Inspectors block off government complex

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.N. weapons inspectors blocked off a huge complex on the edge of Baghdad Sunday, angering men, women and children who were kept from leaving the area as arms experts visited a facility inside.

A high-ranking Iraqi diplomat, who was caught up with the angry group, called the action "unacceptable."

The inspectors arrived in a convoy of white vans to check one of about 10 government buildings within a gated area, which includes apartment blocks. Following their usual practice of "freezing" the area, the arms experts wound up blocking hundreds of people from leaving for hours.

Inspectors, who are in Iraq to search for evidence of banned weapons, could be seen going through the plastic shopping bags of women, some carrying babies or leading children with schoolbags. Some women laughed at the fuss, but others were upset and said they needed to take their children to school. One said her daughter had to go to a hospital.

'Limiting our freedom'

"They are limiting our freedom," one woman shouted. Then, realizing she should take advantage of the political opportunity of appearing on camera, she quickly added, "We all love Saddam Hussein."

Iraqi officials said they wanted to visit a chemical research company, but the headquarters of Iraqi liaison officers who accompany the inspectors on their searches is also inside the complex.

Also Sunday, the state-run Al-Iraq daily reported that a civilian militia of Saddam's Baath Party carried out an urban and rural combat exercise in Babil province just south of Baghdad, an area that could be a main bulwark to defend the capital against a U.S.-led invasion.

It was the second such exercise reported in the province in the last two weeks.

It seemed aimed at bolstering Iraqi officials' frequent statements that an invading force would not only face the Iraqi army but armed civilians defending every city and village.

The brief Al-Iraq article did not say how many troops took part in the Saturday war game, nor did it include photographs. A senior Baath party member, Fadhil Mahmoud al-Mishiykhi, told the paper that the fighters were ready to confront any campaign by America and "its Zionist ally" -- meaning Israel.

After the incident at the government complex in Baghdad's Al-Jadriya neighborhood, the arms inspectors did not speak to reporters, as usual. U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki was in the northern city of Mosul with another inspection team and could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sunday's incident was the largest of several instances in the last week in which Iraqis complained about actions by U.N. arms experts. Factory managers have said repeated visits by inspectors were interfering with workers and one manager complained about the inspectors' curt behavior.

Asked Saturday about those incidents, Ueki said the inspectors "have a job to do here ... and they know how to conduct the inspections and how to behave."

One of those caught inside the government complex Sunday was Mohammed al-Douri, Iraq's U.N. ambassador, who said he had been delayed from leaving for five hours.

"For me, anyway, it's unacceptable," he said. "They don't need to block everybody. We're not here because of the inspections, just as a private visit, so what's the reason?"

Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison officer to the inspection teams, said the arms experts apparently intended to make clear their absolute access to any area ensured under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, but he added he felt the action was unjustified and went too far.

"The restriction on movement could be done on the site to be inspected only, not the complex itself," he told Iraqi reporters.

Asked whether he tried to get Ambassador al-Dour out of the complex, he said, "No, I did not want to object ... and to give them any pretext that Iraq is trying to put obstacles in front of the inspection."

American officials have said any obstruction of the inspections would be considered a "material breach" of Resolution 1441 and result in a military attack on Iraq. President Bush has threatened to wage war on Iraq unless it fulfills U.N. resolutions requiring it to give up all weapons of mass destruction.

The inspectors are searching for evidence Iraq still has chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, all banned under Security Council resolutions adopted after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Economic sanctions imposed on Iraq cannot be lifted until the inspectors certify Iraq has no such weapons.

Iraq maintains it has lived up to the U.N. resolutions, but officials of the inspection program have said Iraq's accounting of its weapons program fails to provide enough evidence to support Baghdad's claims to have destroyed missiles, warheads and chemical agents such as VX nerve gas.

The Bush Administration has cited nine areas in which it said Iraq's declaration fails to provide a complete picture of actual weapons holdings, including thousands of pounds of material for producing anthrax and mustard gas.