Chief UN weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix said today he saw no new evidence concerning Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in papers Baghdad gave him during a weekend visit.
"This time they presented some papers to us in which they focused upon new issues. Not new evidence really as far as I can see, but they have nevertheless focused on real open issues and that is welcome," Dr Blix said when he arrived in Athens after his weekend visit to Baghdad.
Dr Blix also said Iraqi co-operation, not the number of weapons inspectors, was the key to answering the question of whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Blix said Iraq had promised to drill into the ground to prove that it had destroyed banned weapons.
He added that Iraq has suggested new methods of investigation for his weapons inspectors to better prove it does not have weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Blix and Dr Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, were en route from Iraq after a weekend visit to Baghdad which they said showed the Iraqis were increasing their level co-operation with inspectors.
The top weapons inspectors had held two days of talks with Iraqi officials ahead of their crucial report on Friday to the UN Security Council, which could shorten the countdown to a US-led attack on Baghdad.
Dr El Baradei said in Baghdad that he and chief UN weapons inspector Dr Blix had seen "the beginning of a change of heart on the part of Iraq".