despite U.S. and British assertions that he was pursuing nuclear arms. But in its pre-war reports to the Security Council, the IAEA never ruled out the possibility that U.S. and British charges were true. Two U.N. agencies hunted for banned weapons in Iraq before last year's invasion. ElBaradei's IAEA handled nuclear inspections, while the UNMOVIC agency was charged with looking for chemical, biological and ballistic arsenals. When an interim Iraqi government formally took power in June, ElBaradei said U.N. inspectors were ready to begin talks with the new administration to arrange a return.
