U.N. Weapon Teams to Fly Over Baghdad in Test of Iraqi Ban

The United Nations plans to fly more weapons inspectors to Baghdad and conduct aerial surveys of two sites where it suspects Saddam Hussein’s government designed nuclear missiles, U.N. officials said Tuesday.

The decision to challenge Hussein’s ban on flights over Baghdad will test Iraqi compliance with U.N. terms for ending the Persian Gulf War. If Iraq refuses to comply, it could lead to President Clinton’s first showdown with Hussein.

Tim Trevan, a spokesman for the U.N. Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraq’s major weapons systems, said inspection teams have not flown over the capital so far out of respect for Iraqi sensitivities.

But “we have the right to fly over Baghdad,” Trevan said in New York. “We will exercise that right when we have operational need to do so.”

Pierce Corden of the Special Commission declined to comment about possible flights over Baghdad. But he said three to four new teams of weapons inspectors will be arriving in Baghdad soon.