Iraq deal could mean inspectors arrive in two weeks

12.00pm - By DAVID USBOURNE and KIM SENGUPTA

NEW YORK/BAGHDAD - Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, reached agreement with Iraqi officials last night on practical arrangements for unrestricted access for his teams, clearing the way for their possible return within two weeks.

But there was no attempt to tackle the sensitive issue of access to Iraq's sprawling presidential compounds, which the inspectors believe could conceal documents and possibly banned weaponry.

The Americans, who insist that Iraq must lift restrictions on all sites in Iraq, last night repeated a threat to block the resumption of inspections until new guidelines had been agreed by the UN Security Council, where Washington holds a veto. A senior official said the Americans would "move into thwart mode" if the UN inspectors returned to Iraq without such instructions.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, also warned last night that the agreement reached in Vienna "is not an alternative to the high priority we place on a new and tougher resolution in the Security Council".

After two days of talks with an Iraqi delegation in Vienna, Mr Blix confirmed both sides had covered all possible ground regarding logistics for the first inspections in almost four years to begin. "We have gone through what you can at this stage," he said. But he insisted that he had been in no position to change an existing UN resolution setting special conditions for access to the eight presidential sites. He said that remained an issue for the Security Council.

Iraq's chief delegate, Amir al-Saadi, said that an advance team of inspectors was expected to arrive in Baghdad "in about two weeks, and we expect no difficulty".

The timetable remains wholly contingent, however, on the attempts of Britain and the United States to push a tough new resolution on Iraq through a still-divided Security Council. Under the agreement reached yesterday, there would be two categories of potential weapons sites: presidential sites, and all others.

This represents a concession by Iraq as sites previously designated as "sensitive" by the Iraqis would now come under the inspectors' remit for on-the-spot inspections. "Sensitive" sites previously included various ministries, Republican Guard facilities and Iraqi intelligence offices.

However, the key test will come when the inspectors are back in the field.

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, warned on Monday that only when the council finally agreed on a resolution could Mr Blix expect to send his inspectors into Iraq. "He [Blix] is fully aware of the possibility – and I think high likelihood – that there will be a new resolution ... that will structure his work and his actions," he said.

Baghdad claimed that Mr Powell's intervention had been made because the negotiations in Vienna were going well. After an emergency meeting of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council, chaired by Saddam Hussein, the regime issued a belligerent statement accusing the United States of beating the "drums of war".

In New York, there were indications that the US was considering acquiescing to a French demand that the council should take a two-step approach to the issue. This would entail passage of a first resolution demanding unfettered access for inspectors. But the threat of military force would be reserved for a second resolution.

While London and Washington continued to state publicly that they wanted a single resolution that would include a clear threat of force, sources said Britain would accept a compromise along the lines rehearsed by France.

George Bush again urged the UN to take his more robust, single-resolution, approach. "The United Nations must show its backbone and we'll work with members of the Security Council to put a little calcium there," he said.

Britain and the US held their first negotiations on a possible resolution with the other three permanent members of the UN council: France, China and Russia.

Mr Blix briefed the Security Council president on the outcome of his talks, which allowed him to nail down mundane but none the less important practical arrangements for his inspections, regarding matters such as visas, accommodation, and transport for his teams.

- INDEPENDENT

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