US defence Secretary Mr William Cohen warned Iraq yesterday that it is still subject to US attack without warning. He described as serious its refusal to allow UN inspections of its ruling party offices.
Mr Cohen said the United States will wait until the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) completes a series of surprise inspections next week before deciding whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is reneging on a promise to co-operate.
Asked whether Iraq is still subject to US attack at any time without warning, Mr Cohen told reporters, "The answer is yes."
Echoing a warning on Wednesday by UNSCOM chief Mr Richard Butler, the Defence Secretary said Baghdad's refusal to allow UN inspectors to enter offices of the ruling Ba'ath party was "a very serious situation."
Mr Butler had indicated that the surprise inspections would continue next week, Mr Cohen said, and "we intend to wait until the completion of his inspections and that of his team before coming to any conclusion about the nature of the lack of co-operation on the part of Saddam Hussein".
UN specialists were delayed entry for about 45 minutes yesterday to an Iraqi site suspected of harbouring concealed weaponry, according to UN officials.
On Wednesday, Iraq turned away an UNSCOM team from Ba'ath party offices in Baghdad, a day after UNSCOM launched snap inspections in search of weapons of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, to whom Mr Butler reports, said the UNSCOM chief had sometimes spoken out undiplomatically, but blamed the pressures of his job.
"I admit and regret that sometimes his (Mr Butler's) words are undiplomatic. His diplomacy is seasonal. I have spoken with him on this," the London-based Ashraq al-Awsat quoted Mr Annan as saying.
Iraq hopes Mr Butler's next report will pave the way to a comprehensive review of its disarmament process and an easing of sanctions imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The United Nations Children's Fund said more than one million Iraqi students had failed to enrol in primary or secondary schools due to sanctions-related hardships.