UN team searches Baghdad factory

UN WEAPONS inspectors visited a factory that once made parts for now-banned missiles yesterday as Iraq came under renewed criticism for its human rights record.

On the fifth day of the renewed search for weapons of mass destruction under a tough UN mandate that Saddam Hussein divest himself of illicit weaponry or face "serious consequences", the inspection team went to a Baghdad factory that made guidance and control systems for Iraq's "stretch Scuds".

Iraq modified Soviet-made Scuds to longer range and used them in the Gulf War. Such long-range missiles 400 miles are now prohibited for Iraq, and the inspectors wanted to ensure that work has not resumed.

The inspectors left the missile plant after six hours without commenting. The plant deputy director, Brigadier Mohammed Salah, said all went smoothly and the arms experts found nothing, because "we don't engage in this kind of activity".

A second team said to be from the US nuclear regulatory agency visited three alcoholic drinks plants on Baghdad's outskirts, according to the Iraqis who manage the plants.

The purpose of the inspection could not be immediately determined.

Surprise has been an important tactic for the inspectors. The Security Council resolution that sent the weapons inspectors back empowered them to go anywhere at any time to determine whether Iraq is still harbouring banned weapons.

In separate developments, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri complained to the UN secretary-general over Sunday's US-British air raids in southern Iraq. Baghdad says allied bombs hit an oil installation, killing four people and wounded 27.

The US military reported no casualties and said that the strikes targeted Iraqi air defences.

In a letter to Kofi Annan, Mr Sabri called for UN protection to prevent further attacks, saying they violated Security Council resolutions and marked an "escalation of the hostile and terrorist campaign by the United States and Britain".

In London, the British government accused Saddam and his family of bearing personal responsibility for widescale and systematic human rights abuses.

In a new dossier on life under Saddam, the Foreign Office claimed the Baghdad regime uses rape as an instrument of torture, along with methods ranging from acid baths and eye-gouging to mass executions.

The document, accompanied by a graphic video, painted a dreadful picture of Iraq as a country in which torture is "systematic" and "fear is Saddam's chosen method for staying in power". However, the document prompted a sceptical response from some Labour backbenchers who questioned the motivations behind its publication, and from Amnesty International, who warned the Government against using human rights issues for political ends.

Officials denied that the 23-page document was part of an exercise to prepare the public for a possible military attack on Iraq. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the report's aim was "to remind the world that the abuses of the Iraqi regime extend far beyond its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in violation of its international obligations".

Amnesty International, however, accused Mr Straw of a "cold and calculated manipulation" of the human rights situation to support his case for a possible war in Iraq.

The United States has threatened to disarm Iraq alone if necessary if Baghdad holds back any information or fails to co-operate with the UN inspectors.

Iraq must reveal the extent of its weapons capabilities to the United Nations by December 8.