Putin: Inspectors must continue work

Vladimir Putin has declared in a telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, that the UNMOVIC inspection team must be allowed to continue with its work until it has visited all the sites it considers necessary.

When the UNMOVIC report compiled by the team of inspectors led by Hans Blix is delivered to the UNO later this afternoon, it will not contain any evidence of a “smoking gun” and will declared that the inspection work is far from finished – in fact the team is only half-way through its initial list of objectives.

The claims made by US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, that Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction were rejected as “lies” by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru