Proof Reported That Iraq Was Making Nuclear Arms : War aftermath: Documents found by U.N. inspectors show plans for bomb components, a diplomat reports.

The massive haul of secret documents carted out of Baghdad by U.N. inspectors provide definitive proof that Iraq was engaged in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, a Security Council source reported Wednesday.

The source, obviously familiar with the material, at least in a general way, said the inspectors did not uncover any grand design for the manufacture of a nuclear bomb. But they did find plans for components indispensable for making such a weapon. These components could not be used for anything else.

The blueprints for the components “do not apply to anything but a weapon,” the source said.

Until the inspectors seized the documents during their four-day confrontation with Iraqi guards at the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, the source said, the U.N. inspectors had evidence only that Iraq had equipment for enriching uranium--a process vital for making nuclear weapons. But such equipment could also be employed in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

This ambiguity was cleared away by the documents. They made the intent to manufacture a nuclear weapon unmistakable, the source said.

The diplomat also discounted reports that the documents, which included information about personnel involved in the Iraqi nuclear program, uncovered a “mastermind,” perhaps a foreign scientist, who was in charge of the operation. “There is a tendency for these things to be a team effort,” he said.

The source said he believes that the Security Council will change its policy and publish a list of governments and firms that supplied material to Iraq for its nuclear program. That list is scheduled to be sent to the council on Friday by the U.N. inspection team, along with its report detailing the conclusions drawn from the wealth of documents.

In any case, a spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the U.N. body that supplied the inspectors, told reporters that the agency will publish the list if the Security Council fails to do so. Although supporting publication of the list, the Security Council source cautioned journalists to be careful in assessing it.

“If a company sold white paint to the Iraqis, is that something? No,” the source said.

On top of this, he said some companies may have sold material to Iraq without realizing it would be used in the manufacture of a nuclear weapon. “While the United Nations believes there should be an open press policy,” he said, “one has to be careful. This is all very difficult.”

Meanwhile, the U.N. commission charged with eliminating Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction is preparing a report for the Security Council that is expected to outline a perpetual system of inspections in Iraq to ensure that Baghdad does not resume its weapons programs.

David Hannay, the British U.N. ambassador, said that while he had not seen this report, he believes Iraq has to be subjected in the future to “painstaking, sustained, minute” inspections.

Trying to explain the confrontation between the U.N. inspectors and the Iraqis in Baghdad last week, the Security Council source told reporters that there had been “an increased Iraqi reaction as they realized that they can no longer hold out on things they expected to hold back on.”