"I do not want to question the integrity or the professionalism of the inspectors of the coalition, but anybody who functions under an army of occupation cannot have the same credibility as an independent inspector," Blix told reporters after addressing the UN Security Council.

The former Swedish foreign minister admitted that he felt "disappointed" at the way the United States and Britain started the war without letting his UN Monitoring and Verification Commission finish its work.

The United States and Britain has refused to let UN inspectors back into Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein on April 9.

But they have been unable to produce evidence of the chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes they used to justify the invasion and have sent hundreds of extra experts to Iraq to step up the hunt.

Blix gave what he predicted would be his final report on Iraq to the Security Council. The 75-year-old official is expected to stand down at the end of the month.

He told council members "there remain long lists of items unaccounted for" in the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes which Iraq claimed to have dismantled more than a decade ago.

"But it is not justified to jump to the conclusion that something exists just because it is unaccounted for," he said adding that the UN Monitoring and Verification Commission should still have a role in Iraq.

But Blix has also given apparently contradictory statements during the Iraq controversy, and he highlighted the doubts when he told reporters after the hearing: "What was the reason for the conduct of Iraq going through the hardship of sanctions if they had destroyed their WMD?"

The UNMOVIC chairman was asked by reporters whether he felt betrayed by the US decision to start the war while inspections were still going.

"Betrayal is not the right word," he replied. "I felt some disappointment, but I felt that in some months we could have come further."

He said it was "a business that was not finished."

"It is important to retain the view we all want to see the truth on the situation in Iraq. We wish the inspectors and the people who are there the best of luck. They have not found very much so far."

Blix also expressed the hope that UNMOVIC would be used in other places apart from Iraq. He said members of the Security Council shared his hopes.

"We also discussed the potential use of a body like UNMOVIC which has trained inspectors and has capabilities in the area of biology and missiles which no other organization has at the present time," he declared.

WAR.WIRE