Weapons inspectors leave Iraq

Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and the head of the UN nuclear agency Mohamed ElBaradei flew to Cyprus today after what they described as a constructive visit to Iraq.

The two men returned from a two day visit to Baghdad where they held talks with government officials on the resumption of inspections for weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles.

Blix said they had reopened the UN inspectors’ office in the Iraqi capital. It had been closed since the former inspectors’ mission left Baghdad in 1998 ahead of US-British air strikes.

“It was a constructive visit,” Blix said.

Under a Security Council resolution passed earlier this month, Iraq has to file a declaration on its weapons potential by December 8. Iraq says it no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction, but Blix said yesterday that its government has yet to provide convincing evidence of that.

The inspections are due to resume on November 27.

Under Security Council resolutions, the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait can only be lifted when the world body’s inspectors report that Baghdad has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction and the means to produce them.