US intelligence is finally given to arms inspectors

The United States has belatedly started to feed intelligence to United Nations inspectors to help them in their hunt for prohibited weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But it is not being given all at once, because of lingering concern about leaks of sensitive information to the Baghdad regime.

The US Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, said the inspectors were now getting "significant" American intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons concealment that, he said, should enable them to become "more aggressive and to be more comprehensive in the work they are doing".

The inspectors, headed by Hans Blix, had been complaining for weeks that they urgently needed assistance with intelligence from Washington and from London. The flow had been slow, mainly because of American mistrust of the inspectors and the danger of leaks.

The frustration of Mr Blix was echoed by France, which asked the UN Security Council yesterday to pass a resolution requiring all countries with relevant intelligence on Iraq to share it with Mr Blix and his counterpart at the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Mohamed al-Baradei.

France's Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, told a news conference in Moscow that "all countries with specific information must convey it". Britain indicated it has already opened channels with Mr Blix to give him what he needs.

In a blow to the US, Mr Baradei said Iraq had been forthcoming in explaining why it had imported quantities of aluminium tubes, which had been identified by the US as destined for uranium enrichment purposes.

He said an early assessment suggested the tubes were not meant for nuclear use but for a rocket programme.

"While it would be possible to modify such tubes for the manufacture of centrifuges, they are not directly suitable for it," he told the Security Council.

How much of a difference American intelligence will make to the inspections is unclear. There is no indication that inspectors have found evidence of any prohibited materials and in his briefing to the Security Council Mr Blix said he had found no "smoking gun".

But things may change quickly if the intelligence actually points the UN teams to their quarry. The US is putting great store on Mr Blix beginning interviews with Iraqi scientists about their work for the regime, if necessary outside the country.

Mr Blix reportedly plans to try to take scientists outside Iraq's border in the next few days and to arrange for them to be interviewed in Cyprus. He has come under great pressure from the US to begin the process, but has remained extremely cautious, concerned about inflaming the Iraqi regime and about the possibility of reprisals against family members left behind.

General Powell agreed that questions remained about the feasibility of the interviews. "I don't know if it's all glued together yet, but I know that the inspectors know there are ways to do that," he said. "There is concern about where the scientists go, where they get resettled to, what papers can they get, what status are they in when they leave the country and who should come with them."

He also hinted at the mistrust Washington feels about the ability of inspectors to keep sensitive intelligence information to themselves. To make it clear it would be directed to the inspectors only piecemeal, he said he was waiting to see how these "items" were handled. "The means by which we get this information is so sensitive, and if it's not handled properly or exploited in the right way, we will lose that channel," he said.

The Secretary of State refused to offer any personal assessment on the likelihood of war. His comments appeared to be directed at Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who said this week that he saw the probability of peace over war at about 60:40. "I think war is too serious to make those sort of predictions," Mr Powell said.