The proposed visit is designed to speed up joint cooperation on outstanding disarmament issues, the statement said, adding that the invitation was made by the disarmament adviser to the Iraqi government, Amer al-Aaadi.

Blix, who heads the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and El Baradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, are in charge of the investigation into Iraq's alleged program of weapons of mass destruction.

The invitation to visit Baghdad comes amid increasing signs of an imminent war, with just two days until the Monday deadline that Washington and London wanted the United Nations to set for Iraq to prove that it is fully disarming.

Iraq's Visit Invitation to UN Inspectors Being Studied: UN Spokesman

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission is studying an urgent invitation for top inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to come to Baghdad, its spokesman Ewen Buchanan said Saturday.

"We have received a letter from Dr. (Amer) al-Saadi, councilor to the Presidency in Baghdad, inviting Drs. Blix and ElBaradei to Baghdad at their earliest opportunity," said Buchanan.

"The letter is being studied to assess the purpose of such a visit and what it might achieve," he said.

In Baghdad, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement the visit was designed to "examine ways to accelerate cooperation between Iraq and the two organizations in all areas, notably in verifying questions which Mr. Blix and Mr. ElBaradei consider still outstanding."

Iraq asked Blix and El Baradei to visit Baghdad "as quickly as possible" and submitted a new list of scientists involved in past chemical weapons programs, Iraqi and UN officials said on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in Vienna that "They (Blix and ElBaradei) plan to consult with the Security Council on Monday and then they'll make a decision whether to go."

Iraq said earlier it wanted Blix and ElBaradei to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to "discuss ways to speed up joint cooperation...particularly on issues that were considered pending" by the inspectors.

After four months of probes, the UN inspectors say there are still outstanding issues about chemical and biological weapons that Iraq needs to clear up.

Blix, who heads the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, are in charge of the investigation into Iraq's alleged program of weapons of mass destruction.

The invitation to visit Baghdad comes amid increasing signs of an imminent war, with just two days until the Monday deadline that Washington and London wanted the United Nations to set for Iraq to prove that it is fully disarming.

Any visit soon to the Iraqi capital could complicate US plans for an increasingly likely war on Iraq.

Iraq Submits a New List of Its Scientists

Iraq has submitted a new list of the names of scientists involved in its former chemical weapons program to the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) on Saturday, a spokesman for the UN arms inspectors said.

In his daily briefing to reporters in Baghdad, Hiro Ueki said the list contained the names of 183 scientists and technicians, in addition to a previous list sent to UNMOVIC with names of 132 experts.

The UNMOVIC databases, he noted, indicate that over 325 individuals were engaged in chemical weapons-related research or had leading positions associated with the production of chemical agents at the Al-Muthanna State Enterprise, some 120 km to the northwest of Baghdad.

Ueki also said Iraq destroyed three more of its UN-prohibited Al-Samoud 2 missiles on Saturday, bringing the total number of such missiles destroyed during the past two weeks to 68 out of the total Iraqi arsenal of 120.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in its daily briefing that the US U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flew 6 hours and 15 minutes over Iraqi territory on Saturday.

The flight of the planes had created a crisis between Iraq and the United States, because the latter had sent two of such aircraft to fly over Iraq, while Iraq understands that only one U-2 spy plane is on such a mission in accordance with the relevant UN agreement.

In another development, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's scientific advisor Amer al-Saadi on Saturday invited chief UN inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to visit Baghdad "as soon as possible" to resolve the pending issues related to disarmament.

The visit is aimed to "examine ways to accelerate cooperation between Iraq and the two organizations in all areas, especially facilitating the verification process of issues considered outstanding by Blix and ElBaradei," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The invitation followed a letter sent by Iraq to Blix, containing evidence about the destruction of its nerve gas VX since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

Blix and ElBaradei have visited Baghdad two times since the UN resumed weapons inspections in Iraq last November after a four-year suspension.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2003)