UN chief: We can get to the truth

The arms inspectors in Iraq are in an unprecedentedly strong position to "get to the truth", according to Dimitri Perricos, the head of Unmovic (the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission).

Unlike its predecessors, the present team has all the powers necessary, political and technical, to uncover whether the Iraqis still possesses weapons of mass destruction, he told The Independent on Sunday.

Mr Perricos led the first monitoring team to Iraq after the Gulf War. But its members found themselves with little power to combat Iraqi obstruction and subterfuge. They were blocked from entering suspected sites and had shots fired over their heads in confrontations with Iraqi soldiers.

"This time we have the most advanced equipment available, and the new UN resolution means that we will not be camping somewhere, but knocking on doors," said Mr Perricos. "The Iraqis know that, and they also know that a 'material breach' may lead to war. I think we shall get to the truth, and it is, of course, desirable that there is no war."

At same time, he said, there was a need to resist external pressure. "The people who sent us here are the international community and the UN. We are not serving the US and we are not serving the UK. The Iraqis would like us to be very light, the US would like us to be extremely severe. We think we are doing a proper job."