Weapons Inspectors Need More Time in Iraq, says ElBaradei

Broadcast: Jan 13 2003

 

The director of the ¹⁾International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Monday weapons inspectors² in Iraq will need several months to complete their work. The IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei ElBaradei spoken in Paris. Mr. ElBaradei ElBaradei ^2）reiterated calls for Iraq to more actively³ cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors, in order to speed up the completion of their work.

"We still need a few months to achieve our mission," he said in Paris. "How long would it take us depends on the cooperation we get from Iraq in terms of documents, in terms of interviews with Iraqi scientists, in terms of physical evidence that has been destroyed."

Mr. ElBaradei said there is a clear incentive⁴ for the Iraqi government to work with the inspectors.

"If Iraq cooperates in all respects we can in a year report that conditions are met for the suspension of ^3）sanctions," Mr. ElBaradei commented. "But that is something different from our conclusion that Iraq no longer has weapons of mass destruction or nuclear weapons."

Following talks in Paris with Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, Mr. ElBaradei said U.N. Security Council members are beginning to supply intelligence information to U.N. weapons inspectors. He recently told Time magazine that there is a ^4）consensus⁵ in the intelligence community that Baghdad continues to have nuclear and biological programs.

Mr. ElBaradei also repeated that January 27, when he and the chief weapons inspector¹ Hans Blix are to report to the Security Council, is not any kind of deadline regarding action on Iraq. Mr. ElBaradei also said that members of the Security Council understand this.

The two men are due to visit Baghdad later this week, and they are making separate stops in several other countries before the Iraq trip.

France, which currently presides over the Security Council, continues to press for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iraq. A series of public opinion polls, including one published Sunday, indicate most French people are opposed to going to war against Iraq.

Lisa Bryant For VOA news, Paris.

1)    International Atomic Energy Agency国际原子能组织

2)    reiterate[ri:5itEreit]vt.反复地说, 重申, 重做

3)    sanction [5sANkFEn]n.批准, 同意, 支持, 制裁, 认可

4)    consensus [kEn5sensEs]n.一致同意, 多数人的意见, 舆论

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？