Inspectors get private meeting with Iraqi scientist

A senior Iraqi official claims that an Iraqi weapons expert has agreed to a private interview with UN arms inspectors - a sign of progress in deadlock over weapons inspections.

Presidential adviser Lieutenant General Amer al-Saadi said that an Iraqi expert - the first - had submitted to a private, unmonitored interview with the inspectors.

Such private interviews have been a key demand of the inspectors.

"One of our scientists is being interviewed alone, as we speak," he said in Baghdad.

He gave no details of the interview, and it was not immediately confirmed by UN officials.