Inspections to take six months

THE UN’s nuclear watchdog yesterday said weapons inspectors needed at least six months to complete their inspections in Iraq despite impatience for them to finish.

A UN source also said the military build-up around Iraq was not counter-productive and showed the international community was serious about war if Iraq did not co-operate with the inspectors.

"We are operating on the basis of timelines that have been provided to us in (UN Security Council) resolutions 1284 and 1441," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said. "Those timelines will require somewhere between six and 12 months before we're in a position where the Security Council might suspend sanctions (if no weapons are found)," he said, referring to the 12-year sanctions against Baghdad.