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British, US Officials to Discuss Iraq Sanctions
British and United States diplomats are to meet in Washington on Thursday to discuss how to make sanctions against Iraq more effective, British Foreign Office said Wednesday.
The meeting is expected to prepare the ground for talks between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush, scheduled to be held at Camp David on Friday.
"It will be an opportunity to look at the whole question of the sanctions, how to make them as effective as possible," a foreign office spokesman said.
"And it will also be a preparatory meeting prior to the prime minister's visit to Washington," he said.
Britain and the United States have been left isolated by the international response to their joint bombing raid against Iraq last Friday.
The raid also provided a focus for unease in some countries about whether the humanitarian cost of the economic sanctions against Baghdad was too high.
Britain has signaled that it might be prepared to ease the sanctions, but insisting that they must stay in place until Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein give in to their demands.
A report here said on Tuesday that the foreign office had prepared a plan to relax the sanctions against Iraq but was stalled by the air-strikes last week. The Independent newspaper said Britain might be examining the possibility of "smart sanctions" against Iraq, in an effort to defuse criticism from its European allies.
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