23 April, 2003
UN should check any US find of WDMs in Iraq: Financial Times
AFP

LONDON (AFP) Apr 23, 2003 - Any discovery by US forces in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction should be verified independently, notably by United Nations inspectors, the Financial Times said Wednesday.

The editorial effectively backed the stand reaffirmed by chief UN inspector Hans Blix in a UN Security Council debate Tuesday, amid increasing tension between Blix and Washington over the issue.

"A certain unease is developing in US and UK government circles about their failure, so far, to uncover the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) they so insistently charged the Saddam Hussein regime with possessing before the war," the paper wrote.

"It is ironic that the US should be asking for more time to find Iraq's sinister arsenals, when it was earlier so impatient about the efforts of Hans Blix and his United Nations inspectors to do the same," it said.

"War, of course, changes some facts on the ground ... But this does not mean history can be rewritten.

"So it is particularly important that any claims coalition forces make about WMD discoveries are independently verified to give them credibility," the Financial Times wrote.

The paper added however that "unfortunately, it appears that the US, the dominant occupying power in Iraq, will have none of UNMOVIC," the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission headed by Blix.

Members of UNMOVIC were evacuated on March 17, ahead of the US-led invasion that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Before the Security Council debate on a possible return of arms inspectors, Blix denounced what he said were falsified documents to justify the war in Iraq.

"I think it has been one of the disturbing elements that so much of the intelligence on which the capitals (Washington and London) built their case seems to have been shaky," he said in an interview with the BBC.

During the closed-door debate, Blix reaffirmed his stance that UNMOVIC and the International Atomic Energy Agency must be the final voice to certify Iraq free of banned weapons, according to briefing notes given to reporters.

But in what was seen as an attempt to avoid stoking a diplomatic row, he told reporters afterwards that "everybody in the council realizes that it is too early" for the inspectors to return to Iraq.