Russia called on the United States and the Iraqi transitional government to allow international weapons inspectors to return to Iraq, following reports of the disappearance of high-tech equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Inspectors from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must be allowed to go back to Iraq, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "We believe that these organizations, which possess all the necessary expertise to that end, must as soon as possible receive unlimited access to Iraq’s nuclear sites to resume their interrupted task," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in the statement. "It is essential that Iraq’s transitional government and the United States adopt urgent measures to establish control over sensitive material and equipment, and allow international organizations specially authorized to do that to accomplish their task without any obstacles," Yakovenko added.
| What sensitive materials -- Saddam didn't have any, remember? |
IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei earlier this month told the United Nations that equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons, in some cases entire buildings housing sophisticated technology, were disappearing from Iraq. |