The United Nations' chief weapons inspector has had a three-hour meeting in Baghdad with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz.

Richard Butler made no comment after the talks, but earlier he had rejected Iraqi demands for a deadline to the process of searching for hidden chemical and biological weapons.

"This work can be done quite quickly with full Iraqi cooperation. It will end when it ends," he said.

"To demand that it be finished at a certain stage is a degree of arbitrariness that makes no practical sense," he added.

No progress on palaces

The issue of when Iraq can expect arms checks and sanctions to end is central to the current crisis in the Middle East.

The UN Security Council, led by the Americans, has made it clear access to presidential palaces is vital to its work but the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, continues to refuse to allow the inspectors inside.

Richard Butler: Iraq must comply with the UN

And at the weekend the Iraqi leader threatened to set a six-month deadline for Mr Butler's inspection team to finish their work and leave.

Mr Butler said: "The Council's requirements with respect to access are crystal clear. The council has also said that in bringing about that access, we should find ways to show respect to Iraq's sovereignty, dignity and national security."

Nationalities of inspectors may be broadened

Earlier, Mr Butler told the BBC he might alter the composition of his team but insisted President Saddam could not dictate conditions.

Richard Butler: "This is a most serious moment" (48")

"I'll have to make plain that the fundamental criteria on the basis of which we recruit experts to become our inspectors - their expertise, their objectivity, their willingness to do our work in rather difficult circumstances - that those considerations must come first over and above Iraq's concern about the nationality of inspectors.

"Strictly speaking, we're not supposed to take that [nationality] into account, although it's clear that the comfort-level would be increased if we had a larger number of countries contributing inspectors to our team and I can see ways in which that can happen, but really not as a consequence of an Iraqi demand to that effect."

But with the main Iraqi negotiator, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, remaining defiant there are few signs of rapid progress from Mr Butler's visit.

The newspaper of the ruling Ba'ath party in Iraq on Monday said Mr Butler is insisting on continuing to search for weapons that do not exist.

"Since he has assumed his post he is running after non-existent ghosts," the paper said in a front-page editorial.

The issue will remain central to the talks between Mr Aziz and Mr Butler on Monday but no new initiative has been put forward.

Military build-up resumes

The British warship HMS Illustrious sets sail for the Gulf on Monday morning to take over from HMS Invincible.

The aircraft-carrier joins the considerable US force that has been maintained in the region since the Gulf War and built up during the past showdown.

Mr Butler did not mention force in his interview with the BBC. But unless he can find a ready solution, America, backed by the UK, is likely to conclude there is no alternative.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©