NEW YORK, June 24: Saying that weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) may yet be unearthed in Iraq, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said on Monday that the United States had jumped to conclusions on the basis of “shaky” evidence.

“I don’t exclude that the US inspectors ... may find something. It is possible,” Mr Blix told the Council for Foreign Relations in New York.

“But it is somewhat puzzling, I think, that you can have 100 percent certainty about the weapons of mass destruction and zero certainty about where they are,” he said.

A former Swedish foreign minister, Blix will stand down at the end of the month after more than three years as chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq on March 20, Blix frustrated Pentagon officials with his cautious inspection reports to the UN Security Council.

He repeatedly noted that no evidence had been found to prove that Iraq retained or had resumed production of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons — a theme he returned to on Monday.

Blix stressed that the evidence for the existence of such weapons was “never more than shaky” — including the potentially self-serving testimony of defectors and the ambiguous results of inspections of suspected mobile laboratories.

He particularly questioned how countries like the United States and Britain appeared to reach iron-clad conclusions from the intelligence on offer.

“Again there was this strong affirmation ... a jumping at conclusions. While we were much more prudent.”—AFP