posted 01-02-2003 09:47 AM            

Brian Whitaker
Wednesday January 1, 2003
The Guardian

UN inspection teams in Iraq have found "zilch" so far, but have had little help from intelligence agencies to guide them in their hunt for illicit weapons, one of the inspectors said yesterday.

"If our goal is to catch them with their pants down, we are definitely losing," the inspector told an American newspaper. "We haven't found an iota of concealed material yet."

The inspector's comments - given to the Los Angeles Times - give the first direct insight into the Unmovic teams' lack of progress.

Unmovic is saying nothing officially until it presents its report to the security council on January 27.

"By being silent we may create the illusion that we did uncover something," the inspector told the paper. "But I must say that if we were to publish a report now, we would have zilch to put in it."

Unmovic's chemical experts have found no trace of the tonnes of chemical agents that Iraq is suspected of possessing, according to the inspector.

Biologists have taken air samples to check for spores, but any biological agents were probably buried or disposed of long ago.

On the nuclear side, Unmovic found that the installations used to enrich uranium were "practically undisturbed" since being sealed by the previous inspectors.

The only breaches of UN resolutions, the inspector said, might come from Iraq's handling of aluminium tubes which were allegedly part of a centrifuge to enrich uranium.

The Iraqis say they were intended for air-to-ground missiles but were later adapted for anti-aircraft use.

Altering the tubes and buying replacements without informing the UN would be a breach of resolutions on dual use goods.