Name: Dr Hans Blix Age: 74 Nationality: Swedish Claim to fame: Chief UN weapons inspector
IF ever there has been a man caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, it is Dr Hans Blix, a former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and now the chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq.
Dr Blix, who has made a career out of keeping his cool, was on holiday in Antarctica when the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, telephoned to offer him a job at the helm of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in January 2000.
And now, a military conflict looks inevitable after he has concluded in a long-awaited report that Baghdad is defying international demands to disarm. By reporting that Iraq had not produced evidence that it had destroyed biological and chemical weapons, Blix’s bleak assessment has greatly strengthened the US-UK case for war. Almost in equal terms, his report contains text that has given heart to the anti-war lobby. Interestingly, on the face of it, the report has something for everyone, enabling people to make out what they want of it based on their own pre-conceived notions.
“It all has to be immediate, unconditional, unrestricted access,” Blix said. “This is what we are seeking. The devil is in the details.”
Blix, who faces a demanding task, was born in 1928 in Uppsala, Sweden. He studied at the Sweden’s University of Uppsala, and at Columbia University in the United States, and received a Ph.D from Cambridge University in England. In 1959, he received a Doctor of Laws degree from Stockholm University.
Blix’s dealings with North Korea, another nation accused of having a covert nuclear programme, may offer more clues to how he may handle Iraq. “He actually became quite harsh against North Korea, and was criticized by some who said he was going to create a war between North and South Korea over nuclear inspection,” said Madam Albright in recent remarks.
Dr Hans Blix was a compromise choice after the UN Security Council had rejected Rolf Ekeus, the candidate put forward by the United States and Britain. Critics point to the “cultural sensitivity training” members of his organization undergo. They see it as a sign that Dr Blix and his staff worry too much about hurting Iraqi feelings, and are, therefore, liable to be duped. “We are not coming to Iraq to harass or to insult or humiliate them,” he told BBC’s Breakfast with Frost. “That’s not our purpose.”
On paper, the UN Security Council resolution gives its inspectors unrestricted rights to search unlimited locations, including Saddam’s presidential compounds. Iraq maintains it has no illegal weapons of mass destruction. But, as the West sees it, Iraq is spread over 432,162 square kilometres of land, and virtually every inch of it could possibly contain evidence of weapons of mass destruction. It is some job to do for Dr Blix and his team.
IF ever there has been a man caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, it is Dr Hans Blix, a former director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and now the chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq.
