Weapons inspectors warn of delays

A newly arrived United Nations team has warned of delays in inspecting the most controversial suspected Iraqi weapons sites, including the palaces of Saddam Hussein. The news is likely to infuriate Washington, which has little time if it is to launch an invasion of Iraq before the onset of hot weather there.

The UN says that it does not yet have enough personnel, secure communications or transport to start its mission this week with "surprise raids" on the most sensitive targets. It has yet to set up a system to take witnesses out of the country for debriefing, to protect them from possible intimidation by the regime.

The inspectors are reluctant to begin their mission by immediately confronting Baghdad. They believe it would not only be counterproductive, but could damage the prospect of ascertaining whether President Saddam does indeed possess an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush administration is widely seen as seeking an excuse to launch an attack. The UN's delay could mean that the US loses the optimum season for a military campaign, from around now until the end of February.

A fresh batch of 18 inspectors, 12 from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) looking for chemical and biological weaponry, and six from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seeking evidence of Iraq's nuclear programme, are due to arrive in Baghdad tomorrow. The first inspection is due to take place on Wednesday.

However, the sheer amount of cleaning up that has needed to be done has meant that the UN has not yet been able to put in its own secure communications system. And the mission's fleet of helicopters needs to be serviced.

Although some members of the Bush administration have openly disparaged the UN mission and its chief Hans Blix, UN officials on the ground are determined not to be pushed into carrying out high-profile searches without adequate preparation. During his visit to Baghdad last week, the 74-year-old former Swedish foreign minister stressed the need to obtain Iraqi co-operation without needless threats.

Miroslav Gregoric, the highly experienced and respected head of mission, stressed his team will "proceed with our plan in a practical and methodical way and achieve what has been asked of us". UN spokesman Hiro Ueki added: "We have to first revisit the previously monitored sites to check if the equipment installed is still functional. It will take some time to do that work."

The US has kept up its pressure on Iraq with the Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, declaring that Washington would refuse to accept any Iraqi pleas in its report to the UN, due on 8 December, that it does not have weapons of mass destruction.

The Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said on a visit to India: "We will be transparent, we will do things correctly, objectively. [But] we are ready to defend our country. We are working to avoid a calamity."