They want the job offered to another Swedish disarmament expert, Hans Blix.

He did not mention Mr. Ekeus' successor, Richard Butler, a more aggressive Australian disarmament expert whom the Iraqis quickly branded as a culturally insensitive "Anglo-Saxon."

Diplomats say a leading contender is a Finnish disarmament expert, Pasi Patokallio, but there are at least half a dozen other contenders and no final agreement in the Security Council.

French disarmament experts have been vigilant in identifying Iraqi abuses, but Mr. Chirac is sensitive to Iraq's threat to cut off commercial ties with France.

A few disarmament experts question whether some Iraqi exiles living in the United States may still be under pressure from Iraqi intelligence agents to continue sharing information.

Last week, Mr. Annan nominated Rolf Ekeus, another Swedish disarmament expert supported by the United States, to the chief inspector's job.

The treaty was signed by the Clinton administration in 1996, which then did not fight hard enough to save it from defeat in the Senate ratification process in 1999, disarmament experts say.

Fears that both those programs have continued run high among disarmament experts.

No verification system, however advanced, can offer perfect guarantees against cheating, disarmament experts agree.

There had been fears among disarmament experts that governments would use the college to exert pressure on the inspection system, and they may still try.