UN, Iraq Hold 'Positive' Talks on Resumption of Arms Inspection

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 08, 2002

UN, Iraq Hold 'Positive' Talks on Resumption of Arms Inspection

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday held what both sides called good talks on the possible return of U.N. arms inspectors to Iraq.

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Good start

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday held what both sides called good talks on the possible return of U.N. arms inspectors to Iraq.

"We started our discussion with the secretary-general in a positive and constructive atmosphere and we shall continue this afternoon," Sabri told reporters after leaving Annan's 38th-floor office.

"They got off to a good start," Annan's spokesman Fred Eckhard said after the morning session, which lasted a little over two hours.

Eckhard said "the discussion was much more focused" than when Annan met a delegation led by Sabri's predecessor, Mohammed Al- Sharraf, on February 26-27 last year.

Those talks ended inconclusively and there was no follow-up meeting.

U.N. associate spokeswoman Marie Okabe said here Thursday that "the first 20 minutes were a tete-a-tete between the secretary general and the foreign minister, with just the two of them in the room."

Talks to resume

The talks were to resume at 3:00 p.m. EST, but were not expected to last more than an hour because "the minister has a plane to catch," Eckhard said.

The Iraqi foreign minister is to return home Thursday for talks with his Arab counterparts in preparation for the Arab League summit. The Iraqi side requests the resumption of its talks with Annan on April 7.

The inspectors were withdrawn in December 1998 on the eve of a bombing campaign by U.S. and British warplanes and Iraq had refused to allow them to return.

Annan's team included Hans Blix, chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which was set up in December 1999 but has not been allowed to enter Iraq.

Annan is scheduled to brief the 15 Security Council members on Friday, and he is not expected to speak to reporters before that, Eckhard said.

China Hopes to See Positive Result from UN-Iraq Dialogue

Wang Yingfan, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, voiced his welcome and support to the upcoming dialogue between U. N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.

Wang expressed his hope that the dialogue will pave the way for the proper and comprehensive settlement of the Iraq issue.

In his meeting with Annan on March 6, Wang said that the Chinese Government consistently holds that the question of Iraq should be solved on the basis of the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions in a fair and just manner at an early date. (In Detail)

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