PARIS, March 31: UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who has announced his decision not to seek a renewal of his mandate when it expires in June, says “naturally, I was disappointed that we weren’t allowed to disarm Iraq (through inspections), especially as we were very close to our goal.”

“What I would have liked is to have had a few months more — not that I can guarantee that we would have arrived at our objective (of completely disarming Iraq through inspections), but there was a good chance that it would all function in the end. I think that we were able to prove too that we were capable of establishing an inspection force that was credible and legitimate, a force, moreover, that in the eyes of the world was not under the domination of any particular country, for we were truly independent.”

Mr Blix, who made the remarks in an interview with a French weekly, says he expects the United States to want to control any future verification of Iraqi weapons, and do so on its own.