The UN chief weapons inspector is to delay returning to Iraq until the row over a new mandate for the inspection teams has been resolved. Hans Blix briefed a divided UN Security Council in New York for more than three hours on his talks earlier in the week with the Iraqis.
He said it would be "awkward if we were doing inspections and then a new mandate with new changed directives were to arise".
Dr Blix added: "My impression is that there is a good deal of intensity in the discussions about that."
He went on to say that he hoped the return of the inspectors would not be long delayed but acknowledged that there were still some "loose ends" in the arrangements agreed with the Iraqis in their talks in Vienna.
Britain and the US have been pushing for a new resolution, effectively paving the way for military action if the Iraqis do not co-operate with the inspectors.
However, they face resistance from the other permanent Security Council members - France, Russia and China.
Following the Security Council meeting, the British ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, welcomed Dr Blix's willingness to wait until the discussions over a new resolution had been resolved.
He said: "Dr Blix made it quite clear that he would welcome further operational details from the Council if they were inclined to give them.
"It would be practically and, I would say, politically wise for those discussions to finish so that he is 100% clear across the full range of his business - loose ends and tight ends - what are his rights and what are his powers."