IAEA "inspectors should return there and the Security Council should give its green light for that return," said ElBaradei

Additional Reporting By Hamdy Al Husseini, IOL staff

Cairo, April 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) renewed a call for return of arms inspectors to Iraq, saying he had asked the U.N. Security Council for a green light.

Mohamed ElBaradei, speaking at a conference hosted by Cairo University on Tuesday, April 13, said the IAEA's "mandate for the inspection of weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) is still in force".

He stressed that his "inspectors should return there and the Security Council should give its green light for that return."

ElBaradei urged the U.S.-led forces in Iraq to allow his organization to return to the country.

The IAEA inspectors pulled out of Iraq just before the unleashing of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Prior to the invasion-turned occupation, the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported finding no proof that Baghdad had reconstituted its nuclear program.

The U.S. and Britain championed the Iraqi invasion without a mandate from the U.N. Security Council under the pretext the Arab country’s had WMDs that posed a threat to their security and to international peace.

One year after the occupation of the oil-rich country, no weapons of mass destruction were found, raising speculations the invasion was based on false pretexts.

"It was a terrible mistake, as the war came in violation of international legitimacy laws," ElBaradei said.

He admitted pressures are exercised on the U.N. nuclear watchdog by major countries.

The IAEA chief told the Security Council on March 7 that documents allegedly proving that Iraq was seeking to procure uranium from Niger were forgeries.

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix had said that the Iraq invasion was illegal and that the U.S. and Britain "hyped" intelligence to attack the country.

David Kay, the head of the 1,400-member Iraq Survey Group which has been searching Iraq for alleged WMD, had recently resigned his post over failure to find any truce of such weapons.

Not Allowed

Meanwhile, ElBaradei warned Arab countries against obtaining WMDs, saying the "world will not allow them to do so".

"The international community and major countries would not allow any new country to obtain nuclear technology," he told IslamOnline.net.

The IAEA chief said Arabs should seek a "serious strategy" to convince Israel of abandoning its nuclear arsenal or allow international inspection.

On March 24, ElBaradei called for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East as part of the peace process.

"Peace will never be established and will never be permanent if it is not accompanied by the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction -- chemical, biological and nuclear -- in the region and the reduction of traditional arms," he said.