UNIraq Resume Talks

01/05/2002| IslamWeb

The United Nations and Iraq began a second round of high-level talks Wednesday with different agendas: The U.N.'s priority is the return of weapons inspectors, but Baghdad is pressing for wide-ranging discussions on issues including U.S. threats to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

The return of U.N. inspectors after more than three years is a key demand of the U.N. Security Council and especially of the United States, which has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programs and of supporting terrorism. U.S. President George W. Bush has made clear that the United States wants Saddam removed from power.

Sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait cannot be lifted until inspectors certify that Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons have been destroyed along with missiles to deliver them. But inspectors left Baghdad ahead of U.S. and British airstrikes in December 1998 and Iraq has barred them from returning. Iraq maintains it has fully complied with U.N. resolutions.

The talks began with a tete-a-tete between U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and was followed by a meeting with their delegations. A second meeting was scheduled Wednesday afternoon Eastern time.

Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Al-Douri said in an interview Tuesday that the return of weapons inspectors is just "one of the issues.

But Annan made clear that getting the inspectors back into Iraq is at the top of his agenda.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri (C) greets United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix (L) as Secretary General Kofi Annan (R) looks on before their meeting at the United Nations in New York on May 1, 2002. Annan and Sabri are expected to discuss the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq in the talks. REUTERS/Peter Morgan