Kofi misses the spotlight ... here's the rest of the news, with the funny parts highlighted ...
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As coalition forces hunt for weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Annan said according to rules set by the UN Security Council only UN weapons inspectors can determine whether Iraq is clean.
"[The inspections] have only been suspended temporarily because it's inoperable given the situation on the ground," Mr. Annan said. He added the inspectors planned to resume their work as soon as it was safe to return.
His statement sets the stage for more friction with Washington, which has been quietly hiring its own experts to verify whether weapons found violate the 1991 Gulf War truce banning chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Mr. Annan spoke as U.S. forces chased down leads from captured Iraqis and seized documents about possible chemical and biological weapons sites. A suspicious plant captured by U.S. troops was also being evaluated.
Several UN inspectors who recently returned from Iraq believe stocks of anthrax, VX and other chemical and biological agents remain hidden and U.S. specialists will uncover them.
"I think they'll find a lot," said one senior inspector, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They'll find archives, they will find scientists who are willing to talk and definitely facilities that have been producing weapons."
Despite eight years of inspections in the 1980s and another four months that ended just last week, the UN staffers failed to fully disarm Iraq.
But interviews by U.S. forces will not employ the genteel tactics used by the United Nations. Scientists who do not talk willingly will likely be held in an interrogation facility, say people involved in the planning.
U.S. officials yesterday appeared to reserve the right to at least limit future UN inspections, which have been the responsibility of the UN Monitoring Inspections and Verification Commission.
"UNMOVIC's job was to verify the disarmament of Saddam. But Saddam did not co-operate at all, and therefore there is a whole new situation on the ground," said one.
"Clearly, once the situation is a bit more calmed down, we'll be able to carry out an intense hunt for weapons of mass destruction. There will be some need for verification. But the U.S. government can't say, at this point, what that role might be for UNMOVIC."
Any U.S. attempt to block new UN inspections will face opposition in the Security Council, already the scene of clashes over humanitarian relief and whether the UN or Washington will administer a post-war Iraq.
U.S. officials in Iraq are questioning two captured Iraqi generals about chemical and biological weapons, said a U.S. commander in the region.
The military is also following up on a cache of documents found by commandos in western Iraq, said General Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command.
Central Command said troops were examining several "sites of interest," but it was premature to call a plant in Najaf, described as suspicious by some officials, a chemical weapons factory.
The 40-hectare complex is near military barracks and surrounded by an electric fence. It had been camouflaged to look like the surrounding desert.
"We do have very clear plans in the event that we find a possible site," Group Captain Al Lockwood said at Central Command's regional headquarters in Qatar.
"We ... take our own team in to look and see if the site is, or could be, involved in chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction. And then we look for independent verification to ensure that that's the case, and then we will go public on it."
The United States and Britain said yesterday their forces have found no evidence of chemical or biological weapons so far. But defence officials insisted uncovering banned weapons was only a matter of time.
"Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, we know that," said one. "We expect to find them."
