Vienna, Apr 23: The United Nations' inspectors should be the ones to lead the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in postwar Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said today, although he left open the possibility that a UN resolution with that requirement could be changed. Annan noted that the current resolution on Iraq requires UN inspectors -- and not the United States -- to certify that Iraq is free of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. But he also suggested that the security council might change it to reflect the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"The council resolution does require certification from the inspectors," Annan said. "Of course, the situation in Iraq has changed and the current resolution will demand that the inspectors go back, but the council is free to amend it and it may well do that."

"But until they do that, this is the resolution on the books," Annan told reporters during an official visit to Austria. "Until that changes, that is the resolution they should follow."
Yesterday, the first Security Council meeting to discuss the ouster of Saddam and the future of Iraq indicated that deep divisions remain over who should disarm Iraq and how sanctions should be lifted.


Under council resolutions, sanctions cannot be lifted until UN inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed along with the long-range missiles to deliver them.
Bureau Report