UN admits 'early warning' gaffe

The UN inspection mission to Iraq admitted last night that it had told Iraqi authorities in advance of a supposedly "no warning" search.

The UN said it had informed a military industrial complex near Baghdad of the visit hours before it took place. The disclosure will anger the Bush administration, whose senior members have been disparaging about the ability of the chief inspector, Hans Blix, and his team to unearth chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

"No warning'' inspections were authorised by the new UN resolution on Iraq and have been held up by the inspection team as one of the most important means of detecting any Iraqi subterfuge.

News of the early warning came after the director of the Mother of All Battles company, in Yusoufiyyah, south of Baghdad, told journalists that he had known about the inspection at least an hour before it happened.

The UN spokesman in Baghdad said the inspectors did not know how this could have happened, but a statement revealed the Iraqis had been told that monitors were coming. The UN said that the warning wouldn't be repeated.