Blix, who retired in June after three years as head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), told the business daily Kommersant that he was forming the commission to look into WMD-related issues "in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, in the whole world."

The new commission "will appear in late January and will work for a couple of years," Blix told the paper without elaborating, although it appeared the new body would be UN-mandated.

The former Swedish diplomat, 75, headed the UN commission that carried out 15 weeks of inspections in Iraq in the run-up to the US-led invasion but was unable to find evidence bearing out US allegations that the Iraqi regime possessed WMD, including nuclear weapons, and was capable of delivering them over long distances.

Since the end of the conflict, Blix has consistently attacked US policy in the months preceding the war, accusing Washington and its chief ally Britain of interpreting intelligence reports solely in ways that suited their own requirements.

Washington and London used claims that Iraq possessed banned weapons as the main justification for launching the war on March 20, an argument that has been strongly disputed ever since.

Blix said he believed US President George W. Bush and his collaborators were sincerely convinced the banned weapons existed.

"It was like the witch-hunts in the Middle Ages. If you're convinced that witches exist, you'll look around until you find them," he said.

The new commission will discuss ways of ensuring that the information it receives on weapons of mass destruction are objective and of avoiding a repetition of the situation in Iraq, Blix told the newspaper.

WAR.WIRE