So let the inspectors go in and I urge the Iraqis to co-operate

So let the inspectors go in, and I urge the Iraqis to co-operate with them and to perform.”Both sides are mindful of the confrontations that quickly arose when inspectors went about their mission during the 1990s and especially the claims made by Iraq – proved later to be well founded – that the CIA was piggy-backing on the UN inspectors.There were also fresh signs yesterday that Iraq may again try to drive a wedge between members of the Security Council. The first test might come on 8 December when Iraq is obliged to account for all of its weapons programmes. If it reiterates claims made in the letter of acceptance that it has no such weapons, Washington may interpret that as non-compliance and press other UN members to sanction war.In a foretaste of possible Iraqi tactics at that moment, the Iraqi newspaper Babil, owned by President Saddam’s son Uday, warned that Baghdad’s crisis with the United States “is not over yet and may have just started”. Moreover, it called on Security Council members France, Russia and China to support Iraq.* Tony Blair made a radio broadcast to the people of Iraq last night in an effort to rally them against President Saddam’s “brutal and oppressive” regime. He warned that war was likely if the UN demands for disarmament were ignored.

Mr Blair’s message came in an interview with Radio Monte Carlo, the most popular station broadcasting into Iraq.The weaponsNUCLEAR Iraq is suspected of seeking black-market uranium or plutonium to manufacture a nuclear weapon. Some intelligence sources believe it could produce such a warhead within a year.BIOLOGICAL Iraq might have a stockpile including 150 aerial bombs and 25ballistic missile warheads It has not accounted for 17 tons of biological growth media. Iraq might have mobile production facilities and sprayers attached to aircraft. It might hold the smallpox virus and have the facilities to produce toxins including anthrax and botulinum.CHEMICAL Iraq is believed to have precursor chemicals to produce large quantities of mustard gas, VX gas and other nerve agents which could be delivered on al-Hussein ballistic missiles. It is thought to be rebuilding dual-use production facilities capable of manufacturing chemical agents previously bombed by allies.BALLISTIC Iraq might still hold several prohibited al-Hussein missiles (modified Scuds) with a range of 400 miles..

The Bush administration has been quietly training scores of civil servants to oversee the transformation of the Iraqi economy in the aftermath of military strikes. The effort is said to have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They are part of larger preparations by the State Department’s Near-East division to administer Iraq in the days, weeks and months after a US-led military operation.Those preparations, entitled the “Future of Iraq Project”, have led to the establishment of more than 15 working groups. They are examining issues ranging from a transitional justice system, energy supplies and public health to public finance. He said he believed up to 100 Iraqis had been involved and that the training had “cost hundreds of thousands of dollars”.But he said: “It is not engagement on a wide enough scale from a country that is considering the invasion of Iraq. You have to have a very intense level of engagement, not just a group of people here and there deciding the future of Iraq.”America isplanning to install a senior military commander as head of a transitional authority in Iraq, similar to the post-war occupation of Germany and Japan That regime could last for several years.

President Bush’s senior adviser on the Middle East, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the plan would involve running the entire country until a democratic Iraqi government was deemed ready. “It will be important for Iraqis in the West to help bring up standards, to try and [develop] different ways of looking at things,” he said.Experts believe the occupation of Iraq would require about 75,000 troops, at an annual cost of up to $16bn (£10bn) and would almost certainly include British and other allied troops.. Young’s, the family-controlled London brewer, yesterday revealed plans to restructure its share capital by buying back up to £10m of its stock. The news sent Young’s voting A shares 85p higher to 762.5p and its non-voting shares up 70p to 600p.Peter Whitehead, Young’s finance director, said the repurchase scheme would help to narrow the discount between the share price and the group’s net asset value. “This is something we considered completely independently of Guinness Peat.