Iraq to Urge for Lifting of Sanctions in Talks with UN

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, April 27, 2002

Iraq to Urge for Lifting of Sanctions in Talks with UN

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Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said on Saturday that he will press United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan to lift the decade-long sanctions when the two sides resume talks on May 1, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

Sabri added that he will also concentrate the talks on maintaining Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, referring to Iraq's rejection of the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq set up by the U.S.-led Western allies after the 1991 Gulf War.

This means that Iraq is not expected to change its position from the first round of talks with the U.N. chief in March, when the Iraqi foreign minister put forward similar demands.

Moreover, Sabri has presented Annan some 20 questions which include how it could be sure that the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) would not be used by the United States to spy or to draw up target lists for bombing, and whether U.S. threats of overthrowing the Iraqi regime constitute a violation of the U.N. Charter and international laws.

Amer al-Saadi, a scientific adviser to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, said on Friday that Iraq is open to discuss with Annan issues including arms inspections, but stressed that Annan should first answer the questions Iraq left at the last meeting.

"We are very open to hear what the (inspection) plans are and how UNMOVIC is different from the U.N. Special Commission," Saadi said.

The United Nations has said that it will urge Baghdad to accept the return of arms inspectors, who withdrew from Iraq on the eve of the U.S.-British air raid in December 1998.

U.S. President George W. Bush has demanded that Iraq re-admit the arms inspectors or face a possible U.S. military onslaught.

Iraq has argued that even if the arms inspectors are allowed back, this will not exclude the possibility of U.S. military attacks, as toppling the Saddam regime has been a U.S. foreign policy objective.

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