UN INSPECTORS IN STANDOFF AT IRAQ MINISTRY

A team of United Nations chemical weapons inspectors parked their jeeps outside Iraq's Agriculture Ministry Sunday night in the latest standoff between the UN and Baghdad, a UN official said.

Iraq on Sunday barred US Army Maj. Karen Jansen and her inspection team from a building at the ministry, saying the team's attempt to search the building was "provocative and designed to humiliate the Iraqi government."

Gulf radio stations quoted Major Jansen as saying she had instructions from UN headquarters to keep watch while efforts were under way to get permission to enter the building.

Under terms of a UN cease-fire resolution, Iraq must fully cooperate in dismantling its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, long-range and medium-range missiles, and manufacturing capability.

But Baghdad's official Iraqi News Agency said the resolution "did not authorize inspection of government departments handling well-known civilian matters."