Cheney: Iraq seeks mass destruction weapons

The new American vice-president, Dick Cheney, has accused Iraq of again seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction.

In a television interview, he said Washington would continue to insist on the return of United Nations inspectors to Iraq to check on suspected weapons-production facilities, banned by the UN after the 1991 Gulf War.

Iraq has virtually stopped all UN inspections for more than two years.

Mr Cheney said the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, needed to understand that the new American administration would take very seriously any attempt by Baghdad to resume threatening activities.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service