Iraq Surrenders Files on Banned Arms

MANAMA, Bahrain — Iraq handed over Saturday what it says are complete files on its banned nonconventional weapons programs--information that U.N. inspectors have sought for five years.

Upon returning from a four-day trip to Baghdad with three black folders in hand, chief U.N. arms inspector Rolf Ekeus told reporters that Iraq surrendered files on chemical and biological weapons and surface-to-surface missiles.

While the move appeared to be a breakthrough, Ekeus, a Swedish diplomat who leads a U.N. commission enforcing the dismantling of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, stressed that the material had yet to be verified.

He now expects full disclosure on the country’s nuclear program as well, perhaps by the end of the month, he said.

Under terms of the 1991 U.N. resolutions that ended the Gulf War, Iraq is required to destroy all its long-range missiles and halt its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs.

It was not clear why Iraq agreed to hand over the long-sought material at this time.