Iraq yesterday banned UN civilian flights from the country without explanation days after the US and British air strikes. The Iraqi decision came as about 100 UN relief staff resumed humanitarian work under an oil-for-food programme after returning to Iraq.
Meanwhile, a former UN weapons inspector accused the United States of having manoeuvred UN arms inspectors in Iraq into providing a pretext for the attacks on Baghdad. "I believe that this inspection was rushed through, and the sites weren't chosen for disarmament reasons, but rather to be provocative in nature so Iraq would respond in a predictable fashion," Mr Scott Ritter told BBC radio.
Mr Ritter was a high-profile member of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) charged with finding and destroying Iraq's weapons of mass destruction until he resigned in August in a dispute over the conduct of weapons inspections. Iraqi newspapers accused the former US Marine Corps captain of spying for Israel.
Mr Ritter said the UNSCOM chief inspector, Mr Richard Butler, was partly responsible for making it unlikely that the team would be allowed back into Iraq.
He had "allowed the United States to manipulate the work of UNSCOM in such a fashion as to justify an air strike".
The UN's special envoy to Baghdad, Mr Prakash Shah, was due yesterday to fly out of Iraq on a UN flight that had been expected at Habbaniya airport, 100 km north-west of Baghdad, when the Iraqis told him that all UN flights had been banned until further notice.
The Iraqi press demanded yesterday that the UN Security Council punish the US and Britain for attacking Iraq and said the two countries should pay compensation to Baghdad.
"If the United Nations respects itself and its member states...it should punish America and Britain for their military aggression," the Ba'ath Party newspaper al-Thawra said.
In London, meanwhile, it was confirmed that senior members of the British cabinet had contacted the BBC to express their "disquiet" at some of its coverage of the conflict. A spokesman for the BBC denied any pro-Iraq bias and said all of its bulletins had made it clear that reports from Baghdad were subject to local censorship.
The French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine, has criticised Mr Butler for his actions immediately before last week's air attack on Iraq, a parliamentary report indicated yesterday. Mr Vedrine told the National Assembly's defence committee on Tuesday that Mr Butler had bypassed the UN by informing the US about his report on Iraq's non-co-operation before submitting it to the Security Council.
A bomb dropped during the attack has exploded, killing one child and wounding his brother and father, the official Iraqi News Agency said.
Russia's ambassador to London, recalled in protest at US-British air raids against Iraq, is to resume his duties "within the next few days", the Foreign Office in London said yesterday.
Russia's foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that Moscow's ambassador to Washington would soon be returning to his post.