United Nations, June 17: Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said that even a last minute gesture by Saddam Hussein could have avoided the war with the United States that led to his downfall.
In an interview, Blix -- who stands down as head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) at the end of the month -- said he believed US President George W Bush only decided at the last minute to order war.
Blix insisted that the war against Iraq, which started on March 20, was not "inevitable."
"I think if Saddam Hussein, even in the first week of March, had come up with a declaration that Iraq has no weapons and intended to cooperate, it would have made more impression," he said.
He added: "If Iraq had succeeded in resolving a few outstanding issues it might have created a new situation."
Many diplomats and analysts say that Washington had decided early in the year to invade Iraq no matter what happened with the mission of Blix's weapons inspectors, who returned to Iraq in November.
"I know that some French are convinced that by January there were a decision," he said. "I would like to see the evidence before I believe that. I don't think it was all done until the very end."
Bureau Report
