Inspectors show off hi-tech tools as hunt for Iraqi arms resumes

UN arms inspectors showed off state-of-the-art equipment yesterday and reminded President Saddam Hussein his own palace complexes will no longer be off-limits when they resume their hunt for banned Iraqi weapons.

When the team resumes its work today after four years away, it will be better equipped than its predecessors and have a stronger UN mandate to overcome any Iraqi evasive tactics, senior inspectors said.

UN secretary-general Kofi Annan reminded Iraq failure to co-operate or prove its assertions that it has no nuclear, biological or chemical weapons could trigger a US-led attack.