GA President says UN risks irrelevancy

General Assembly President says UN risks becoming irrelevant

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The United Nations risks becoming irrelevant if it does not do everything possible to find peaceful solutions to the conflict with Iraq. That according to the President of the General Assembly Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic. He told a meeting of Caribbean leaders that since most UN countries want the Security Council to continue to explore diplomatic means before the use of force, failing to do so could cause the United Nations to "go down the road of the League of Nations" and become "irrelevant."

Mr. Kavan said he expected the United States and Britain to submit a resolution this week to the UN Security Council that could authorize the use of force in Iraq. He however added that France, Russia and Germany are likely to counter the proposal.

UN arms teams inspect Iraqi missile plants

UN weapons inspectors Monday visited several sites involved in research, development and testing of missile systems. A spokesman for the UN monitoring commission said the inspectors are continuing to verify Iraq's declarations and establish a comprehensive monitoring mechanism.

A chemical team made a return visit to Al Mutanna in connection with the mustard gas destruction process and took some chemical samples for analysis.
Meanwhile, the UN nuclear agency (IAEA) held a private interview with a senior Iraqi engineer connected with the country's procurement history related to the 81 millimetre aluminium tubes.

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