Inspectors Raise Anthrax, VX, Nuke Capabilities

The following are excerpts from the Iraq reports by chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix of the U.N. Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission and Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency:

------

Blix:

-- "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it."

-- "Iraq has declared that it only produced VX on a pilot scale, just a few tons and that the quality was poor and the product unstable. UNMOVIC, however, has information that conflicts that account."

-- "There are strong indications that Iraq produced more anthrax than it declared."

------

ElBaradei:

-- "We have to date found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear program since the elimination of the program in the 1990s. However, our work is steadily progressing and should be allowed to run its natural course."

-- "With our verification system now in place, barring exceptional circumstances and provided there is sustained proactive cooperation by Iraq, we should be able within the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons program."

-- "These few months would be a valuable investment in peace because it could help avoid a war."