Iraq Promises Progress in U.N. Talks

03/07/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: 'Time for Concrete Understanding on Return of UN Inspectors,' Says UN||Iraq Says All Depends on UN Answers to Two Key Issues: Lifting Sanctions & U.S. Threats to Topple Saddam||Iraq & UN Meet in Vienna for Their 3rd Such Encounter Since Early March|| STORY: Iraq is promising some progress from new talks starting Thursday with Secretary-General Kofi Annan - but whether they include a return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Baghdad depends on what the U.N. chief has to offer. (Read photo caption)

Annan believes it's time for a "concrete understanding on the return of inspectors" who have been barred from Iraq for 3 years, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Monday.

But Iraq has a much broader agenda, and what Annan goes home with from the two-day meeting in Vienna will depend on what answers he brings to Iraqi concerns, especially on two key issues: lifting sanctions and U.S. threats to topple Saddam Hussein, Iraq's U.N. ambassador said.

"I know they are worried about the return of inspectors to Baghdad. But we are worried about more than one item. We are worried about ... especially lifting sanctions and the threat of the United States. This is very, very important," Iraqi Ambassador Mohammad Al-Douri said in an interview before flying to Vienna late Monday to join the Iraqi delegation.

The meeting at the U.N. office in Vienna will be the third since early March between Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri. Annan reported progress but no breakthrough on the return of inspectors at the end of their last meeting in early May.

What Iraq wants, Al-Douri said, are answers to the political questions Sabri handed Annan at their first meeting - especially on lifting sanctions, U.S. threats against Iraq, the "no-fly" zones in northern and southern Iraq enforced by U.S. and British aircraft, and the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

Annan sent the 19 questions from Sabri to the U.N. Security Council, which imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and asked for comment.

Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix answered the technical questions about inspections at the second round of talks. But the Security Council decided not to respond to the political questions, which means the secretary-general is not authorized to offer anything to the Iraqis on the issues of most concern to them.

Al-Douri said the secretary-general has to address the issue of U.S. threats "because it is a threat for the security and peace in the world."

Two weeks ago, Annan said he wanted "a decisive meeting."

"We cannot keep talking forever, and I would hope that we will be able to yield some results," he said.

The return of inspectors is a key demand of the Security Council and especially of the United States, which has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programs and of supporting terrorism.

President Bush has warned Saddam that he faces unspecified consequences if he fails to heed American demands that inspectors be allowed into Iraq to verify whether it has dismantled its weapons of mass destruction. Bush has also made clear that the United States wants the Iraqi leader removed from power.

Under council resolutions, sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed along with the long-range missiles to deliver them.

The inspectors left Iraq in December 1998, just ahead of allied air strikes launched to punish Baghdad for blocking inspections. Iraq has barred them from returning.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Iraqi man shouts slogans against the United States and Israel during a demonstration in front of the United Nations Development Program headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 1, 2002. About 2,000 protesters, Iraqis and Arabs living in Iraq, shouted slogans and raised banners backing the Palestinian uprising and denouncing U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East. The picture in the background of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)