Questioning both the United States' and the United Nation's resolve to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, U.N weapons inspector Scott Ritter resigned from his post after seven years of service. Following a background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth speaks with Mr. Ritter about his decision.

JIM LEHRER: And finally tonight former U.N. Inspector Scott Rigger. Margaret Warner begins with some background.

MARGARET WARNER: For the past seven years, Scott Ritter has been a central figure in the United Nations inspection effort in Iraq. He has headed the team in charge of uncovering and countering Iraq's efforts to conceal its weapons programs. But last Wednesday, in a blunt letter of resignation, Ritter charged that the Special Commission in charge of the inspections, known as UNSCOM, has become "hobbled by unfettered Iraqi obstruction and non-existent Security Council enforcement of its own resolutions." Ritter went on to charge that the U.N. Security Council has become "a witting partner to an overall Iraqi strategy of weakening the Special Commission." UNSCOM chairman Richard Butler accepted Ritter's resignation.

RICHARD BUTLER: I read it. I talked with him about it. It was clear to me that the best course of action was for me to accept it. In doing so I expressed to him my deep regret that his departure from UNSCOM will take away from us skills, knowledge, and dedication that we needed and him being very valuable.

MARGARET WARNER: Butler would not comment on whether he agreed that UNSCOM inspectors are being hampered in their work, as Ritter charged.

RICHARD BUTLER: Whether or not I share those views is something that I won't go into here. What I will say is this: Scott and I agree that there is still work of disarmament to be done.

MARGARET WARNER: But Butler strongly denied news reports that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had pressured him to hold off on additional surprise inspections of Iraqi facilities.

RICHARD BUTLER: I have never felt that that pressure will represent-that the representation of those views would be described as undue pressure or persuasion but, above all, I have never found that they cross the line between their legitimate interest in policy and my unique responsibility for operational decisions, never.

MARGARET WARNER: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also responded to Ritter's charges.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, Secretary of State: We are the foremost supporters of UNSCOM and have been working very hard to assure that UNSCOM can continue to do its work. In fact, we have been the ones that have been covering its back to a great extent in the Security Council. And we believe that it is absolutely essential for Saddam Hussein to come clean in terms of the weapons of mass destruction and to follow-to follow through on all the Security Council obligations that he has. The United States has been the country in the lead keeping Saddam Hussein in his box.

MARGARET WARNER: Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps captain and a long-time disarmament specialist, has been at the center of controversy before. In January, the Iraqi government accused him of being a U.S. spy, and tried to prevent him from conducting inspections. The resulting showdown almost led to U.S. military strikes against Iraq. That crisis was defused in February with an accord that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan negotiated with the Iraqis, establishing new ground rules for inspectors. Ritter conducted his last inspection in March. Earlier this month, Iraq announced it was suspending cooperation with most UNSCOM inspections.