UNITED NATIONS, June 11: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Dimitri Perricos of Greece on Tuesday to replace Hans Blix as the United Nations’ chief weapons inspector.

Dr Blix, a veteran Swedish diplomat, is retiring after more than three years at the helm of the agency.

Mr Perricos, who ran the search on the ground in Iraq for Saddam Hussein’s chemical and biological weapons and nuclear programmes was Dr Blix’s deputy for three years at the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

Mr Perricos is a technical expert with lots of inspection experience, while Dr Blix, a lawyer, focused on the diplomatic side with the UN Security Council. He had a contentious relationship with the US over the Iraqi weapons programme.

The UN agency searched more than 200 sites over three and a half months but did not find any WMD and pulled out of Iraq on March 18, just ahead of the US-led attack on Iraq.