Butler admits failure of UN sanctions on Iraq

Former chairman of UNSCOM, the UN committee in charge of disarmament of the Iraqi mass destruction weapons Richard Butler has admitted the failure of the sanctions imposed by the UN on Iraq which resulted in humanitarian catastrophe on the Iraqi people, claiming at the same time that Iraq is trying to develop long-range missiles and produce chemical and biological weapons.

UNSCOM's former chief claimed during a conference held in occupied Jerusalem on Monday that Iraq has rebuilt its arsenals of mass destruction weapons and considered, on the other hand, that Iraq could have during the last year re-formed a team of experts in the nuclear field.

Butler was due to meet on Tuesday with members of the defense committee in the Israeli Knesset to discuss with them what he called the question of the Iraqi weapons.

However, UNSCOM team left Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of air strikes carried out by the US and Britain.