Chief UN weapons inspector Richard Butler sent a letter to Iraq's deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz last Friday asking for the Iraqi air force account of chemical munitions used from 1983-88 during the Iran-Iraq war to be turned over by Monday.

``We have not received the air force documents,'' said Ewen Buchanan yesterday, spokesman for the UN special commission known as UNSCOM which Butler heads.

The commission is charged with verifying the destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The UN Security Council won't lift oil sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait until inspectors report that Baghdad's chemical, biological and nuclear arms and missiles have been destroyed.

Weapons inspectors discovered the handwritten account ofmunitions disposed of during the war years in July but weren't allowed to remove it. The document, compiled by an Iraqi officer, was sealed and the Iraqis put it in a safe.

Clinton singled out the air force document when he announced on November 15 that the United States would hold off on airstrikes and give Baghdad a last chance to comply with UN resolutions demanding its disarmament.

Butler was flying to Paris last night at the invitation of the French government and was expected to have a series of talks there today, Buchanan said.

Tomorrow, Butler flies to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian government and was expected to have meetings on Friday at the foreign ministry, the spokesman said. Iraq's compliance with the weapons inspectors is expected to be high on the agenda.

Butler must inform the Security Council whether Iraq has resumed full cooperation with UNSCOM before the Council can launch a comprehensive review of Baghdad's compliance with Council resolutions. He said he expects to make adetermination in the next few weeks.

The Iraqi government is hoping the review will lead to a quick lifting of sanctions but the United States insists there is no link. The United Nations, meanwhile, announced yesterday that a UN committee had approved 10 contracts for Iraqi oil to be delivered over the next six months. They represent the first contracts approved since Iraq agreed last week to continue working with the the UN oil-for-food programme, which lets Baghdad sell limited amounts of oil to finance food and medicine for its people.