Blix, 75, retired from the UN post on Monday.

"We must do everything we can to avert the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction," said the Swedish foreign minister, Anna Lindh, in announcing the appointment.

"It is very gratifying that Hans Blix is willing to accept the chairmanship. The experience and knowledge he possesses is unique."

Lindh said the commission would provide impetus to disarmanent and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles.

It will be formed in the autumn and will submit recommendations in 2005, she said. At the same time, the ministry was opening a new section specializing in disarmament.

"This is one more way to express the Government's commitment in this area. I hope we succeed in spreading knowledge of and arousing further interest in issues concerning disarmament," Lindh said.

Blix, a former minister for foreign affairs in his native Sweden, directed the chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) for three years.

Set up in December 1999, UNMOVIC began its work in Iraq last November after the regime of former president Saddam Hussein gave way to the threat of US military action.

Bitterly criticized in U.S. press for his cautious approach and failure to locate any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Blix said in one newspaper interview that he had been undermined by "bastards" in the Pentagon.

He said UNMOVIC was not given sufficient time to complete its inspections before the US-led invasion.

He has said the fact that the United States was now calling for patience while it completes its own search for the suspected weapons was ironic.

WAR.WIRE