Chirac Says U.N. Inspectors Must Be Given Time

17/01/2003| IslamWeb

French President Jacques Chirac said Friday United Nations  weapons inspectors should be given the necessary time to complete their work in Iraq, adding that France believed war was the worst of all solutions. "The inspectors have asked for more time... Wisdom obliges us to respond to their request and give them the necessary time to be able to deliver serious conclusions which can convince the international community," Chirac told a news conference.

He spoke alongside chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, who was in Paris to brief the French president on his team's work in Iraq 10 days before its progress report to the U.N. Security Council. France is a veto-holding member of the council.

"We believe that if there had to be military action, this could only be authorized by the Security Council on the basis of reports by the inspectors," Chirac said.

"For France, war is always the confirmation of failure and is always the worst solution and has human costs difficult to justify," he said.

U.N. Arms Inspectors Search More Sites in Iraq

U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq headed to at least three sites in search of possible banned weapons Friday, one day after finding empty chemical warheads.

Iraqi officials said a chemical weapons team from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) visited Fallujah-1 and Fallujah-2 sites northwest of Baghdad.

An UNMOVIC biological weapons team visited al-Saweira, 30 miles south of Baghdad.

Weapons inspectors Thursday found empty chemical warheads, causing a stir which Iraq dismissed as a "storm in a teacup."

It was not clear whether the warheads had ever contained banned chemicals and an unnamed U.S. official said they did not represent a "smoking gun" that could trigger war, but the experts took samples away for testing.

UNMOVIC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), carrying out nuclear weapons inspections, are due to report to the United Nations Security Council on January 27 on their findings since resuming work in Iraq in November.

The United States is massing forces in the Gulf ahead of a possible attack on Iraq over weapons of mass destruction it says President Saddam Hussein is hiding.

PHOTO CAPTION

French President Jacques Chirac (R) and U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix are seen before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Jan. 17, 2003. Chirac said Friday that U.N. weapons inspectors should be given the necessary time to complete their work in Iraq, adding that France believed war was the worst of all solutions. Photo by Pool/Reuters