Arms Inspections in Iraq off to Good Start

Wang Yingfan, the Chinese Ambassador to the UN and President of the Security Council declared after a meeting with UNMOVIC leader Hans Blix that the UN Security Council is satisfied with the progress made by the UNMOVIC team and with the attitude shown by the Iraqi authorities. After US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared that Saddam Hussein will remain in power if he cooperates, the spectre of war is further and further away.

“So far so good” were the words of Wang Yingfan after his meeting with the leader of the UNMOVIC inspection team, Dr. Hans Blix, who visited Baghdad last week. He added that the UNO expected the authorities in Baghdad to continue to comply fully with the team and to follow the resolutions adopted by the Security Council, “especially the last one”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency stated on Tuesday that they will make surprise visits at random destinations in Iraq and said they had received a lot of goodwill messages from the Iraqi authorities, who continue to claim that the IAEA and UNMOVIC teams will not discover any weapons of mass destruction because Iraq does not have any.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru