IRAQ: UN weapons inspectors evacuate

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Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

BAGHDAD, Mar 18 2003 (IPS) - United Nations weapons inspectors have left Iraq ahead of an expected war by US-led military forces, the UN said Tuesday.

A security official with the UN weapons inspection program (UNMOVIC) said early Tuesday that its personnel, along with teams from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had all departed Baghdad.

Witnesses in Baghdad said the inspection teams boarded a plane that would take them to Larnaca, Cyprus.

The inspectors from UNMOVIC and the IAEA had been working in Iraq since last November to inspect production and research facilities for evidence of prohibited weapons.