Mohamed ElBaradei, speaking at a conference at the University of Cairo, said the IAEA's "mandate for the inspection of weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) is still in force."

He said IAEA "inspectors should return there and the Security Council should give its green light for that return."

The inspectors pulled out of Iraq just before the outbreak of the US-led war to unseat Iraqi president Saddam Hussein that began in March 2003.

On March 24, ElBaradei called for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East as part of the peace process and urged the US-led coalition in Iraq to allow his organization to return to the country.

"Peace will never be established and will never be permanent if it is not accompanied by the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction -- chemical, biological and nuclear -- in the region and the reduction of traditional arms," he said.

He noted that prior to the war, the IAEA issued a report to the effect that it had no proof that Baghdad had reconstituted its nuclear program.

The United States has said it does not want UN disarmament inspectors to return to Iraq, where its own search for mass destruction weapons -- the principal justification for the invasion and occupation of the country -- has found nothing.

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