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U.N. weapons inspectors are back on the job

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.N. weapons inspectors were back at work in Iraq on Tuesday, but the United Nations would not say whether they were carrying out "surprise" inspections.

A spokeswoman for the U.N. Special Commission in charge of the inspection teams told CNN that the inspectors had returned to their jobs.

On Monday, UNSCOM chief Richard Butler announced new visits were imminent. No problems or disputes were reported or observed Tuesday between the inspectors and Iraqi officials.

The inspections were the first since Iraq's decision to resume cooperation with UNSCOM on November 15. The Iraqi government sent UNSCOM crews packing in late October, but agreed to let inspectors return when faced with the threat of military action.

Butler said the surprise inspections are the last stage in a series of UNSCOM efforts.

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He said work had been restored in four areas -- access to documents, monitoring, conducting interviews and visiting potential weapons-production sites.

"That work will start in the next few hours, and I want to emphasize it will be a series of visits," Butler said.

Butler said he needs two or three weeks to see whether Iraq is keeping its promise to cooperate fully.

By the end of this week or early next week, Butler said he hoped to draft a report to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on whether Iraq had kept its promise to resume full cooperation.

Annan will then report to the U.N. Security Council, which could then begin a promised, comprehensive review of Iraq's compliance with council resolutions.

Iraq first cut back its cooperation with UNSCOM on August 5, halting it completely October 31.

Iraq has been pressing for such a review in the hope it will lead to the easing of sanctions that have been in force since its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

From August to October, Baghdad accused UNSCOM of serving U.S. interests by refusing to declare that Iraq had eliminated any forbidden chemical, biological and ballistics weapons. Iraqi officials also claimed that some UNSCOM staff were working for hostile intelligence agencies.

With U.S. and British forces in the Persian Gulf poised to attack Iraqi targets, Baghdad announced November 14 it was resuming cooperation with the U.N. weapons teams.