UN and US set to split over Iraq report

04 December 2002

The UN and the US will disagree about whether Iraq is complying with UN weapons of mass destruction monitoring measures despite Baghdad's announcement that it would hand over a written declaration of its banned weapons one day ahead of the 8 December deadline, according to reports from New York and Baghdad.

Hossam Mohammed Amin, head of the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate, said on 3 December that the declaration would be delivered on time, but UN diplomats are reported as saying they expect the US will nevertheless declare Iraq in material breach of its obligations.

This conflicts with the UN reaction to the monitoring process launched at the end of November. UN secretary general Kofi Annan said in New York on 3 December that Iraq's co-operation has been good. 'There is a good indication that the Iraqis are co-operating but this is only the beginning,' he is quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

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