Q&A with the Top Sleuth

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A. No, there is still a lot of work to be done on both sides. Jan. 27 is just an update, not a cutoff date. The inspection process should continue. It's good the Americans are putting the heat on the Iraqis, and that has yielded results. And I think that pressure should continue. But anybody who understands inspections understands that it takes time. The Security Council understands that this should take something like a year.

Q. Surely the Bush Administration is not going to wait a year.

A. I hope the U.S. mobilization is only about adding to the pressure.

Q. Has the U.S. given you an idea of how long it would wait?

A. No. It depends on how much progress. We are making progress in nuclear. In chemical and biological, the inspectors are not yet making progress.

Q. Are there specific questions you are taking to Baghdad at the end of this week?

A. Yes. What we want to impress on the Iraqis is that cooperation on process but not on substance is not enough. Given Iraq's past record of 12 years of patchy cooperation, given the fact that everyone is getting sick and tired of this Iraq file, nothing less will be sufficient. We will say we don't think they are going to be attacked if they come clean and produce what they have. But Iraq has to understand: if they cooperate in process and not substance, then the end is near.

Q. The Americans have set it up this way. Go ahead, say no.

A. [Laughter.]