ŪDENVER (COLORADO), NOV 23: The United States President Bill Clinton on Saturday rejected arguments from Russian President Boris Yeltsin on easing sanctions against Iraq, telling him by telephone that the United Nations has to do more to ensure Baghdad has no weapons of mass destruction.

``The decision about what to do with the (UN) inspections should be made based on the evidence, the facts and the professional judgment of the (UN) inspectors,'' Clinton said he told Yeltsin.

``Neither the political inclinations of the US nor of our allies should control those decisions,'' he said.

During their 45-minute conversation, Yeltsin called for the work of UN arms inspectors to be speeded up and for further diplomatic efforts to build on the deal with Iraq.

UN arms inspectors returned to work in Iraq unhindered on Saturday after being blocked for three weeks because of a ban on US team members.

In exchange for Iraq's agreement to allow back the weapons inspectors, Russia has pledged to work for a rapid lifting of the economic sanctions in force since Baghdad's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Clinton referred to a report on Iraqi disarmament released earlier Saturday by Richard Butler, the head of the special UN Commission (UNSCOM) charged with dismantling Iraq's weapons.

The report ``points out that there are still impediments to their work and he recommends a more robust inspection regime. That is what we need to focus on,'' Clinton said. ``The most important thing is those inspectors need to be back at work and they need to work without impediment,'' he said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.