Secrecy and surprise are essential to the weapons inspections but when the UN's nuclear experts, the IAEA, arrived for their first site visit yesterday it almost looked as if the Iraqis were expecting them.

The gates of the Tahadi plant were opened as soon as the inspectors drove up and the factory's management was waiting there to greet them.

UN sources in Baghdad said there could be other explanations for this but they confirmed that because of a lack of resources, no part of the inspectors' headquarters has yet been swept for Iraqi bugs.

The building is believed to be infested with them.

» Iraq 'bugging' inspectors' offices