Iraq report arrives at United Nations

Translators at the ready

Two suitcases full of documents arrived at U.N. headquarters Sunday night.

Story Tools

VIDEO CNN's Nic Robertson describes what happened when journalists were shown the Iraqi declaration. (December 7) PLAY VIDEO SPECIAL REPORT •  War Tracker •  On the Scene Map •  Commanders: U.S. | Iraq •  Weapons: 3D Models •  Coalition casualties | POW/MIA •  Special Report RELATED • Gallery: Iraq shows arms report to journalists  • Interactive: Inside the al-Sujud palace  • Nic Robertson: Declaration won't affect inspections  • CNN Access: Qatar exercise not a prelude to war  • Iraqi official details declaration  • Saddam apologizes to Kuwait  • CNN Access: Hans Blix  • Q&A: Concerns of the Arab world  • Interactive: Suspected weapons  IRAQ DECLARATION Documentation includes: 11,807 pages of information 1,334 on biological weaponry 1,823 on chemical weaponry 6,887 on missiles Plus 12 CD-ROMs containing 529 megabytes of information WHAT'S NEXT? On or before January 27, inspectors must report back to the Security Council. If the U.N. finds the declaration to be incomplete or untrue, it could find Iraq in "material breach" of Resolution 1441, which calls for Iraq to fully disclose its weapons of mass destruction programs and to disarm. The U.S. government has said if Iraq does not comply and fully disarm, it will lead a coalition to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein through military force.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Iraq's declaration on weapons of mass destruction has been delivered to the United Nations in New York soon after arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport Sunday evening.

Hans Blix, chief of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspections Commission, arrived at U.N. headquarters with the documents shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET. Arabic translators have been called to the United Nations to translate some of the documents immediately.

A copy was delivered to the International Atomic Energy Agency offices in Vienna, Austria, earlier in the day.

The voluminous report is supposed to provide a detailed accounting of Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and its long-range missile programs both before and after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The U.N. Security Council will allow weapons inspectors to analyze and redact parts of the report before distributing it to council members. A partial copy of the report will also be reviewed by the UNMOVIC.

A U.N. official has told CNN the United States is pressuring this month's president of the Security Council, Colombian U.N. Ambassador Alfonso Valdiviezo, for an "unsanitized" or unedited copy of the Iraqi declaration.

Meanwhile, a diplomatic source told CNN "it is possible" the Security Council will meet Monday to discuss whether the permanent five members of the council -- the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia -- should receive unedited versions.

Blix has said he may not give the Security Council a timeline for when it might receive any portion of the documents until Tuesday, diplomatic sources said, and his initial report on the weapons inspectors' findings may not be available until December 16.

Iraq says report is complete, accurate

A top Iraqi official has challenged the United States and Britain to refute Baghdad's declaration of its weapons programs, saying the report is accurate "as they have asked for."

The declaration was issued to U.N. inspectors in Baghdad Saturday. A complete copy of the nearly 12,000-page report was packed in two black suitcases and sent to the United Nations in New York along with a partial copy for UNMOVIC. A second, partial report was packed in a green suitcase and sent to the IAEA in Vienna.

UNMOVIC will study the portions detailing chemical, biological and missile programs while the IAEA will concentrate on nuclear programs.

U.S. and British officials say Iraq is violating U.N. resolutions requiring it to give up weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has denied the allegations.

"If they have anything to the contrary, let them forthwith come up with it. Give it to the IAEA, give it to UNMOVIC," said Gen. Amer al-Saadi, the Iraqi government's science adviser, referring to the U.N. agencies conducting weapons inspections.

"They are here. They can check it. Why play this game?"

Iraqi officials say the report proves Baghdad has no weapons of mass destruction.

But U.S. intelligence officials expressed deep skepticism about the Iraqi weapons declaration, saying the United States has its own "clear evidence" that Iraq has an extensive weapons program.

Inspectors from UNMOVIC and the IAEA have a million pages of intelligence themselves, and will compare the declaration to their information to look for inconsistencies.

Al-Saadi called the report complete, current and accurate, but it was unclear how much of the document was new. For instance, the declaration provides no new evidence to support Iraq's earlier claim that it has dismantled its biological weapons program.

"We have done all researching we could, and we could not find any more," he said. (More)

A Bush administration official said Saturday the United States will provide some intelligence information to U.N. inspection teams following Iraq's submission. If so, al-Saadi said, "They should come up with it forthwith. The sooner they do it, the better it is for all concerned."

The Bush administration has threatened to use force to disarm Iraq if it does not comply with U.N. weapons inspectors. If Baghdad's declaration is found to include false information or omit pertinent information, it may constitute a "material breach" of the U.N. resolution sending inspectors back to Iraq.

Sunday inspections required crane, protective clothing

A new round of inspections Sunday focused on a pesticide factory near the town of Fallujah, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

The compound is surrounded by watchtowers and tall walls topped with barbed wire. Inside are large numbers of concrete buildings with corrugated metal roofs.

Inspectors requested a crane and were seen wearing protective clothing shortly after arriving at the facility. Another inspection team traveled elsewhere in the country, but its whereabouts was not immediately known.

Al-Saadi said Iraq was not happy with the inspections but compared its compliance to being searched by airport security.

"It's like medicine. Some things are bitter pills," he said.

Much of the report describes Iraqi industries with equipment or materials that have both civilian and military applications, al-Saadi said.

"You will be surprised when you know that the Ministry of Interior is included because it operates water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants and those plants require chlorine and other chemicals," he said.

Hospital laboratories, breweries, tanneries and the country's extensive petrochemical industry are among other sectors included in the report.

The documents were hand-delivered to Jacques Baute, leader of the IAEA's Iraqi action team in Vienna Sunday.

Baute carried the suitcase through the Vienna airport apparently without any security guard.

"I can just tell you we've got the declaration," Baute said. "And we have a small team which is going to screen it in order to assess what amount of effort we need to put in the upcoming week to do what we're requested to do."

It came to Vienna via Larnaca, Cyprus, which is now a staging area for inspectors with UNMOVIC.

A team of inspectors in Vienna, including several Arabic speakers, will soon begin preliminary work translating and evaluating their part of the report.

CNN's Nic Robertson Rym Brahimi and Maria Arbelaez contributed to this report.

Iran poll to go to run-off • U.N.: Truck bomb killed Hariri • EU 'crisis' after summit failure • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues

CNN/Money: Security alert issued for 40 million credit cards • Bin Laden deputy sends message • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues • Iran poll to go to run-off