Saddam's Adviser Pledges UN Arms Inspectors 'Unfettered Access'

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Saddam's Adviser Pledges UN Arms Inspectors 'Unfettered Access'

Iraq will give UN arms inspectors "unfettered access" to any sites allegedly engaged in weapons of mass destruction, an adviser to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said on Tuesday.

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Iraq will give UN arms inspectors "unfettered access" to any sites allegedly engaged in weapons of mass destruction, an adviser to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said on Tuesday.

"The weapons inspectors would have unfettered access if there isno outside interference," presidential adviser Amir Saadi told a news conference.

"They can go wherever they want to go," he added.

The news conference was held in response to a British dossier about Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction.

The British government earlier Tuesday released a dossier of evidence accusing Iraq of pursuing weapons of mass destruction and preparing to use them.

Iraq's arms plan "allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in the introduction to the document.

But Iraq challenged the British accusation and demanded Blair transfer the dossier to UN weapons inspectors to prove it.

"We asked Mr Blair to transfer the dossier to the UNMOVIC (UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," Saadi said, adding that the inspectors can go first to those sites listed in the document.

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