Blix challenges 'very shaky' US evidence

By DAVID USBORNE in New York

For the first time since the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, has confronted the Americans openly, accusing the Bush Administration of lacking credibility in its efforts to hunt down Iraq's banned weapons.

Blix, 74, derided by Washington for his failure to find the "smoking gun", yesterday accused the US and Britain of deliberately undermining his efforts before the war.

He warned the Security Council that only UN inspectors, and not the teams being assembled by America, would provide an objective assessment of any materials that might be found in Iraq.

Blix spoke out as the diplomatic blood-letting seen in the run-up to the conflict risked resurfacing, during the first full discussion by the council on the next steps in Iraq.

The council's members sparred over the role of the UN in identifying weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. And Blix, who could now be the biggest obstacle to the removal of sanctions, which President George W. Bush is seeking, rubbed salt in the wounds.

London and Washington had built the case for invading Iraq on "very, very shaky" evidence, he said.

He referred to documents alleging Iraq had imported uranium for nuclear weapons from Niger that he later revealed to have been faked.

"I think it's been one of the disturbing elements that so much of the intelligence on which the capitals built their case seemed to have been shaky."

He said it was "conspicuous that so far [United States inspectors] have not stumbled upon anything evident".

He cautioned the Americans to "examine everything critically", noting that some Iraqis might be motivated to claim more than they knew.

Even in Washington, officials spoke of fears that US inspectors might never find evidence of the weapons of mass destruction that constituted the main political justification for invading Iraq.

US officials are worrying out loud that Iraqi agents might have been able to destroy incriminating materials in the days of chaos that followed the taking of Baghdad.

Senior officials believe the US military might have contributed to the difficulties by failing to secure potential weapons or intelligence sites during the frenzied looting.

The new standoff in the Security Council is about whether UN inspectors, told to pack their bags and leave Iraq 24 hours before the first bombs fell on Baghdad, should be sent back to identify any weapon finds now being made.

The US, determined to keep the anti-war camp out of the decisions on Iraq's future, is resisting calls from other members, notably Russia, to send the inspectors back.

The role of Blix is directly linked to the issue of when UN sanctions on Iraq can be lifted.

Bush asked the UN last week to end the sanctions, but Russia has argued strongly that sanctions can only be lifted once Iraq is certified as weapon-free, and that that can only be completed by Blix.

Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said yesterday: "We are looking forward, not backward.

"Saddam Hussein's regime is gone, and we will need to reassess the framework design to disarm the regime given the new facts on the ground."

In a sideswipe at Blix he said: "I think it's unfortunate if Hans Blix would in any way criticise the US at this juncture. The US is working with Iraqis to build a new country for them.

"Make no mistake about it: the US and the coalition have taken on the responsibility for dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."

This puts the US directly at odds with the remaining members of the Security Council.

Even Britain is making behind-the-scenes efforts to argue the case for giving Blix a role in looking for weapons and certifying that they have been eradicated or do not exist.

France took other members by surprise by asking for an immediate suspension of UN sanctions on Iraq.

That move may be designed to mend fences with Washington, but France is also insisting on the return of UN inspectors.

Iraq reconstruction

* United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says serious discussions under way on resumption of Iraqi oil exports.

* Australia is to send team of agricultural experts to Iraq to work with Iraqi officials and a senior US agriculture nominee.

* A US trade official says the Bush Administration is looking at a trade and economic development package as part of efforts to rebuild Iraq and help other countries in the Middle East.

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Herald Feature: Iraq