UN-Iraq Talks Postponed Till After February: AnnanThe high-level talks between the United Nations and Iraq on ending the impasse over weapons inspection have been put off until after February 2001, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday."Originally I has expected them (Iraqis) to be coming this week. They are not coming this week and I should be traveling very shortly," the UN chief told the press. "I expect the meeting will not take place until some time after February," he said. Annan, who is due to leave New York next weekend for a three-week tour of Africa, Asia and Europe, said, "What I have offered is a date and the suggestion of a time frame in which we could meet. And I am expecting them to react." The U.N. chief had hoped to start the dialogue this month before his planned trip. Iraq so far has not yet responded to Annan's request for a loose agenda for the talks. U.N. weapons inspection in Iraq has been suspended since December 1998 when the United States and Britain launched military strikes against the country. Iraq has reiterated that lifting the sanctions is the precondition for U.N. weapons inspectors to return. Iraq has been under stringent U.N. sanctions after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The sanctions cannot be lifted until Iraq is clarified to be free from weapons of mass destruction. |
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