PARIS, November 16 (News Agencies) - Any attempt by Iraq to hinder or delay UN weapons inspectors in their work would be "very serious", the UN's chief inspector, Hans Blix, warned Saturday in Paris.

"A denial of access, or delayed access, or an attempt to put something off-bounds -- this would be very serious", said Blix, speaking after talks with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Blix stopped in the French capital on his way to Iraq, where he arrives Monday. He said his task there was "to initiate the new chapter of inspections. Of course we hope and expect to have full Iraqi cooperation."

He said the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which he heads, was ready to conduct inspections anywhere, even in mosques.

"There are no sanctuaries," Blix said, but added: "We are aware of religious sensitivities ... and are not instructed to carry out provocative inspections.

After two days of political talks in Baghdad, he would leave behind teams to prepare transport and communications, and the first proper inspections should begin on November 27, the 74 year-old former Swedish foreign minister said.

He travels to Cyprus Sunday before leaving for Baghdad with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohammed ElBaradei.

Under UN Security Resolution 1441, adopted unanimously eight days ago and since accepted by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Iraq must submit to an enhanced regime of weapons inspections and faces "serious consequences" if it obstructs them.

Asked what would constitute an obstruction, Blix said "the simplest is the (question) of access ... Immediate access is valuable because the Iraqis could hide documents or smaller things. It's not important for big weapons or machinery, but nevertheless small things are also important."

The question of what constitutes a "material breach" of Iraq's commitments is crucial to the mission's future, because Washington believes such a violation would be justification for military action.

Blix has said it is up to the Security Council to make the decision, and his teams will limit themselves to factual reporting on the ground.

The inspections chief conceded that that the previous UN mission, UNSCOM, which was withdrawn in 1998, had been compromised by being "too closely associated with intelligence and with western states," and he could give no assurance that the new teams would not also contain spies.

"To people who ask me are you absolutely sure that you will have no spies, I say no. Neither the KGB nor the CIA can give that absolute assurance. All I can tell you is that if I see someone with two hats, I'll ask them to walk out," Blix said.

But he said that the new inspection body UNMOVIC, which was set up in 1999, was more independent because it was a "genuine UN organ, subsidiary to the authority of the Security Council and it has a staff that reflects that."

While UNSCOM had been heavily dependent on donor nations -- with staff beholden to the governments who paid for them -- UNMOVIC is financially secure because it takes a percentage of Iraqi oil revenues, so its integrity is less at risk, Blix said.

UNMOVIC -- the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission -- has a staff of around 280, comprising 45 nationalities, with the US supplying the largest contingent of about 30.

The inspection chief said UNMOVIC's work had been made easier by improvements in technology in recent years -- notably in satellite imaging, environmental sampling for traces of nuclear, biological or chemical particles, and the use of unmanned drones.

"All this helps us, but we still have difficulties in seeing and finding underground sites that might be used, or mobile targets that might be used. It's still a difficult task," he said.

Their first task will be re-opening laboratories, offices and communications facilities and meeting Iraqi officials.

According to diplomats, there is likely to be tension in the weeks ahead between those in the U.S. administration pushing for a literal interpretation of the UN text and those -- led by France and Russia -- who fear even a minor violation could lead to war.

Blix told Le Monde newspaper's Saturday edition that only the security council could decide if Iraq is in material breach of its obligations, but he said even a half-hour delay in granting access to a site could be considered dangerous.

"If there is a delay of two hours, depending on the reason given, two hours could be a serious delay, yes. I would even say that a delay of a half-an-hour may be serious," he said.

Blix also indicated he was nervous about a clause in resolution 1441 which mandates inspectors to remove witnesses from Iraqi territory so that they can be interviewed without pressure.

"I have said that I see practical difficulties. Above all I would not like to suggest any action that would lead to risks or threaten the lives of the people concerned. The work of the inspectors is to inspect, it cannot be a defection agency. Is that clear enough?" he told le Monde.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday, Iraq denied having weapons of mass destruction, but said it would welcome the inspectors so as to expose "the fabrications of the liars" in the U.S. and British governments.

“They will have one month -- not quite one month -- to consider this and to examine their archives, their stocks to see whether indeed there is something or not," Blix said before leaving the UN in New York Friday.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the new United Nations weapons inspection team heading to Baghdad said shortly after arrival in Cyprus Saturday that he saw no reason why Iraq would not cooperate.

"I don't see any reason why the Iraqis would not cooperate with weapons inspectors," said Hiro Ueki on arrival at the inspectors' rear base here.

A number of technicians and logistics experts are already here to ensure the smooth implementation of the Security Council's mandate to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Blix is going to Baghdad Monday to set the stage and he will be meeting with Iraqi officials and say hello," Ueki told reporters.

He said the advance team led by Blix would "open the center" in Baghdad closed in late 1998 ahead of a U.S.-British bombing campaign, and "wait for inspectors to come".

Some 80 to 100 inspectors are expected to be in Iraq at any one time.

The arms inspections which the United Nations starts in Iraq this month will take place in circumstances very different from those surrounding the inspections broken off four years ago.

The most obvious change is in the makeup and capabilities of the team that will seek out Iraq's chemical and biological weapons and the long-range missiles built to deliver them.

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) was set up in December 1999 to supersede the Special Commission (UNSCOM), which pulled out of Iraq a year earlier.

UNMOVIC chairman Hans Blix, former foreign minister of Sweden, has assembled a roster of 220 experts, drawn from 44 nationalities.

They will work under UN contract, not on secondment from their governments -- a point stressed by Blix, keenly aware that UNSCOM and its head, Australian Richard Butler, were accused by Iraq of spying for the United States.

At a news conference before leaving New York on Friday, the normally genial Blix bristled when a reporter suggested he had been "overruled by the United States" on the question of debriefing Iraqi scientists.

“My master is the Security Council, and I was not aware that I had been overruled by anyone else," he snapped.

UNMOVIC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is tasked with confirming the abolition of Iraq's nuclear weapons program, will benefit from more up-to-date technology than UNSCOM had.

The inspectors will have handheld equipment to analyze soil and air samples in the field, without having to send them to a laboratory in Baghdad or outside Iraq.