'Iraq not in breach of UN arms resolution'

Published Jan 30, 2003

Share

London - The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said on Thursday that, in his view, Iraq was not yet in material breach of a UN resolution on disarmament, contrary to what Britain and the United States have stated.

Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said he wanted another four to five months to carry out searches for suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, after which he believed he could declare Iraq free of lethal weapons.

"If they (the UN Security Council) decide that this is a material breach, then that is their prerogative," he told BBC Radio. "We are not going to say that this is a material breach unless we see a gross violation of the resolution. But even then it is for the Security Council to pronounce on that."

Britain and the US have declared Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in material breach of United Nations Resolution 1441, which demands that he come clean about suspected banned weapons or face "serious consequences," widely viewed to mean military action.

ElBaradei said IAEA inspectors were still investigating aluminium tubes found in Iraq for signs that they were being readied to be used as part of banned weapons, but he said the agency's preliminary conclusion was that they were being used for conventional arms. "We are investigating that," he said.

Related Topics: