Time for Bush to heed UN

Hans Blix told the UN Security Council yesterday that after a period of reluctance, Iraq has accelerated its co-operation with the arms inspection teams since the end of January.

Although he indicated that there is further room for improvement, he was quite upbeat in his assessment.

Dr Blix had already presented the council with a 167-page report but he emphasised that since it was drawn up more than a week earlier, there has been a further increase in the extent of co-operation.

In relation to American allegations that Iraq has mobile production facilities developing illicit war material, Dr Blix noted that his team had inspected several mobile production laboratories but found no evidence of any prohibited activities.

Mohamed El-Baradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency who is in charge of the nuclear inspections, was even more positive in his report.

He dismissed as unfounded allegations, first made by Britain, that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger. He also stated categorically that after inspections extending over three months he had found "no evidence or plausible indication" that Iraq had tried to reactivate its efforts to produce nuclear weapons.

While co-operation is still not at the optimum level, the inspectors seemed distinctly hopeful that there will be a further improvement. It is for the Security Council as a whole to debate the next move.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell described the presentations of the two inspectors as "a catalogue of non-cooperation".

But anyone who listened to them with an open mind is unlikely to agree. The two inspectors were upbeat in their presentations, even if Dr Blix did indicate there is room for improvement.

He was positive about the chances of coming up with a complete report, though he indicated this would likely take months rather than weeks.

Britain has tabled a motion, supported by the United States and Spain, calling for Iraq to be given 10 days to demonstrate "full, unconditional, immediate and active co-operation with its disarmament obligations under Resolution 1441".

But who decides whether Iraq is complying fully the inspectors or Britain and America?

That should be for the Security Council to decide, not American President George Bush, who is behaving like one of those dictators of whom he has been so critical.

For too long Mr Bush has been behaving as if he has a right to ignore the views of the United Nations, and thus the rest of the world.