Vienna, Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq should be extended, Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said before he reports to the Security Council on Iraq's compliance with UN resolutions. ElBaradei and Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, will report to the Security Council at 10:15 a.m. New York time today. The U.S. and U.K. will use their assessment to determine whether Iraq is in ``material breach'' of UN demands and military action will have to be taken to force the country to disarm. ``I see no reason to bring the inspection process to a halt,'' ElBaradei said in an interview yesterday with the Associated Press on his way from Vienna to New York. ``We're still in midcourse, but we are moving forward.''
The Security Council is divided on how to proceed against Iraq. The U.S. and U.K. have deployed about 225,000 troops in the Persian Gulf ready for military action. France, Russia, Germany and China want inspections to continue. France is proposing tripling the number of inspectors and imposing a more intrusive inspection program. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday evidence Iraqi missiles exceed their permitted range is potentially a violation of UN resolutions. The assessment by a team of rocket scientists invited to the UN earlier this week will be included in the report presented by Blix and ElBaradei. ``I wouldn't prejudge what Dr. Blix will say, but I think this is a serious matter,'' Powell told the U.S. House Budget Committee yesterday. ``If that's what he confirms in his presentation, it shows continued Iraqi noncompliance.''
Breach of Resolution
Blair said in London yesterday, if the reports are correct, ``it would be not just a failure to declare and disclose weapons but a breach'' of the Nov. 8 Security Council resolution that set inspection terms. Blix will tell the Security Council the scientists concluded that Iraq's Al Samoud-2 missiles have a range exceeding the maximum 150 kilometers (93 miles) allowed for defensive purposes by the UN, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said earlier this week. How seriously Blix judges that violation may be key to swaying some of the 15 nations on the Security Council. France and Russia played the issue down. ``If the range is not allowed, then they have to be destroyed,'' French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said. ``But that would show the inspections are producing results.'' Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz denied the missile's range violated UN limits, Italy's Ansa news service reported yesterday.
Oil Prices
Crude oil futures rose to a 29-month high yesterday after Blair's remarks, and U.S. Treasuries gained, sending the two-year note yield to its lowest in five decades. The dollar had its biggest decline in four months against the euro as investors said the UN report might bring the U.S. closer to an attack. U.S. stocks fell for the seventh day in eight. ElBaradei said he didn't consider war with Iraq a foregone conclusion provided there is some progress on Iraq's part in revealing any hidden weapons of mass destruction, AP reported. ``We would like to see our inspections beefed up, but that's no substitute for full and active Iraqi cooperation,'' he said in the interview with AP. ``We need a strong, intrusive regime.'' Blix will tell the Council, while Iraq has made progress toward complying with UN mandates, it has failed to resolve questions about illegal arms, Fedotov said. His assessment will focus on Iraqi conditions for accepting U- 2 surveillance flights, failure to account for all previously documented illegal arms, including VX nerve gas and anthrax, and whether it has an illegal missile program.
Surveillance Flights
The high-altitude U-2 flights that the U.S. wants to provide inspectors may prove to be another key issue. The U.S. government said Iraq's acceptance of the U-2 flights, characterized as ``unconditional'' by Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri, included conditions that violate the UN resolution's call for ``free and unrestricted'' access. Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the UN inspectors, said Blix didn't consider Iraq's requests for flight path information to be conditions. Powell and as many as nine other foreign ministers of the 15 council members are scheduled to attend the meeting and later participate in the first closed meeting of council ministers in at least 15 years. Powell said earlier this week he will challenge China, France and Russia to say how long they want inspections to continue. He said he will ask France and Germany whether they are delaying to get Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ``off the hook.'' ``The Iraqi regime is engaged in a massive campaign to conceal its weapons of mass destruction and its ties'' to terrorists, President George W. Bush told an audience of sailors yesterday at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida. Bush said he's ``optimistic'' the UN will meet its responsibility to disarm Iraq. ``The world's most important multilateral body faces a decision,'' he said. ``I'm optimistic the Security Council will rise to its responsibilities.'' //www.quote.bloomberg.com