LONDON, April 15: The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said recent inspections had found no evidence of any clandestine nuclear activity by Iraq, which has prompted France and Russia to spearhead calling off UN nuclear investigations of Baghdad weapons programme. The IAEA in a statement released said the Iraqi authorities had provided full details of its secret nuclear weapons plan, which now will boost Iraq's campaign to shut down the United Nations investigations into four categories of its banned weapons of mass destruction.The French and Russian are now moving the UN Security Council to lift the UN inspection of Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons so that the crippling oil embargo imposed on the country seven years ago can be lifted.According to European diplomatic sources, Britain is not likely to stand in the way of lifting economic sanctions against Iraq, leaving the Americans in an isolated position in the Security Council.``Iraq has satisfactorilycompleted its undertaking to produce a consolidated version of full, final and complete declaration of its clandestine nuclear programme'', the IAEA announcement said. By some western estimates, Iraq had come within six months of building a crude nuclear device.After the IAEA inspections, the United Nations inspectors have expressed confidence that baghdad no more has access to sophisticated nuclear components essential to building a nuclear device. Russia and France now are moving to seek a Security Council resolution asking the IAEA to suspend its search for nuclear components in Iraq and instead subject the Baghdad regime to routine monitoring to ensure that Baghdad does not recommence it's illegal nuclear programme.The IAEA report submitted to the UN has suggested review efforts on Baghdad on long term monitoring saying, ``although it would continue to exercise the option of right to investigate Iraqi nuclear installations whenever it so desired''.The Americans are now stressing that Iraq hasfailed to comply with demands for sufficient information about its possible domestic production capability in the missiles field, VX nerve gas and its suspected stockpiling of germ agents, such as anthrax.Richard Butler, the chief UN Weapons Inspector is expected to highlight these outstanding problems when he reports to the Security Council on his mission later this week.
