the talks runningwith the Iraq government," he said.

Some diplomats also raised concerns about the photos provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying the international organization should not "serve the policy of other countries," according to the diplomat.

UN inspectors left Iraq ahead of the US-led airstrikes in December 1998 to punish Iraq for not cooperating with inspections.

The US is trying to win international support for attacking Iraq, claiming it is rebuilding its weapons programs. US PresidentGeorge Bush is expected to address the issue in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

Under the Security Council resolutions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, sanctions cannot be lifted until UN inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed along with the long-range missiles to deliver them.

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