UN nuclear agency says still no proof Iraq seeking nuclear arms

8.00am

UNITED NATIONS - The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday that two months of weapons inspections in Iraq had not proved Baghdad had attempted to revive its nuclear arms programme.

"We have found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons programme since the elimination of the programme in the 1990s," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the United Nations Security Council.

He said, however, that Iraq needed to be more active in providing information about its pre-1991 nuclear arms programme, its alleged attempt to acquire uranium and other issues.

"Barring exceptional circumstances and provided there is sustained cooperation by Iraq, we should be able within the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons programme," he said.

ElBaradei's speech was his two-month progress report on nuclear weapons inspections in Iraq.

He confirmed the agency's earlier finding that Baghdad's attempt to import aluminium tubes originally thought to be useable for enriching uranium were probably intended for conventional military -- not nuclear -- purposes.

"It is clear, however, that the attempt to acquire such tubes is prohibited under Security Council resolution 687," he said.

He said the IAEA was also investigating Iraq's alleged attempts to acquire uranium after 1991.

"At this stage...we do not have enough information, and we would appreciate having more," ElBaradei said.

"We are also making progress on a number of other issues related, for example, to the attempted importation of a magnet production facility," he added.

ElBaradei also called on the Security Council to give his inspectors the time they needed to complete their job in the interest of avoiding war.

"Our work is steadily progressing and should be allowed to run its natural course," he said.

"These few months would be a valuable investment because they could help us avoid a war," ElBaradei said.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq