Blix still plans to set disarmament targets

Hans Blix, the chief United Nations weapons inspector, said yesterday that he was still planning to produce a list of disarmament targets for Saddam Hussein to meet in the coming months.

President George Bush set today as the deadline for the UN to demand Iraq's immediate disarmament. Mr Blix said his report would be ready today – a day early – which is expected to strengthen the hand of France and other opponents of war.

The Security Council was scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss a proposal by France, Germany and Russia calling for more time for inspections.

In the past two weeks, Mr Blix has told reporters he has received "quite a lot of paper from the Iraqis" on weapons issues. "They are very pro-active, and this, of course, is one requirement of the resolution, that they should be active," he said.

Iraq submitted a 25-page report on VX nerve agent on Friday and Mr Blix said he hoped to have an assessment for the Council on whether it answers any outstanding questions. He urged Iraq to search for more documents, because that's "the best kind of evidence" to clear up suspicions about its weapons.

Mr Blix said he had no plans to evacuate between 140 and 150 UN weapons inspectors now in Iraq.