United States Ambassador John D. Negroponte said that on the basis of both its own review of Iraq's declaration and the first few weeks of inspections, there is still no evidence that Baghdad has fundamentally changed its approach "from one of deceit to a genuine attempt to be forthcoming in meeting the Council's demand that it disarm." He said the declaration represented a deliberate effort to deceive by material omissions "that in our view constitute a further material breach."

How Iraq responds and the evidence it provides are important indicators of their cooperation, Ambassador Negroponte stressed. "It is not, however, UNMOVIC's or IAEA's obligation to provide verifiable evidence of disarmament," he said. "That is Iraq's responsibility."

Syria's Ambassador, Mikhail Wehbe, told reporters that his delegation reiterated its previous position that it did not participate in the discussion on the Iraqi declaration to protest the fact that the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council did not receive the full text of the document and so could not evaluate it.

"This is a great mistake being committed [and it] should be corrected," he said. Syria also "would not share in any conclusion, in any outcomes that would come out of the discussion today as far as the declaration of Iraq" is concerned.

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