The United States government may be less favourable towards the United Nations since the Iraq crisis began, but it has not abandoned multilateralism altogether, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said Friday.

"Even if the United States are currently less well disposed to the United Nations, they have not rejected multilateralism," Blix told a seminar on Iraq here.

"Nobody can make progress in the today's world without support from multilateral institutions and organisations," he said.

Blix acknowledged that Washington had sidestepped the UN Security Council in its launch of military operations in Iraq, but he said US foreign policy was more nuanced elsewhere.

For example, Blix said the United States "favours a multilateral approach in North Korea, and rejects a bilateral approach", adding this is "a bit ironic" - Sapa-AFP