Iraq Admits Moving Equipment

BAGHDAD — Insisting that it was only taking precautions against a possible U.S. airstrike, Iraq admitted Thursday that it had moved some equipment away from U.N. surveillance cameras.

Weapons inspections were canceled for a fourth straight day after Iraqis refused to admit American members of the team to the sites.

U.N. monitors accused Iraq of taking advantage of a halt in inspections to disable the cameras and hide key equipment.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Iraq to cooperate with arms inspectors or he will end his personal intervention in the dispute, spokesman Juan Carlos-Brandt said. Annan has sent three envoys to Iraq in an effort to resolve the crisis.

The inspections are aimed at checking whether Iraq has destroyed all long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction, including poison gas and lethal biological toxins. That is the key requirement for lifting strict U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, touching off the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

In Washington, the Clinton administration warned Iraq that it could face military action or economic sanctions if it continues to bar U.N. inspections of its weapons facilities.