The former US Marine Corps officer, Mr Scott Ritter, at the centre of confrontation between Baghdad and Washington, is no stranger to controversy. In 1992 he contradicted US military commanders' claims that US aircraft had destroyed Iraqi mobile missile launchers during the Gulf War. As an experienced member of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspection teams supervising the destruction of Iraqi weapons, he was quoted in the New York Times as saying no such launchers were destroyed.
The inspector should know. He has been with UNSCOM since 1991 and has taken part in 35 of its inspection missions, 12 of them as chief inspector.
In June 1997 he incurred the wrath of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Aziz, when he tried to enter the political section of the intelligence service, which presumably holds records on the fate of the government's political opponents. Mr Ritter has also sought access to a site "related to the security of the presidency", Mr Aziz said. The Iraqis denied him entry, saying the site had already been inspected twice.
The Iraqis say he is a spy for the US Central Intelligence Agency and they will not let him carry out any more inspections.
The UNSCOM chairman, Mr Richard Butler, has defended his subordinate, describing him as a professional arms control inspector. "He is a man of great ability and dedication. He is not a spy . . . The things that have been said about him are simply not true," he said.
UNSCOM sources said Mr Ritter was a Marine Corps intelligence officer during the Gulf War in 1991. Television pictures showed him striding into action, tall, with glasses, a blue UN baseball cap on his head.
The Baghdad press portrays Mr Ritter as a troublemaker who has deliberately sought confrontation with the Iraqi authorities.
Iraqis say he is a stickler for detail and drives a hard bargain. On Tuesday morning he said he would give his Iraqi escorts exactly 30 minutes to arrive. He and another inspector timed it to the second and called the inspection off when the escorts did not turn up.