The ongoing dispute between Iraq and the United Nations dates back to 1990-91 and the Gulf War, when U.N. inspection teams were given the authority to pry into decades of Iraq's secret research, development and storage programs in the chemical, biological and nuclear fields.

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The shell game: A pattern of blocking inspectors

The showdown with Iraq is not the first stumbling block Saddam Hussein has put between the world and his best-kept secrets.

In the 6 1/2 years since the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and the United Nations have played a cat-and-mouse game.
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United States insists Iraq still a weapons threat

Iraq claims there is no need for United Nations weapon inspections because it has destroyed all of its weapons of mass destruction.

Experts on Iraq's weapons program, however, disagree.
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The controversial makeup of UNSCOM

The latest crisis in Iraq centers on the makeup of the U.N. Special Commission, which governs the U.N. weapons inspection program.

Iraq has accused the commission, or UNSCOM, of being a tool of the United States and top-heavy with Americans.
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