IRAQ said yesterday that UN arms monitors had ended a third day of searches for banned weapons without obstacles, but did not say whether they tried to visit sites Iraq has declared off-limits.
Earlier, a US U-2 spy plane used by the United Nations flew over Iraq without incident. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it was beyond the range of air defences. In Washington, a US Defence Department spokesman confirmed the flight. Iraq has previously threatened to shoot down such aircraft.
UN monitors returned to Iraq on Friday after Baghdad reversed an October 29th decision banning Americans, whom Iraq accused of spying, from taking part in inspections.
Iraq's ban caused a tense stand-off with the UN and prompted a major US military build-up in the Gulf.
The official Iraqi news agency INA, quoting the head of Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate, said eight groups of inspectors visited seven sites yesterday and carried out aerial surveillance of two locations.
In a separate dispatch, it called on members of Iraq's parliament to convene in an emergency session today. Meanwhile, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tareq Aziz, left Jordan for Baghdad, ending a two-week world tour which he said had rallied support for his country.