"Sensitive" sites out of bounds: Iraq

But asked by reporters if Baghdad would allow members of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) on Disarmament to inspect “sovereign” sites, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al-Sahhaf said, “Not at all.”

Sahhaf said sovereign sites, which include Presidential palaces, have always been immune from “infringement” by UNSCOM.

He made his comments after the Iraqi parliament called for a six-month deadline for completion of all UN weapons inspections.

But the White House insisted that UN inspectors have “unconditional and unfettered access” to suspected sites.

Sahhaf said Iraq was inviting two representatives from 19 UNSCOM member countries and five representatives from the 15 Security Council members as a “voluntary” gesture to “expose lies” that palaces are being used to conceal weapons of mass destruction.

The invitation was not being extended to UNSCOM as it was “intrusive, illegal, pushed by the United States,” he said, adding however that the countries invited were free to name any experts they wished.

Sahhaf also reiterated Iraq’s opposition to the use of America’s U-2 reconnaissance plane for UN surveillance flights, after previously threatening to shoot it down.

“Our position is the same. We are rejecting these spy flights. We reject using this spy plane,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraq’s parliamentary speaker Saadoun Hammadi said parliament had “adopted a recommendation for UNSCOM to end its work and close the files in a maximum of six months, as of November 20.”

UNSCOM teams meanwhile carried out a sixth day of inspections unimpeded. There were “as usual, no problems, no difficulties,” said the head of UNSCOM’s Baghdad office Nils Carlstrom.