Looking for nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, the team of inspectors was due today to begin its first search in four years in Iraq, which United States President George W. Bush has threatened with war if it does not disarm.

Annan on Monday urged Iraq to cooperate with the inspectors.

"I hope the government of Iraq will fully cooperate with the inspectors and respect its obligations unreservedly. That is the only way to avoid conflict in the region," Annan said in the French capital Paris.

Iraq, which must make a formal declaration by December 8, denies it has weapons of mass destruction. But chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said Baghdad had to come clean about its arms programmes, saying that earlier weapons declarations "did not give a full account."

In New York on Monday, the United States forced the UN Security Council to extend the UN humanitarian programme for Iraq for nine days rather than the usual six months, insisting on expanding a list of goods Baghdad must get UN approval to import.

Council members agreed to renew the oil-for-food programme, which expires at midnight, until December 4 so negotiations between Washington and the other 14 nations could continue.

The programme covers food, medicine and a host of civilian supplies to ease the impact of UN sanctions imposed after President Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil, with revenues going into a UN account that pays vendors for goods Iraq orders.

US Ambassador John Negroponte told reporters he wanted to put certain global positioning system jammers, radio intercept and direction systems as well as antropine injector on a "goods review list" of civilian supplies going to Baghdad.

But council diplomats said reopening the list to put in additions the United States wants was not easy as other nations would propose taking some items off the list, negotiated in detail only last May. "It's a Pandora's box," one envoy said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2002)