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Ekeus plans

IRAQ trip

UNITED NATIONS: The head of the UN special commission in charge of Iraqi disarmament said Sunday that he plans to go to Baghdad in the coming days where authorities promised to release important information.

Rolf Ekeus, who chairs the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), said the exact date of the trip to Iraq has not been set, but he added that it could take place "in the coming days, this week."

Ekeus trip comes on the heels of a dramatic defection of a top Iraqi official and other members of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's family who fled to Jordan Tuesday.

Following the defection of former industry minister Hussein Kamel Hassan "the Iraqi authorities have let me know that they have considerable new and important information" to pass onto the United Nations, Ekeus said.

The Swedish diplomat said the information concerns not only Baghdad's biological arms programmes - the subject of a recent UN mission to Iraq - it also includes revelations "concerning missile and nuclear programmes."

"It is evident that there is some important and secret information that Baghdad is prepared to disclose" before Hassan makes his own disclosures as allies expect, Ekeus said.

Iraq admitted Sunday it had withheld weapons secrets from the United Nations but blames the decision on Hussein Kamel.-AFP