Baghdad, Iraq ? U.N. weapons inspectors blocked off a huge complex on the edge of Baghdad Sunday, angering men, women and children who were kept from leaving the area as arms experts visited a facility inside.

A high-ranking Iraqi diplomat, who was caught up with the angry group, called the action “unacceptable.”

The inspectors arrived in a convoy of white vans to check one of about 10 government buildings within a gated area, which includes apartment blocks. Following their usual practice of “freezing” the area, the arms experts wound up blocking hundreds of people from leaving for hours.

Inspectors, who are in Iraq to search for evidence of banned weapons, could be seen going through the plastic shopping bags of women, some carrying babies or leading children with schoolbags. Some women laughed at the fuss, but others were upset and said they needed to take their children to school. One said her daughter had to go to a hospital.

“They are limiting our freedom,” one woman shouted. Then, apparently realizing she should take advantage of the political opportunity of appearing before TV cameras, she quickly added, “We all love Saddam Hussein.”

Iraqi officials said they wanted to visit a chemical research company, but the headquarters of Iraqi liaison officers who accompany the inspectors on their searches is also inside the complex.

Also Sunday, the state-run Al-Iraq daily reported that a civilian militia of Saddam’s Baath Party carried out combat exercises in Babil province just south of Baghdad, an area that could be a main bulwark to defend the capital against a U.S.-led invasion.

It was the second such exercise reported in the province in the last two weeks. It seemed aimed at bolstering Iraqi officials’ frequent statements that an invading force would not only face the Iraqi army but armed civilians defending every city and village.

The brief Al-Iraq article did not say how many troops took part in the Saturday war game, nor did it include photographs. A senior Baath party member, Fadhil Mahmoud al-Mishiykhi, told the paper that the fighters were ready to confront any campaign by America and “its Zionist ally” — meaning Israel.

After the incident at the government complex in Baghdad’s Al-Jadriya neighborhood, the arms inspectors did not speak to reporters, as usual. U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki was in the northern city of Mosul with another inspection team and could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sunday’s incident was the largest of several instances in the last week in which Iraqis complained about actions by U.N. arms experts. Factory managers have said repeated visits by inspectors were interfering with workers and one manager complained about the inspectors’ curt behavior.

One of those caught inside the government complex Sunday was Mohammed al-Douri, Iraq’s U.N. ambassador, who said he had been delayed from leaving for five hours.

“For me, anyway, it’s unacceptable,” he said. “They don’t need to block everybody. We’re not here because of the inspections, just as a private visit, so what’s the reason?”

The inspectors are searching for evidence Iraq still has chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, all banned under Security Council resolutions adopted after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Economic sanctions cannot be lifted until the inspectors certify Iraq has no such weapons.