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Blix scheduled to fly to Baghdad Monday, November 18
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UNITED
NATIONS, November 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Chief U.N.
weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said Friday, November 15, that he
expected his team to carry out its first inspection in Iraq November
27.
"We
expect that the first inspections will take place on November
27," Blix told a news conference, adding that the United Nations
Security Council would not tolerate what he described as
"cat-and-mouse games" by the Iraqi authorities, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) said.
Blix
was scheduled to leave New York later Friday for Paris and to go from
there to Cyprus before flying to Baghdad Monday, November 18.
Blix
said the most important date in the calendar was December 8, when Iraq
is obliged to make a full declaration of its alleged chemical,
biological and nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs.
"Iraq's
declaration is a very important document and we hope they take it
seriously," he said, adding that it would need "a lot of
work to analyze" it.
In
a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan Wednesday, November 13,
the Iraqi government denied it possessed any weapons of mass
destruction.
The
letter, signed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, said Iraq would
welcome the inspectors so as to expose the fabrications
and lies of the U.S. and British governments.
But
Blix said he did not rule out the possibility that Iraq would admit to
having weapons of mass destruction.
Resolution
1441, adopted unanimously by the Security Council one week ago, warned
Iraq of "serious consequences" if its declarations contained
falsehoods or omissions.
U.S.
President George W. Bush has made it clear that "serious
consequences" means war.
"They
have a month to consider their archives, their stocks," Blix
said, noting that the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had
changed its mind in the past, notably on agreeing to let the
inspectors return.
