Two American members of a UN weapons inspection team were refused permission to stay when they landed in Iraq yesterday. They later flew back to Bahrain, a UN source said. They were accompanied back to Bahrain by a US representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Iraqis had said he would be allowed to stay, but UN officials decided he, too, should turn back.
Earlier yesterday France repeated an appeal to Iraq to reconsider a decision to exclude US nationals from the UN arms inspection team there and urged it to co-operate with the UN. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Jacques Rummelhardt, responding to questions about the possibility of military action against Iraq, said only that France was willing to examine "any appropriate measures" in the light of developments.
"We are calling . . . on the Iraqi authorities to reconsider their position," Mr Rummelhardt said, adding that Baghdad's stance "contravenes the UN charter".
Asked if military action would require Security Council approval, Mr Rummelhardt said there were two cases where it could happen without such backing - in cases of urgency or legitimate defence.
Britain said yesterday military action against Iraq could not be ruled out unless Baghdad complied with UN weapons inspections.
"The rest of the world cannot sit by idly while Iraq develops its weapons of mass destruction," the junior Foreign Office Minister, Mr Derek Fatchett, said. "The response will be serious."
Asked if a military response was possible, Mr Fatchett said: "We're not ruling out any options at this stage. We have to be tough. We have to continue our message. We are very determined in what we are saying and we are not going to allow Iraq to arm itself again."
Mr Fatchett spoke one day after the Security Council condemned Iraq's decision to bar Americans from UN weapons inspection teams and pledged "serious consequences" if Baghdad persisted.