Iraq files a 12,000-page weapons declaration with the UN in order to meet requirements of resolution 1441.

Iraq then provided its first biological weapons declaration shortly after.

French diplomats said they saw no reason why Iraq's faulty weapons declaration had to be taken as a final document, as the Bush administration insists.

Iraq's weapons declaration, which the United States says had huge gaps and failed to answer crucial questions, was one sign that it is not.

On 7 December 2002, Iraq filed its 12,000-page weapons declaration with the UN in order to meet requirements for this resolution.

The breadth of the commercial ties was underscored last month in Iraq's weapons declaration, which included a list of foreign suppliers.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said this week that the administration expected to know from the weapons declaration whether Iraq was being fully candid.

The inspectors will not be alarmed by "a minor omission" in Iraq's weapons declaration, Mr. ElBaradei said.

In early December 2002, Iraq filed a 12,000-page weapons declaration with the UN.

Iraq has forfeited numerous opportunities to remedy the omissions and discrepancies in the badly flawed weapons declaration it submitted last December.