Weapons inspectors demand unrestricted access

Staking out a tough position, UN weapons inspectors today opened talks with Iraq over a return to Baghdad by holding Saddam Hussein to his pledge of unfettered access to suspect sites.

Chief inspector Hans Blix said at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency that the talks would operate under the assumption that nothing in Iraq – including Saddam’s palaces – will be off-limits to inspectors hunting for nuclear, biological and chemical weaponry.