Source: Blix sees Friday report to U.N. as interim
From Ronni Berke
CNN
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Blix expects his March report to be more comprehensive, a source says.
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Hans Blix intends to give another "even-handed" report on Iraq to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, according to a source who attended Wednesday's meeting between Blix and commissioners of the U.N's weapons inspection team.
The U.N.'s chief weapons inspector also expressed concern in the meeting that the parts of his reports that are favorable to Iraq are being ignored by the media and "other groups."
Blix met with 16 commissioners from the U.N.'s Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) two days before he is to give his second formal report to the Security Council on Iraq's compliance with U.N. resolutions mandating its disarmament. The commissioners have intelligence and disarmament experience and, along with Blix, direct UNMOVIC's actions.
The source at the meeting said Blix regards Friday's statement to the Security Council as an interim report and that he expects a quarterly weapons inspection report in March to be more comprehensive.
The source described Wednesday's discussions in the commissioners' meeting as "robust" and said Blix feels it's his responsibility to identify both positive and negative aspects in his reports.
But "being even-handed doesn't mean I'm in the middle," the source reported Blix as saying.
The commissioners also heard from experts appointed by Blix to examine two of Iraq's missiles. A Security Council diplomat said Wednesday the experts determined that one missile, the Al Samoud 2, has a range greater than that allowed by U.N. resolutions.
Worried that such a missile could be declared by some as a "material breach" of those resolutions and possibly open the door to military action against Iraq, Blix had an international team examine the issue to give an independent perspective.
Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, denied the experts' report, saying: "These missiles are within the range agreed upon between the U.N. and Iraq,"
