U.N. chief weapons inspector  Hans Blix arrives at the United  Nations to brief the Security  Council on the U.N. inspectors ' readiness to resume work  Tuesday,  April 22, 2003.  Blix says U.N. inspectors should return to Iraq to independently  verify the discovery of any  weapons of mass destruction.  (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

UNITED NATIONS - Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Tuesday that U.N. inspectors are ready to return to Iraq to independently verify the discovery of any weapons of mass destruction. The United States said it sees no immediate role for his teams. But Russia insisted that U.N. inspectors return to certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been eliminated along with the long-range missiles to deliver them.  Blix spoke briefly to reporters before briefing the U.N. Security Council, which faces difficult decisions on divisive issues stemming from the U.S.-led war against Iraq.  These include not only Iraq's disarmament but the future of U.N. sanctions imposed after the country's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the U.N. role in Iraq now, control of Iraq's oil revenue, and lucrative reconstruction contracts.  At another closed-door council meeting later Tuesday, the council was to hear from Benon Sevan, head of the U.N. oil-for-food program, which had been providing food for 60 percent of Iraq's 24 million people.  Last week President Bush called for sanctions to be lifted quickly so Iraq's oil revenue can be used to finance reconstruction. But under council resolutions, U.N. inspectors must first certify that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush administration, which accused Blix of hindering its drive for international support for the war, has sent its own teams to Iraq to search for illegal weapons. 

"We see no immediate role for Dr. Blix and his inspection teams," Richard Grenell, spokesman for U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, said Monday. 

Blix stressed the council resolutions that call for U.N. inspectors to have access to all sites and people in Iraq. 

"We may not be the only ones in the world who have credibility, but I think we do have credibility for being objective and independent," he said. 

In an interview with BBC radio aired Tuesday, Blix said that before the war, the U.S. and Britain appeared to have used "shaky" intelligence, including forged documents, in an effort to prove Iraq had banned weapons. 

Blix said it was "very, very disturbing" that U.S. intelligence failed to identify as fakes documents suggesting Iraq tried to buy uranium from the West African nation of Niger. 

He also said U.S. officials tried to undermine his inspection team by telling the media that he withheld information about an Iraqi drone from the Security Council. 

"They felt that stories about these things would be useful to have and they let it out," he said. "It was not the case. It was a bit unfair and hurt us." 

U.N. inspectors went back to Iraq for the first time in four years in November and discovered no weapons of mass destruction during 3 1/2 months of searching. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered all U.N. international staff, including the inspectors, to leave Iraq just before the war began on March 20. He has said he expects them to return. 

Annan also said Tuesday in Austria that Iraqis should be in charge of their own future and natural resources. He acknowledged that "the U.N. is being challenged" but said he expected an agreement on the U.N. role in Iraq in the "not too distant future." 

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday all council nations want assurance that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq "and the only way to verify is to have (U.N.) inspectors in Iraq to see for themselves and to report back to the Security Council." 

"As soon as they deliver the report, the sanctions could be lifted, I'm sure," he said. 

France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, said the council "must take into account the new realities on the ground" and take "a very pragmatic approach" to combine the work of the American teams and the U.N. inspectors. 

"I think it's doable," he said. "I hope it's doable."