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Iraq: Blix Says Evidence On Alleged Weapons 'Never More Than Shaky'


New York, 24 June 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Outgoing chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix (pictured, right) says U.S. intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction was "never more than shaky." He made the comment yesterday in an address to the Council of Foreign Relations in New York.

He said it is still possible that the U.S. will find some weapons. But he added, "It is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have 100 percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction and zero certainty about where they are."

Blix said the evidence the U.S. used for the existence of such weapons could have included the potentially self-serving testimony of defectors and the ambiguous results of inspections of suspected mobile laboratories.

He said UN inspectors were much more "prudent" in assessing the possibility Iraq had the weapons while the United States and Britain appeared to be "jumping at conclusions" based on their intelligence.

Blix is retiring on 30 June.

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