¡¡¡¡BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- China on Thursday called for the continued smooth operation of UN weapons inspections in Iraq, hoping that they would lead to the formal settlement of the issue within the framework of the United Nations.

¡¡¡¡Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular news briefing that the inspectors, who resumed the inspections on November 27, had received cooperation from the Iraqi side, and the work had been carried out smoothly so far.

¡¡¡¡UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission Hans Blix had also confirmed this, he noted.

¡¡¡¡China hoped that the momentum for the smooth operation of the inspections and the cooperation would continue so as to ensure theall-round and strict implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions within the framework of the United Nations, Liu said. Enditem