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UN plans to take Iraqi scientists abroad- report
( 2003-01-10 10:06 ) (7 )

United Nations weapons inspectors plan to ask Iraqi scientists to leave Iraq soon to be interviewed in Cyprus about prohibited weapons, Time Magazine has reported on its Web site.

Chief UN inspector Hans Blix said on Thursday his teams, scouring Iraq for signs of weapons of mass destruction, would interview scientists within a week or so to get@information. But he did not say whether the Iraqis would be taken out of the country, as the United States wants.

"This remains one of the options and I'm sure we will begin some interviews very soon, within a week or so," Blix said.

"There are several options on how you conduct the interviews that the Security Council has given us and we will make use of what is appropriate in each case."

Time Magazine said the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which is already the forwarding base for weapons inspectors, would be the venue for the interviews.

"The...inspection team plans to begin that process within days, when they will begin inviting an undisclosed number of Iraqi scientists to leave Iraq and be interviewed in Cyprus," the report on its Web site, www.time.com, said.

Cyprus said it would consider any UN request to host interviews, but that none had been made so far.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides told Reuters: "Our position is in principle that we always co-operate with the UN We will view any request from them within that spirit."

The weapons inspectors have rented hotel space in Cyprus's coastal town of Larnaca, within walking distance of the airport where a UN aircraft conducts weekly shuttles to Baghdad.

If Cyprus is eventually selected, there are suitable facilities to host scientists and their families. The well-guarded premises of an abandoned airport in the capital is a neutral UN protected area.

UN Security Council Resolution 1441 allows for the inspectors to interview scientists outside Iraq and requires Baghdad to give unimpeded access to individuals sought for interviews without Iraqi government officials present.

US officials said last month Washington was offering to set up what amounts to a witness protection programme for defecting Iraqi scientists and their families.

Iraq accused the United States last month of trying to tempt the scientists to leave Iraq and lure them into giving false information in return for financial gain.