Hans Blix, the UN's chief weapons inspector, has told the Security Council that Iraq has speeded up its co-operation with his teams since he last reported at the end of January. Blix tempered this statement by saying that this co-operation could not be described as "immediate" as set out in Resolution 1441, passed in the Security Council last November. Hans Blix' update to the UN is likely to provide fuel for both the US/UK coalition's arguments that Iraq is stalling and should be disarmed by force and those countries, including France, Germany and Russia, opposed to war.
He went on to tell the Security Council that Iraq should be able to provide more documentary evidence about its weapons programs than it has done so far. He also said that inspectors have found no evidence of underground weapons production, but added that more inspectors are needed for such efforts. Blix told the council that inspectors have been given prompt and unimpeded access to Iraqi sites and have faced "relatively few difficulties". But US Secretary of State Colin Powell was unimpressed, stating that the report still revealed a "catalogue of non-co-operation" by Iraq. ///www.fxcentre.com