Iraq Allows Free Interviews 'with Any Person' by UN Inspectors

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 10, 2002

Iraq Allows Free Interviews 'with Any Person' by UN Inspectors

Iraq agreed in talks last week to allow UN weapons inspectors to "conduct interviews with any person in Iraq," chief UN inspector Hans Blix said in a letter Wednesday.

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Iraq agreed in talks last week to allow UN weapons inspectors to "conduct interviews with any person in Iraq," chief UN inspector Hans Blix said in a letter Wednesday.

New rights of free interview granted to inspectors indicated a concession by the Iraqi authorities, who in the past insisted on monitoring conversations.

The letter dated Oct. 8 was addressed to Amir Al-Saadi, an Iraqi general and the chief aide to President Saddam Hussein who led the Iraqi delegation to the Vienna talks last week.

Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed ElBaradei sent the letter to confirm points of agreement on practical arrangements for resuming inspections in Iraq, achieved during the Vienna talks.

In their letter, the chief UN inspectors said the UN Monitoring,Verification and Inspection Commission which Blix heads and the IAEA "may conduct interviews with any person in Iraq whom they believe may have information relevant to their mandate."

"Iraq will facilitate such interviews. It is for UNMOVIC and the IAEA to choose the mode and location for interviews," the letter said.

It did not explicitly say the interviews could be conducted outside Iraq, as demanded by US President George W. Bush in a televised speech Monday.

In his speech, Bush said UN inspectors must be empowered to interview Iraqis outside the country, and that the interviewees' families must be able to leave the country.

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