UN arms experts swoop on Nuclear site near Baghdad

BAGHDAD - United Nations arms experts searched a nuclear power facility south of Baghdad last night, as the United States pressed for more aggressive inspections in the hunt for any Iraqi banned weapons.

Starting a second week of inspections, a team of experts swooped on al-Tuweithi compound run by Iraq's nuclear power authority in Salman Bak, a few kilometres south of the capital.

Another team headed towards an undisclosed location northwest of Baghdad.

In Washington, a US official said the US had urged chief UN inspector Hans Blix to substitute his methodical approach for a more intensive multi-pronged operation that would "stress" the Iraqi system and make it harder for President Saddam Hussein to conceal his capabilities.

Using a "much bigger inspection force, going on multiple inspections day after day [would put] Iraq to the test around the country".

Blix had resisted the US recommendations during a meeting at UN headquarters on Tuesday with US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, the official said.

Blix was not immediately available for comment.

On a visit to Turkey, whose cooperation in any war on neighbouring Iraq would be vital to Washington, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said was ready to invest up to hundreds of millions of dollars in air bases that might be used in a war against Baghdad.

Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said that Turkey would open up its bases to the US for military operations authorised by the UN.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry later said there was no final decision on opening up airbases.

Newspaper reports said the US wanted to station more than 100,000 troops on Turkey's border with Iraq, and had asked for up to 40,000 Turkish troops to be available for possible military action.

UN inspectors searched one of Saddam's lavish palaces in the biggest test of Iraqi cooperation since inspections resumed on November 27 for the first time in four years.

The inspection of the al-Sojoud palace in Baghdad, with its statues, marble fountains and rose gardens, seemed to go smoothly, unlike visits in the 1990s.

Sticking to a policy of complying with the UN, Iraq said it would issue a statement on its arms programmes at the weekend - a day before the UN deadline - and dismissed Washington's accusations that it possessed weapons of mass destruction.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq