UNSCOM: Butler's term ends

Richard Butler, the head of UNSCOM, the committee that was formed after the Gulf War in 1991 to inspect Iraqi weapons, ended his two year term, marked by a series of confrontations with Iraq that reached a climax with the launch of U.S - U.K air raids in December 1998.

Weapons inspectors withdrew before the launch of these raids and they have not yet returned to Iraq.

At the U.N., Russia and China, who are sympathetic to Baghdad's desire to lift the sanctions imposed by the United Nations on Iraq, were calling for expelling Butler from his post, but Washington and London, who are strict in their policy, strongly supported Butler.