UN teams inspect palace

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- International inspectors roared up to one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces Tuesday and demanded and received quick entry, in an early test of new powers to hunt for weapons of mass destruction anywhere, anytime in Iraq.\nIn New York, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan described Iraq's cooperation as good but cautioned "this is only the beginning." Annan's assessment appeared at odds with that of President Bush, who said Monday that early signs from Baghdad "are not encouraging."\nA key Iraqi official said Baghdad will reaffirm its position that it no longer has mass destruction weapons in a long-awaited declaration later this week that is unlikely to satisfy Washington.\nThe U.N. weapons monitors found spectacle and opulence inside the sprawling, riverside Al-Sajoud palace. But there was no word that they found anything else. A day earlier, the United Nations announced inspectors could not find some equipment they were looking for at a missile-related site; it was not the first time in a week of inspections that such a problem arose.\nChief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday at U.N. headquarters, said Iraq has not obstructed U.N. weapons inspectors during their first week of work but that Baghdad must explain moving some equipment.\nIraqis said Tuesday, as they have on previous days, that they cooperated with the inspectors.\nGen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison officer, told journalists after Tuesday's presidential search: "The inspectors were happy."\nThe U.N. team left the west Baghdad grounds after 1 1/2 hours and had no comment for reporters, as has been their practice. The visit itself carried a message: that this time the inspectors have a free run of Iraq, under a Security Council mandate requiring the Baghdad government to give up any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.\nOnce the inspectors left, reporters were briefly allowed inside the palace's spectacular, eight-sided entry hall. Each of the walls was inscribed in huge gold letters with a poem praising Saddam.\nIn the 1990s, the Iraqis sought to bar U.N. monitors from Saddam's palaces. It took personal negotiations between Saddam and Annan to reach an accommodation: Inspectors could visit with diplomatic escort and notice. Those teams found nothing.