The United Nations says a team of its weapons inspectors in Baghdad has not been able to go about its work today because of Iraq's failure to provide the necessary escort. Iraq had earlier said the team, headed by an American, would be banned from activities in the country until it was reconstituted in a more balanced way. The Iraqis say the inspectors are dominated by Americans.Middle East correspondent, Jim Muir, reports:

A number of UN weapons inspection teams did head out from their Baghdad headquarters this morning but not the team headed by the American Scott Ritter. The Iraqis failed to provide it with the necessary special escort from their national monitoring directorate.

So UN officials said Mr Ritter had no choice but to call off the inspections he had planned. A spokesman for the UN inspectors said Iraq's failure to provide the escort, which helps facilitate the inspections, was a clear breach of Baghdad's commitments and obligations under Security Council resolutions.

Iraq had been expected to block Mr Ritter's team following Baghdad's announcement that it would be prevented from operating until it was recomposed in a more balanced manner, with fewer Americans. So the UN Security Council once again faces the dilemma of what to do about Iraqi defiance.

Baghdad is focusing on the nationality of the inspectors. But for the UN itself the key issue is that of access to the Iraqi presidential palaces and other sites where they suspect secret weapons activities may be taking place.