UN and Iraq trade accusations

The chief United Nations arms inspector, Richard Butler, has said he has evidence that Iraq is concealing weapons of mass destruction at sites where it has refused access to the UN.

At a news conference in New York, Mr Butler restated the UN's view that illegal weapons were being held at what Iraq describes as presidential sites.

However, the Iraqi authorities. who had earlier taken foreign journalists on a guided tour of six of the sites in Baghdad, have insisted that the UN weapons inspectors will never be given access.

The BBC UN correspondent says the Security Council is still divided over how to respond to the deadlock.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service