Word: blix
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Last week's inconclusive report to the Security Council - Saddam didn't come clean, but didn't obstruct the inspections, and Hans Blix's team hasn't turned up evidence of prohibited weapons in Iraq - immediately prompted Britain and other key U.S. allies to call for the inspection process to be allowed to run its course. In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair sought to head off mounting disquiet in his own government and in the broader electorate over U.S. intentions. Blair insisted Monday that if allowed to proceed and escalate, the inspection process would eventually prove the case...
...British media speculated Tuesday that Blair's certainty may derive from intelligence that had been shared with the inspection team, which is moving to ramp up its operations through the use of helicopters, spy-planes and by moving to question Iraqi scientists abroad. Blix flies to Baghdad on Sunday for a meeting with Iraqi leaders, where he will demand that Iraq answer specific questions on the gaps in its December declaration. So, even though Iraq appears to have passed the first hurdle, the UN weapons inspectors are clearly moving to raise the pressure on Baghdad by setting it tougher tests...
...timetable for the ramped-up inspection process may not necessarily be compatible with one that seeks to launch an invasion in optimal battlefield conditions before next Fall. Blix spelled out on Monday that January 27 would merely be a work-in-progress report, much like last week's, and that he planned - in keeping with the earlier Security Council resolution that created UNMOVIC and mandated quarterly reports - to present the Council with a comprehensive report, including a "work plan" for Iraqi disarmament, toward the end of March. With January 27 no longer a trigger date, Blix, supported by the European...
...UNMOVIC chief Dr. Hans Blix and his counterpart for nuclear inspections, Dr. Mohammed al-Baradei gave the Security Council a mixed report: On the one hand, Iraq's declaration was unacceptable because it had failed to account for known chemical weapons stocks; on the other, Iraq has not impeded the inspection process and the inspectors have turned up no clear evidence of continued prohibited weapons programs. Al-Baradei even put the kibosh on at least one specific charge made by Washington when he reported that aluminum tubes alleged by U.S. officials to have been imported by Iraq...
...While Baghdad had not impeded the inspectors' activities, Blix and Al-Baradei demanded more "pro-active" cooperation from Iraq in establishing Iraqi compliance with UN disarmament demands. Iraq so far has done the minimum necessary to avoid being declared in violation of Resolution 1441 by the Security Council - but no more. But the conclusion from Blix and El Baradei was that they needed more time to thoroughly investigate the charges against Iraq. Possibly a lot more time...