Attack data old claims expert Ex-inspector criticises strikes

''I can guarantee you that every piece of information used to support this most recent inspection was of a dated nature,'' he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Sites for inspection were often chosen not for disarmament reasons, but to provoke the Iraqis, he said.

Mr Ritter blamed the United States for that provocation, and said Unscom chief weapons inspector Richard Butler, an Australian, was also guilty for complying with American pressure.

''I think that both bear responsibility,'' he said.

Mr Butler had ''allowed the United States to manipulate the work of Unscom in such a fashion as to justify an air strike''.

The problem was not deadlines for inspection, but manipulation of the process so it became a ''tool to justify military action'', Mr Ritter added. ''I believe this inspection was rushed through and the sites chosen weren't chosen for disarmament reasons but rather to be provocative in nature.''

The quality of information on which inspection requests were justified had been ''haunting'' Unscom, he said.

If Britain and the US had been serious about arms control, the inspectors should have been given time to develop ''new sources of information'', Mr Ritter added.

Meanwhile, Russia's ambassador to Britain, withdrawn last week in protest at the attacks on Iraq, is to be reinstated ''within the next few days'', the Foreign Office confirmed yesterday.

The move came after a phone call yesterday between Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov.

Ambassador Yuri Fokine was withdrawn from the embassy in London last Friday as the joint UK and American bombardment of Saddam Hussein's regime intensified.

A statement issued in Moscow said that Mr Fokine should return as soon as possible.

President Boris Yeltsin denounced the attacks and demanded an immediate halt to the strikes on a country which has traditionally been a Russian ally.

Mr Fokine will now return to the UK after a ''warm and friendly conversation'' between Mr Cook and Mr Ivanov, the FO said.

Russia announced on Tuesday that its ambassador to the US, who was also recalled last week when the military strikes began, will return. He was expected back in Washington yesterday.

Tensions in the Middle East have increased after Iraq ordered the United Nations to a cancel a scheduled flight of military observers who monitor the ceasefire and demilitarised zone on the border with Kuwait.

No explanation was given for Baghdad's decision but a UN official said he hoped the measure was temporary and that the UN is pursuing the matter with Iraq.

The flight had been scheduled to carry members of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission, or Unikom, from Amman, Jordan, to Habaniyya air base outside Baghdad.

Meanwhile, UN humanitarian workers have resumed their duties after returning from Jordan. They were evacuated last week during the bombing campaign.

Their first task will be to judge the impact of the bombing campaign on the UN-approved oil-for-food programme and other international efforts to help the 22 million Iraqis, said UN officials.

As the clear-up operation continues, Iraq warned that it would not forgive Kuwait for allowing the US and Britain to use its military bases to mount last week's strikes.

Downing Street yesterday confirmed that senior members of the Cabinet had contacted the BBC to express their ''disquiet'' at some of its coverage of the Iraq conflict.

Mr Cook, Defence Secretary George Robertson and the Prime Minister's official spokesman have expressed their concern over a lack of ''health warnings'' on some of the BBC's reports.

They feel that the corporation failed to make clear to viewers that its reports from Baghdad were subject to Iraqi censorship.