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Iraq Inspections Timeline

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Key events in efforts to ensure Iraq does not have chemical, biological or nuclear weapons:

--Feb. 24, 1991: Gulf War ends; Kuwait is liberated Feb. 27.

--April 6, 1991: Iraq accepts U.N. resolution requiring it to end its weapons of mass destruction programs and allow for ongoing monitoring and verification of compliance.

--Oct. 29, 1997: Iraq demands that Americans on the U.N. Special Commission inspection team leave; the Americans leave temporarily but return Nov. 20.

--Jan. 13, 1998: Iraq temporarily withdraws cooperation, claiming that the inspection team had too many U.S. and British inspectors.

--Jan. 22, 1998: Iraq refuses inspection of presidential sites.

--Feb. 20-23, 1998: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan secures Iraq's cooperation and unrestricted access to inspectors.

--Oct. 31, 1998: Iraq ends all forms of cooperation with UNSCOM. UNSCOM withdraws.

--Nov. 14, 1998: Iraq allows inspections to resume.

--Dec. 16, 1998: UNSCOM removes all staff from Iraq after inspectors conclude Iraq is not fully cooperating. Four days of U.S. and British airstrikes follow.

--June 30, 1999: Richard Butler completes his two-year term as executive chairman of UNSCOM.

--Dec. 17, 1999: U.N. replaces UNSCOM with UNMOVIC, the U.N. Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission. Iraq rejects the resolution.

--March 1, 2000: Hans Blix assumes post of executive chairman of UNMOVIC.

--November 2000: Iraq rejects new weapons inspections proposals.

--July 5, 2002: In talks with Annan, Iraq rejects weapons inspections proposals.

--Aug. 1: In a letter to Annan, Iraq invites Blix to Iraq for technical discussions on remaining disarmament issues.

--Aug. 6: Annan writes to Iraqis pointing out that what they are proposing is at odds with U.N. resolutions and asks that Iraq accept inspections.

--Sept. 12: President Bush tells the United Nations it must rid the world of Saddam's biological, chemical and nuclear arsenals, or stand aside as the United States acts.

--Sept. 16: Iraq unconditionally accepts the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.