Official Suspects Iraq of Using Halt in Inspections to Hide Equipment

Iraq may be using the halt in U.N. searches for hidden weapons to move equipment out of range of U.N. surveillance cameras, and it could also be tampering with the cameras, the chief of U.N. weapons inspectors said Wednesday.

Richard Butler--head of the U.N. Special Commission, or UNSCOM, charged with eliminating Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction--notified the Security Council that even as a three-member U.N. diplomatic mission was beginning delicate talks in Baghdad, Iraqi authorities apparently have moved “significant pieces of dual-capable equipment, subject to monitoring by the commission’s remote camera monitoring system, out of view of the cameras.”

UNSCOM’s searching and monitoring activities have been at a standstill for the last week because of its refusal to accept an order by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s government that the American members of the inspection teams in Iraq cannot take part in UNSCOM activities and must leave the country. The U.N. delegation that began talks in Baghdad on Wednesday with Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz was sent by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reiterate the Security Council’s warning that the Iraqi actions violate council resolutions and must be stopped.

Reports indicated that Hussein’s government gave no sign that it will back away from its expulsion threat.

In Washington, President Clinton said he will be patient and await the results of the Baghdad talks. But he stressed that the U.S. is determined that UNSCOM’s work continue according to rules set by the Security Council and not the Iraqi government.