UN denies inspecting Iraqi mosque

Sheikh Ammash accused the UN of "provocation"

The United Nations has insisted that members of its weapons inspection team in Iraq who visited a mosque earlier this week did so as tourists and not as part of their disarmament mission.

Everyone at the mosque was very cordial to them

UN spokesman

The imam of the al-Nidaa mosque in Baghdad, Sheikh Qutaiba Ammash, had described the visit as an inspection and angrily denounced it as a "provocation for Muslims".

But UN spokesman Hiro Ueki said: "It was a private visit. They just wanted to visit a mosque.

"They had no intention to enter, but they were invited to see it. They took pictures only after they asked.

"Everyone at the mosque was very cordial to them."

He said they had asked questions about the mosque, including about its age, but not others the imam had claimed were asked, such as whether there was an underground shelter.

'Half-hour visit'

Sheikh Ammash said on Wednesday that five inspectors had arrived at his mosque in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

The cleric said they were unaccompanied by Iraqi minders, as is normally the case when inspections take place.

Are they looking for weapons of mass destruction or are they gauging the faith in our hearts?

Sheikh Qutaiba Ammash

He added that the inspectors agreed to remove their shoes before entering the mosque, in line with Muslim tradition, and toured it for about half an hour.

"This is a provocation for Muslims in Iraq and their right to worship," he said.

"We thank God that it was not a time of prayer when they came, because their lives would have been in danger if they had.

"Are they looking for weapons of mass destruction or are they gauging the faith in our hearts?"

Thursday saw the inspectors continue the hunt for banned weapons.

The Iraqi information ministry said they had visited the al-Qaqaa chemical and explosives complex, 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Baghdad - a frequently inspected site.

They also went to the medical and science colleges of Baghdad's al-Mustansiriya University, and a fibreglass tubing factory south of the capital.