Iraq Bars Check For Weapons Sites

Iraq blocked U.N. inspectors from two suspected weapons storage sites Thursday, raising concern Baghdad has again decided to prevent the world body from verifying the destruction of its high-tech arms.

“We were told unequivocally that senior levels of the Iraqi government were not going to approve access,” deputy chief inspector Charles Duelfer said.

A letter outlining the latest incidents was sent Thursday to Security Council President Sergey Lavrov of Russia.

The council ordered Iraq to destroy its long-range missiles and other weapons of mass destruction after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Until then, the council refuses to lift economic sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.

“We feel this may reflect a policy … not to abide by the measures of resolution” demanding Iraqi compliance, Duelfer said of the latest efforts to block the arms inspectors.

U.N. officials said the two incidents took place at an undisclosed installation in the Baghdad area. They said the United Nations was still receiving information from its team in Baghdad but wanted to alert the council to the Iraqi actions.

The sanctions bar Iraq from selling oil abroad. But the council loosened the measures slightly late last year, approving an “oil-for-food” program to help ease the economic hardship of many Iraqis.

However, Arab diplomats at the United Nations said Thursday that Iraq was withholding oil exports to protest delays in shipments of food and medicine.

Iraqi officials have complained privately that while they shipped all the oil permitted under the U.N. plan, Baghdad has received only 40 percent of the supplies purchased with the oil money.

Iraq has accused the United States of delaying shipments to put pressure on President Saddam Hussein. U.S. officials acknowledge delaying some contracts, but claim they have done so mostly because of technical problems with the applications.

Iraq’s refusal to allow access to the suspected weapons sites followed incidents last week in which Iraqi officials allegedly interfered with with four helicopter flights.

The chief inspector, Rolf Ekeus, told the council Wednesday that Iraqi officers manhandled U.N. personnel, grabbed pilot controls, threatened to shut off a fuel pump and endangered the lives of helicopter crew members.

Britain and the United States have insisted that the council take a strong stand against the Iraqi actions. They have urged Chile, a council member, to draft a statement of protest since the flight crews involved were Chilean citizens.

Iraq said the U.N. teams were attempting to fly over sensitive areas. But U.N. officials say Security Council resolutions authorize them to inspect any site they want.

“If we eliminate from our purview all those areas which Iraq declares to be presidential or sensitive, there’s going to be large parts of Iraq that we will not be able to inspect. This is not logical,” Duelfer told reporters.