Security Council May Convene Over Iraq Arms Inquiry

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet in emergency session in the next few days after the apparent failure of a high-level mission to gain access to suspected Iraqi uranium-enriching equipment.

The five permanent members of the Security Council--the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China--met to map out strategy, and sources said a meeting of the full council could be held as early as Friday.

Despite repeated promises, the Iraqi government denied a U.N. delegation access to a secret convoy of equipment and material allegedly used for making nuclear weapons, U.N. officials said.

The officials had emphasized earlier that such a refusal could have “serious consequences.” President Bush has said that he might order a military strike against Iraq if it refuses to comply.

Rolf Ekeus, head of the U.N. commission in charge of scrapping Iraqi weapons, was expected to report to U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar in Geneva today and return to New York on Thursday.

The U.N. mission had been chasing the equipment around two army bases in Iraq and watched them being spirited away in trucks before they could inspect them. The mission was mandated to warn Iraqi leaders they are obligated to give U.N. inspectors access to any sites they wanted to see.