FM Cowen
Meeting Powell in Washington
In Washington, Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen said today the UN Weapons Inspectors who begin their job in Iraq tomorrow must be allowed to report back to the Security Council before any decisions are taken on action against Iraq.
Minister Cowen met Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss Iraq and Northern Ireland. He is also due to meet UN Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix.
United Nations weapons inspectors are returning to Iraq today to restart the search for weapons of mass destruction.
The first to arrive were in an 18-strong team from Cyprus but the full inspection force will number 300.
Iraq has complained to the UN that inspectors have been given tyrannical authority and the operation provides a pretext for the United States to attack the country.
The United Nations spokesman in Baghdad, Yashuhiro Ueki, dismissed Iraq's complaints and said Iraq had to live up to the co-operation it had promised.
