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Annan, Iraqi Official Meet in Qatar
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraq's No. 2 man Ezzat Ibrahim met in Doha November 13 on the sidelines of the ninth summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Al-Sahaf, who was also present, said after the meeting that the two sides agreed to resume " comprehensive dialogue without preconditions" after almost a year of stalemate.
Annan told reporters however that "We didn't agree to any mechanism as such," adding that "I have to review what we have discussed and we'll determine how we are going to proceed."
The meeting between the UN chief and the vice chairman of the Iraqi ruling Revolutionary Command Council was the first top-level contacts after Baghdad rejected Security Council Resolution 1284 last December, which offered to suspend the UN sanctions on Iraq if Baghdad cooperates with a new disarmament regime.
Iraq maintains that it has destroyed all its weapons of mass destruction and refused to accept any UN arms inspectors back.
Sahaf said the resumed dialogue would be between Iraq and the UN Security Council, represented by Annan, adding that the venue would be decided later.
In his speech to the OIC summit Sunday, Annan urged Iraq to review its position and cooperate with the international community.
The only way forward was for Iraq to comply with all the UN resolutions relating to its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Annan said.
Ibrahim was in Doha for the OIC summit on behalf of President Saddam Hussein.
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