UN teams fan out for first day of inspections – with Iraqi officials and the media in hot pursuit

The United Nations began its much-heralded search for Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction yesterday amid massive international publicity, and a degree of confusion and pathos.

There was a note of what may lie ahead if the inspections fail. Air-raid sirens went off in Baghdad and vapour trails of unidentified warplanes streamed overhead. Iraqi officials claimed the US and Britain were flexing their muscles on this significant day – a claim met with a "no comment" by the US base in Saudi Arabia, and a denial in London.

At the end of a hectic day, the UN had visited two sites, one suspected of being part of Iraq's nuclear programme, and the other a missile-testing factory. They refused to discuss details of their findings, but said they had received full overt co-operation from the regime's officials.

The Iraqi regime had said it wanted the UN's activities to be fully covered by the media "because we have nothing to hide and to make sure the UN does not get up to mischief". The assembled journalists, unsurprisingly, were ready to oblige.

About 150 reporters, cameramen and photographers, in more than 40 vehicles of various shapes and sizes, chased the UN's white four-wheel drives as they left their headquarters at 8.30am, with the obvious consequences. Cars crashed into each other and bewildered pedestrians jumped for their lives, as the normally strutting Baghdad police and paramilitary waved everyone on with benign smiles.

The UN vehicles carried out a series of double turns, in an effort, the outraged media thought, to lose them. But it later transpired that as these were "no warning" inspections, they could not tell the accompanying Iraqi officials where they were going, and had simply got lost.

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) went to al-Tahadi, a factory in the north-eastern suburbs of Baghdad where, the US Senate intelligence committee heard in February, a number of "the alumni of the Iraqi nuclear establishment" had been gathering.

Another team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic) went to al-Rafah, a military and industrial complex 80 miles west of Baghdad where, Washington claims, the Iraqis have built a new, large missile-testing stand.

For people who were supposed to have been surprised by the UN sleuths, the Iraqi officials at both plants seemed remarkably calm and keen to greet their visitors. They were waiting, in shiny suits and vivid ties, at the gate.

The UN inspectors, who had not yet "swept" their headquarters for bugs after their four-year absence, had taken great trouble to maintain security. Anything delicate is discussed outside in the grounds, and, at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the locations of the raids were pointed out silently on maps.

Confusiondogged the day. The UN, maintaining "strategic secrecy", would not speak to the media, while Iraqi officials pretended not to have a clue where they were. As a result, many reporters at al-Rafah thought they were at Amariyah, a Baghdad suburb where the Iraqis are supposed to have a biological plant.

Matters were not helped by the leak of a US intelligence report on al-Tahadi to US papers. This placed the complex in the opposite direction, at the west bank of the Tigris, and claimed it was producing ebola virus. The UN maintained last night that it was a suspect site for nuclear, not biological, weapons.

The only Iraqis who appeared surprised by what was going on were two soldiers outside al-Tahadi, who found their watchtower taken over by photographers and cameramen. It took a lot of cajoling before they could reclaim their position. One said he found the whole scene shocking.

Journalists were let inside the factory after the UN left, but only to a shed for about 15 minutes. The director, Heytham Mehmood, stroked his moustache and assured everyone he had nothing to hide. "We are only producing things that are permitted," he said. "We are making machinery for cement factories, and oil companies, and the water system. I am telling you it is permitted.

"The UN ask us lot of questions, only thing they don't ask my mother's name. But they leave happy. I know they happy, because they smile. They very nice people. But they find nothing illegal because we produce nothing illegal."

At a press conference last night, the UN said it had taken an air filter from al-Tahadi it had installed on its previous mission more than four years ago. But that was only because it was past its sell-by date.

Dimitri Perricos, the head of the Unmovic team, agreed with an Arab journalist that nothing obviously incriminating had been found. But he pointed out that one was hardly likely to find gallons of chemicals and missiles lying around.

He was asked whether he intended to repeat the whole thing today and over the next days. He said yes, to groans from journalists. The only people smiling, under their Saddam moustaches, were the Iraqi officials standing at the back.